"%22God Only Knows%22 is a song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher for American rock band The Beach Boys, released in 1966 as the eighth track on the group's album Pet Sounds. It was also released as the B-side of %22Wouldn't It Be Nice%22 in the United States. In other countries, %22God Only Knows%22 was the single's A-side. According to historian John Robert Greene, %22God Only Knows%22 would later go on to reinvent the ideal of the popular love song.The song names God in its title and lyrics, unusual for a pop single of its time, as Asher recalled: %22Unless you were Kate Smith and you were singing 'God Bless America', no one thought you could say 'God' in a song [in 1966].%22 The sentiments expressed in its lyric were not specific to any God, and could be addressed to any higher force, being a song about moving forward after loss. Wilson later explained that his and Asher's intention was to create the feeling of %22being blind but in being blind, you can see more.%22Sung by Carl Wilson, the Beach Boys' recording was produced and arranged by Brian using many unorthodox instruments, including French horn, accordions, and a quartet of violas and cellos heard throughout the piece in counterpoint. The musical structure has been variously cited for its harmonic complexity, evoking tension through its disuse of authentic cadences and a definite key signature. Its closing section features perpetual rounds, a device which wasn't normally heard in popular music in the 1960s.The song was voted 25 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the second of seven Beach Boys' songs to feature (the first being %22Good Vibrations%22 at 6) and was ranked by Pitchfork Media as the greatest song of the 1960s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of %22500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll%22." . "1960s ballads" . "-14.6"^^ . . "0.75"^^ . "Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson" . "Brian Wilson" . "PT159.97494331S"^^ . "2012-09-21"^^ . "e69ad76d-d2c0-4981-a39b-78d8794c7f0d" . . "116.0"^^ . "Capitol Records" . . "All-star recordings" . "The Beach Boys songs" . . "-0.420875"^^ . "BBC Music" . . . "159000.0"^^ . "false"^^ . . "2014-10-07"^^ . . "USCA20100347" . "0"^^ . "2014 singles" . . "english" . "God Only Knows" . . "2014" . "Songs written by Brian Wilson" . . "Tony Asher" . . . . "Brian Wilson" . . . . "1966-07-11"^^ . "eng" . . "United Western Recorders and CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood" . "false"^^ . "mono" . . "false"^^ . "God Only Knows" . "Gramophone record" . . "-0.350911"^^ . . "60452331" . . "239857"^^ . "Ethan Johns" . "1966 singles" . . "Songs written by Tony Asher" . . "Music download" . "5714dee725ac0d8aee539654" . . . "Brian Wilson songs" . "Pop ballads" . "1966-04-11" . . . "1966 songs" . "9"^^ . . . "2179" . . "Capitol Records singles" . . "Charity singles" .