Contest #6: Battle of the 1965 Mega-Hits Which Have Stood the Test of Time - "California Girls" vs "Help!"
This may not seem like a totally fair contest because the two songs are so different ... but on the other hand, it
could be considered a fair contest because both were huge hits that year and seem representative of what each band was producing to get a maximum response from the listening audience, both then and now (hope that makes sense!).
"Help!" reached #1 on the Billboard charts while "California Girls" reached #3. Disclaimer: "Help Me Rhonda" actually reached #1 that year so California Girls wasn't the top Beach Boys song that year ... but the Beatles also had multiple #1 songs that year, so there's a bit of arbitrary-ness in my choice. I chose these two songs because they seem to have had longer-lasting impact, or stood the test of time, perhaps a bit more than the other ~top 5 songs from each of the two bands from that year.
"California Girls" - recorded April 1965
"Help!" - recorded April 1965
My verdict: I could go on forever comparing these two songs and analyzing them. I'll keep it short by stating that the musical highlight of California Girls is both the opening and the coda, while on Help! it's the counter-melody that "makes" the song. California Girls is more sophisticated musically, but Help! ... well, it makes me bounce up and down and makes me feel good in a way that CG doesn't quite match. This is a VERY tough call - on an emotional level I like Help! better, but musically CG is the better/more sophisticated song. So I'll call it a tie.
If you want to read some discussion on Brian Wilson's codas, start reading
here. BW was master at writing song endings, and CG here is a prime example.
My next contest is going to be a real doozey. Big leap forward in songwriting for both bands.