| "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" | |
|---|---|
| Instrumental bythe Beach Boys | |
| from the albumSmiley Smile | |
| Released | September 18, 1967 (1967-09-18) |
| Recorded | June 29, 1967 (1967-06-29) |
| Studio | Brian Wilson's home studio,Los Angeles |
| Genre | Avant-garde |
| Length | 2:15 |
| Label | Brother/Capitol |
| Composer(s) | Brian Wilson |
| Producer(s) | The Beach Boys |
| Audio sample | |
"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" | |
"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" is an instrumental composed byBrian Wilson for the American rock bandthe Beach Boys. Released in 1967 as the third track on the group's albumSmiley Smile, the composition derives from "Fire" – a piece recorded by Wilson several months earlier, but left unreleased due to his paranoia.
"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" is anavant-garde composition withambient elements, built on an uncertain discordant progression that repeats with a refrain melodically imitating the laugh of the cartoon characterWoody Woodpecker, bookended by percussive chimes.[1] Wilson said of the piece that it was "sort of a song about acold winter scene. We tried to paint a picture of winter and then spring, late summer, and then broke into winter. We used the Woody Woodpecker theme because it was descriptive to us of spring and summer."[2]
BiographerDavid Leaf noted its "bizarre woodpecking" percussion, the sentimental use of an accordion to imitate Woody Woodpecker's laugh, and droning wordless vocals by all of the Beach Boys which were originally an element of the shelved composition "The Elements: Fire".[1] MusicologistDaniel Harrison described the piece (along with otherSmiley Smile tracks) as "a kind of protominimal rock music", and that "the lack of formal or harmonic development makes the listener focus upon other quaities such as instrumentation, timbre, and reverberation. A concentrated listening effort thus goes quickly to subtle details."[3]
WriterRichard Goldstein characterized "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" as a precursor to the sound ofexperimental pop bandAnimal Collective.[4] In 1996, the instrumental was included inDavid Toop'sOcean of Sound, a 2-CD compilation album meant to accommodate his book of the same name.[5]