Actually

I watched the 2003 movie Love Actually last night.  I hadn't seen it before, but had heard some good things about it, despite my reluctance to sit through a smarmy love comedy/dramedy.  This movie is actually pretty good (Actually!); full of great British wit and a rather amusing turn at a nativity play (why aren't there more lobsters in nativity plays?  And why can't they all feature the song Catch a Falling Star?  Cute tune!) And, Alan Rickman is in it.   :-) 

The soundtrack isn't too bad.  Joni Mitchell and Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You, along with some other Christmas-y music, is part of plot, and one of the characters is a washed up rocker trying to revitalize his career with a Christmas-y reworking of The Trogg's Love is All Around.  What caught my ear, though, was the song that played over the ending.  God Only Knows by The Beach Boys was released on the band's 11th album, Pet Sounds (1966).  It was also released as the B-side on the Wouldn't It Be Nice single.  Pet Sounds is a masterpiece in itself, but more on that later.  God Only Knows was composed by Bryan Wilson and Tony Asher.  The lead vocal on the recording is Carl Wilson.  This song also carries the distinction of being one of the first pop tunes with "God" in the title.  Wilson and Asher worried over this, fearing that the song wouldn't get airplay for it.

The song is also notable for its unusual instrumentation (for a rock band hit, anyway) that includes harpsichord and French horns.  Also, for a band mostly associated with songs about girls, cars, and surfing, the song was a bit of an oddball, reflecting Wilson's interest in spirituality.  Frankly, from an orchestration standpoint, I think the song is genius.  It retains a pop music feel, the different timbres from the harpsichord and the horns add a gravity to it that is not often found in radio music.  The end of the song is fabulous.  Layers and layers of (only three!!) voices, repeating the lyric "God only knows what I'd be without you".  It's just really beautifully done.  Actually.