“Here Today” comes from the wonderful album Pet Sounds, released by The Beach Boys in 1966. Regarded as a timeless classic, the album was seen as a prime example of just how far pop music could be taken during the 60s in terms of its lyrical content and musical arrangement. It was the one where everybody realised that Brian Wilson was practically a compositional genius if they hadn’t done so already, and also influenced many albums to come in the future.

The last song started during the album’s recording, “Here Today” is something of a warning about the unpredictability of love; being in a new relationship may be all fine and dandy initially, but there’s always the chance that it can quickly end in heartbreak and sorrow. Mike Love takes duty of  lead vocal on the track, and does a fine job of it.

Like the rest of the songs on the album “Here Today” utilises a range of instruments to build a lush and ornate sonic landscape, with a piano, Hammond organ, and a variety of horns thrown into the track’s lavish mix. Of course the iconic backing harmonic vocals of the boys play a huge part too, I particularly like those that occur during the choruses. The ascending melodic scales provided by them played simultaneously with the downward melody on the horns makes for an enjoyable listen, but those make up only a few seconds of three minutes of beautifully constructed music.