The Beach Boys, I Get Around | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 114th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 114^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “I Get Around” performed by The Beach Boys.

“Round, round, get around / I get around, yeah.” Iconic surf-rock band The Beach Boys get around on “I Get Around”.  They repeat the phrase plenty throughout the chorus of their beloved classic. It appears as the opener on their 1964 album, All Summer Long. The stereo version appears as the 13^th track. Mike Love (1941 – ) and Brian Wilson (1943 – 2025) wrote the gem, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1982. Brian also produced it.  Love is also the lead vocalist, while Brian sings the choruses (Mike also sings in the first chorus).  

“I Get Around” is fun from the start.  The lyrics are simple (see the chorus), yet pretty clever (the verses, in particular). In the first verse, Love is sick of the same old road and places. He wants to get around where the cool kids are.  Perhaps it sounds corny, but kids of all generations get restless, easily, and want to explore new, exciting things. “My buddies and me are getting real well-known,” he sings, continuing, “Yeah, the bad guys know us, and they leave us alone.” I mean, it’s good they don’t bother you, but this lyric firmly supports the idea of being bored 🥱.  The second verse is even more fun.  The Beach Boys can’t go steady! Being young, red-blooded American boys who like to pick up girls, it would be wrong to tie yourself down! 

“We always take my car ‘cause it’s never been beat

And we’ve never missed yet with the girls we meet

None of the guys go steady ‘cause it wouldn’t be right

To leave their best girl home on a Saturday night.”

Ooh-wee! Beyond the fun, fabulous lyrics, with great singing from Love and Brian on the chorus, and the infectious oohs, the instrumental is terrific. The guitar! The bass line! The various riffs, particularly during the verses! The moments when there are oohs, while the instrumental appears to be the focal point! Perhaps, most of all, those timely claps on the beat during select parts of the verses! GENIUS! Also, the harmonic progression and key modulations add to the complexity of a seemingly simple song. As catchy and irresistible as “I Get Around” is, the musicianship awes you with each successive listen. The Beach Boys put their foot into this unforgettable classic.