Caroline, No - Mono

This is a heartbreaking song about a girl who is moving on with her life, leaving the singer to wonder why she changed and what went wrong. Brian Wilson considers it one of his most successful ballads, along with "In My Room," "Surfer Girl" and "God Only Knows." He calls these ballads, "sweet, pretty, angelic songs that people liked."

Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson wrote this song with the lyricist Tony Asher, who also worked with him on "God Only Knows." It was a very personal song for both writers. Wilson married his first wife, Marilyn, in December 1964, and the couple were going through many changes in their relationship. In the notes for the reissued album, Wilson explained: "We were young, Marilyn nearing 20 and me closing in on 24, yet I thought we'd lost the innocence of our youth in the heavy seriousness of our lives." Wilson took his concept of lost innocence to Asher, who drew from his own personal experience to complete the lyrics. Asher had recently broken up with his girlfriend, Carol, who moved across the country to New York City. When Asher visited her, he was struck by how much she had changed - her new haircut inspired the first line in the song. Asher wrote a lyric in the song as "Carol, I Know," which Wilson interpreted as "Caroline, No," which both men agreed was a much more interesting title.

Brian Wilson put a variety of unusual instruments on this track, including harpsichord, ukulele and vibraphone. He used some of the top Los Angeles session players on the recording, including Hal Blaine on drums, Carol Kaye on bass and Glen Campbell on guitar. Blaine created a unique percussion sound by hitting an empty, upside-down water bottle, which is what you hear at the beginning of the track.