Like most early Beach Boys songs, this does not have deep lyrical content; it's a fun song about a teenage lifestyle featuring friends, girls and cars. Musically, however, it was incredibly innovative, with an opening fuzz guitar, stop-start rhythms and a keyboard line working in and out of the song. Written by Brian Wilson with contributions from Mike Love, it was the first Beach Boys recording after The Beatles took hold in America, and Wilson responded with this rather complex creation.
This was The Beach Boys first #1 in their own country ("Surfin' Safari" went to #1 in Sweden two years earlier). Father-manager Murry Wilson and therefore his beleaguered son Brian despaired over not hitting the top spot in the US, coming off second best first to the Four Seasons through 1962 and into '63, then to Jan & Dean when they got to #1 that summer with "Surf City" - a song Brian Wilson wrote - and then into 1964 with the Beatles took over.
This was released as a double A-side single in May 1964 with "Don't Worry Baby." It is considered one of the best ever single releases along with "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles and "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. It was rated fifth biggest seller of 1964 by both Billboard and Cash Box - indicating close to 2 million US units sold - though it was another 18 years before Capitol submitted it to the RIAA for auditing (the only other Beach Boys single the label did this for was "Good Vibrations").
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