Music

In Crazy=genius Brendon sings: “She said you’re just like Mike Love, but you wanna be Brian Wilson, Brian Wilson. She said you’re just like Mike Love, but you’ll never be Brian Wilson” 

So who is Brian Wilson? He’s the “multi-tasking leader and co-founder of the Beach Boys.” 

He also suffered from mental health problems throughout the years, where people around him reference his odd behavior. Could Brendon be referencing Brian Wilson’s strange behavior with the lines, “You can set yourself on fire, you can set yourself on fire. She said at night in my dreams, you dance on a tightrope of weird.” 

Brian Wilson’s mental health problems made him wander off to places. He was seen at a Gay Bar once: “He repeatedly checked in and out of hospitals, and continued behaving erratically, plagued by incessant mood swings. At one point, he wandered off alone for several days and was sighted at a gay bar playing piano for drinks.” Could this be a reference to the line in Crazy=Genius: “You’re so straight like commuters”? 

And who is Mike Love? He’s a member Beach Boys.  Brian Wilson was much more instrumental in the formation of the band, where Dennis Wilson and Brian Wilson formed the band. Brendon sings “She said you’re just like Mike Love, but you’ll never be Brian Wilson” and “She said you’re just like Mike Love, but you’ll never be Dennis Wilson.” This is literally a reference to how Brendon joined Panic! after it was formed.

Love is known for singing more of their ‘pop’ hits. This is similar to where Brendon wanted, and has taken Panic! to a more Pop genre of music.

“In the 1960s, Love collaborated with Brian Wilson and was a lyricist on singles including ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ and ‘California Girls’. During this period, his lyrics primarily reflected the youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, which has been described by writers as having helped fashion pop culture’s perception of the ‘California Dream’”

Don’t those songs listed above just scream something that Brendon would write? 

“Mike Love befriended the Wilson sons and often sang at family get-togethers at the Wilson’s home in nearby Hawthorne, especially at Christmas. It was here, under the vocal harmony guidance of Brian Wilson, that the root of the Beach Boys’ sound was established, predominantly influenced by Brian’s devotion to the Four Freshmen’s arrangements. “ 

So Love and Wilson knew each other ever since they were young, just like how the Panic! members knew each other when they were young as well.

Let’s look at this quote from Wikipedia: “Additionally, during the taping of their first LP Brian fought for, and won, the right to be in charge of the production – though his first acknowledged liner notes production credit did not come until later.”

Remind you of how Ryan struggled to be heard in terms of Panic!’s creative process? 

“In late 1965, Wilson began working on material for a new project, Pet Sounds. He formed a temporary songwriting partnership with lyricist Tony Asher, who was suggested to Wilson by mutual friend Daro.[56] Wilson, who had recorded the album’s instrumentation with The Wrecking Crew, then assembled the Beach Boys to record vocal overdubs, following their return from a tour of Japan. Upon hearing what Wilson had created for the first time in 1965,[43] the group, particularly Mike Love, was somewhat critical of their leader’s music,[46] and expressed their dissatisfaction.[43]”

Remember how Ryan first did a duo project called Pet Salamander? 

“Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wilson amassed myriad home demo recordings which later became informally known as the “Bedroom Tapes”.[72] Most of these recordings remain unreleased and unheard by the public.

Seems reminiscent of the songs that Ryan made at “the cabin” known as the “cabin tapes” which have never been released. 

“Later that year, he reluctantly agreed to accompany the band to the Netherlands, where they based themselves to record Holland” 

Jon and Ryan had been thinking about leaving for months, as cited in numerous articles written about the Panic! split.  It’s plausible and even probable that Ryan could have half heartedly agreed to other tours before finally splitting up with Panic! 

“John Sebastian often showed up at Wilson’s Bel-Air home “to jam”, and recollected: ‘It wasn’t all grimness.’” 

Jon Walker, the former bassist in Panic! wrote many songs with Ryan along the last of their tours with Panic! 

“Brian expressed a fervent desire to leave the group and record a solo album in this period, but could not due to conflicts it would create between him and the group, leading him to remark, “Sometimes I feel like a commodity in a stock market.” He was also firm in that he wanted to record another work on par with the achievement of Pet Sounds.” 

Let’s consider that quote above and take a look at this quote from an MTV article: 

“Ross said the split was largely due to creative differences between him and Panic! frontman Brendon Urie. Seems Urie wanted the band to explore a more polished pop sound (like the demo they posted on their Web site last week), while Ross — and, by extension, Walker — was interested in making retro-inspired rock. Or, as he put it: ‘Brendon’s more of a Peter Gabriel fan, and I’m more of a Ray Davies fan. Brendon has always been a fan of pop music, but that’s such a broad term, because I guess I would say I would be too, but in a different way. Jon and I are still very much influenced by the Beatles and Beach Boys stuff and the Kinks and stuff like that,’ Ross said. ‘And so that’s the stuff we were writing at my house … that’s the stuff we’re going to make now. I haven’t heard any of Brendon and [drummer] Spencer [Smith]’s stuff, to be honest.’ (read this rest of the MTV article here.

In Ryan’s new Band, The Young Veins, many people claim that they are copying the musical style and look of The Beatles. 

Brian Wilson on The Beatles: “He denied that the Beatles ever influenced him, only that they inspired him.” 

“Mike Love went on to sing lead vocal on many of the Beach Boys’ template hits, specializing in fast-paced rock'n'rollers, while Brian’s voice dominated moodier tracks and the major ballads, like “Surfer Girl”. 

“Love has been reported as having resistance to Brian Wilson’s shift in songwriting style during the Pet Sounds and Smile sessions, a claim which Love has repeatedly dismissed as hyperbole.” 

Remind you of Brendon and Ryan’s creative struggles within the band?

“During an alleged argument in December 1966 during the recording of the song “Cabin Essence”, Love asked Parks to explain the meaning of the line, “Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfields”; Parks demurred, walking out of the recording session. Though Parks continued to work on the project until March 1967, it has been hypothesized that his partnership with Wilson ended in part due to Love’s reservations. Love has since stated he appreciates Parks’ “brilliant” lyricism on an artistic level, though he had feared the lyrics were too abstract for a relatable Beach Boys record.” 

This just further emphasizes how Ryan’s lyrics are also more abstract in Panic! 

“In 1981, Love’s first and only official-release solo album, Looking Back with Love, included versions of pop standards like Neil Sedaka’s ‘Calendar Girl’ as well as self-penned numbers like the moody idyll, ‘Paradise Found’” 

Can we take a moment to remind ourselves that in Vices and Virtues, this is when only Spencer and Brendon were the only remaining members. Love’s ‘Calender Girl” is certainly similar to Brendon’s song called ‘The Calender’.

So pretty much, Brendon is talking about the break up of Panic! in his song Crazy=genius. Brendon is “Mike Love” and Ryan is “Brian Wilson” 

The names are certainly not random at all. 

(quotes are taken from Brian Wilson’s and Mike Love’s Wikipedia pages)

Also, another connection. 

In the Beach Boys 2012 Grammy Tribute, guess who played with the Beach Boys? Yes, Adam Levine did.