"Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)" | |
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Song by The Beach Boys | |
from the album The Smile Sessions | |
Written | 1966 |
Released | October 31, 2011 |
Recorded | October 18, 1966United Western Recorders and CBS Columbia Square, Los Angeles | –January 5, 1967 ;
Length | 3:28 |
Label | Capitol |
Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks |
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson |
Audio sample | |
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"Roll Plymouth Rock" | ||||
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Song by Brian Wilson | ||||
from the album Brian Wilson Presents Smile | ||||
Released | September 28, 2004 | |||
Recorded | April 2004 Sunset Sound Recorders |
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Length | 3:48 | |||
Label | Nonesuch | |||
Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks | |||
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
Brian Wilson Presents Smile track listing | ||||
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"Do You Like Worms?" (sometimes erroneously referred to as "Do You Dig Worms?") is a song written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks in 1966 for the aborted album Smile. The original, unfinished recording of "Do You Like Worms?" was first published in 1993 for Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys, a box set which included some unreleased Smile material, and then again in 2011 for The Smile Sessions. In 2004, Wilson performed a live version of Smile with this song under the new title "Roll Plymouth Rock". The live and studio Brian Wilson Presents Smile versions are arranged in a similar manner to the original song. The new versions also contain additional lyrics on the verses that were written for the song in 1966 but not previously recorded.
Biographer Jon Stebbins stated that the track "epitomizes the unfinished and schizophrenic nature of Smile. Just the fact that a Beach Boys album almost appeared in 1967 with a song called 'Do You Like Worms?' is a mindblower." The song has since been covered by a variety of artists, including The Olivia Tremor Control, Ant-Bee, and Secret Chiefs 3.
When asked in 2004, co-writer Van Dyke Parks could not remember where the title had originated from, speculating, "I have a feeling it was maybe an engineer, or maybe Brian, maybe Mike Love. There aren't any other words in the song that relate to that title." That same year, Wilson rerecorded the song under the new title "Roll Plymouth Rock" with almost all of its original lyrics. When asked about the name change from "Do You Like Worms?", Wilson explained, "Because we wanted something a little more appropriate, you know? Something that sounded more appropriate." In 2013, Al Jardine stated: "I kept yelling at people over at Capitol that there’s not one goddamn lyric about worms on this track. It’s called 'Roll Plymouth Rock'. I defy you to find anything about worms on there. But they wanted to name it 'Do You Like Worms'. Brian added parentheses on his album to make it clear. [sic] I’m sure that there was song that Brian and Van Dyke did do called 'Do You Like Worms' that they didn't even play for us. Anyhow, I think what’s there on the original version of Smile is totally cool, and I do like the unfinished nature of it. (laughs) It brings back a lot of really good memories."