[soniclovenoize]

"I Love To Say Dada"
A very curious SMiLE track with a long history and several transformations, it was also the final piece recorded for SMiLE before the album was abandoned. Originally conceived as a song about a baby in March 1967, Wilson continued to work on the song and it evolved into the single "Cool Cool Water" from 1970's Sunflower. Although not a hit, the song became cherished by Beach Boys fans as a highlight of their 1970s work. It was eventually received new lyrics in 2003 and resulted as "In Blue Hawaii" on Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE.

Early Versions - All Day
The first recorded versions of "Dada" were a series of untitled piano experiments recorded December 22nd, 1966, the same session that Brian tracked rough vocals to "Heroes and Villains". The first takes featured Brian playing the piano with taped strings, with a second attempt on a Fender Rhodes with overdubbed prepared piano. No master number was assigned to these, so it's unknown the purpose or for what song these recordings were meant for.

Next, an embryonic version of the song emerged during the "Heroes and Villains" sessions as a segment called All Day, recorded January 27th, 1967. Nothing was done with this, and it was obvious Brian was struggling to fit the various segments and modulations together cohesively.

May Versions - I Love To Say Dada
By the time Brian had moved into his new mansion on Bellagio Road in March, Brian must have cemented the All Day musical ideas into "Love to Say Dada", a song apparently about a baby. Brian begun tracking the song formally on May 16th with Part 1, a rollicking piano-driven intro with a marching percussion. The next day, Brian recorded Part 2, the main modulating verse section, this arrangement featuring a grand piano with plucked electric guitars and a clarinet. Mike Love apparently overdubbed a simple "wow wow who wow" vocal onto this Part 2, possibly at this session.

Unsatisfied with the Part 2's arrangement, Brian went back to the studio the following day on the 18th and retracked it, this time featuring a prepared piano, piccolos and whistles. This version was called Second Day, as it was called on the session tapes, which would probably denotes that it was the second day Part 2 was recorded. This whimsical Second Day version was never heard, as well as the rest of "I Love to Say Dada"'s sections, as it was the final recording before SMiLE was shelved. Interestingly enough, Brian never gave up on this musical idea...

Smiley Smile/Wild Honey Versions - Cool Cool Water
By the time Brian had recycled SMiLE into Smiley Smile, he had also apparently recycled "I Love To Say Dada" into "Cool Cool Water", as the first incarnation of it was recorded as two versions on June 6th, 1967, curiously at Western Studios instead of Brian's home studio. The song was left off of Smiley Smile but attempted again later that year during the Wild Honey sessions. Recording a much more elaborate version on October 26th and 29th, along with a "Cool Cool Water Chant" over an organ drone", the song again did not make the cut onto Wild Honey.

Warner Bros exec Lenny Waronker heard the unreleased Wild Honey outtake of "Cool Cool Water" and asked The Beach Boys to finish the song off as a single for their album Sunflower. Using the recordings from October 1967 as well as new sections recorded July 1970, the song was finally completed three years later, concluding that album, although it wasn't a hit as anticipated.

Modern Versions - In Blue Hawaii
The original SMiLE recordings of "Dada" were finally heard in 1993 on the Good Vibrations box set, mixed and compiled by Mark Linett. The track was eventually re-written into "In Blue Hawaii" on Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE in 2003, featuring new lyrics by Van Dyke Parks. Finally, as it was presented on The Smile Sessions in 2011, Mark Linett used the original "I Love to Say Dada" backing track with flown-in vocal overdubs from the Wild Honey outtake version of "Cool Cool Water".