Beach Boys Launch New Music Video Series With ‘Barbara Ann’
Four classic Beach Boys songs — "Barbara Ann," "Don’t Worry Baby," "Wouldn’t It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows" — soundtrack a new four-part video series built around a story of teenage romance.
The project, directed by Andrew Litten (Earth, Wind & Fire, Anderson .Paak) using local actors in South Africa, chronicles the relationship of surfer Helena (Zoe Manoek) and aspiring photographer Lucas (Toby De Goede). "Barbara Ann," the first installment, focuses on Helena, who spends her time either surfing or daydreaming about it.
You can watch the video below.
The next chapter, "Don’t Worry Baby," will follow Lucas, who moves to Helena’s town with his dad; it will premiere Saturday at noon ET on the Beach Boys’ official YouTube channel. "Wouldn’t It Be Nice" will follow on Sept. 16, and "God Only Knows" will conclude the series on Sept. 17.
In a statement, Litten detailed how the clips explore the recurring Beach Boys theme of "being young and in love." “Their most iconic songs were written when they were between the ages of 15 to 21, so there's this exciting view on life that’s immortalized in their lyrics," he said.
"I wanted to do the same with the music videos by capturing the spontaneity and playfulness of being a teenager, fantasizing about the future, pursuing new passions and falling in love. I wanted to capture the feeling after your first kiss or how it felt leaving home for college. Each video builds on itself to become one long narrative but it was also very important that each video could stand on its own. If you're watching chronologically, you become more invested in the characters.”
The series is part of the Beach Boys’ year-long 60th-anniversary celebration, which kicked off in June with an extended version of the 2003 compilation Sounds of Summer.