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In “Caroline No,” Brian once again sings from the perspective of a boy, or someone who is not quite a man. He’s terribly confused. “You break my heart. I want to go and cry. It’s so sad to watch a sweet thing die. Oh, Caroline, why?”
He wonders if they can find their love again, if what he loved about her would ever return so they could resume their relationship. “Could we ever bring them back once they have gone?” The ‘them’ in the context of Pet Sounds is adolescent exuberance, naivete, devotion, simplicity. You know, those things that vanish as you get older, after experience has taught you to protect your heart. - Written by Jim Fusilli, in 33 1/3′s booklet on Pet Sounds. Photo taken by me at home.
