Beach Boys, Radiohead, and Zach Top: The Songwriter's Take with Sean Seaver

Divine Sweater's Sean Seaver stops by to weigh in on some songs

If you enjoy this newsletter, consider ordering a copy of my debut book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. It’s a data-driven history of popular music covering 1958 to 2025. You can read an excerpt here.

Today’s newsletter is another edition of “The Take,” the periodic series on Can’t Get Much Higher where songwriters, artists, and industry insiders give their input on three random songs that I send them. The goal is to give readers insight into how professionals listen to music. This week, I’m joined by Sean Seaver, the lead songwriter for the dream pop band Divine Sweater. He weighed in on “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” by The Beach Boys, “Idioteque” by Radiohead, and “I Never Lie” by Zach Top. Take it away, Sean!

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“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” by The Beach Boys

Rest in peace Brian Wilson. What is left to be said about his masterpiece Pet Sounds? When Brian effortlessly reaches the high B on "heartbeat", it is one of the most memorable moments for me on a whole album full of them. When I heard this song as a teenager it inspired me to make music of my own.

“Idioteque” by Radiohead