But I couldn't stay away from you

From 1965, here is the most exquisite of lost pop treasures.   Brian Wilson wrote Guess I'm Dumb, one of his most touching and sublime songs in 1964.  The instrumental track was recorded late that year during the Beach Boys Today! sessions.    Inexplicably the band passed on recording it, and as a returned favor for taking Brian's spot on tour, he gave the song to Glen Campbell.   That turned out to be divine providence for Glen had exactly the right voice to send the soaring melodic twists into the stratosphere.  Of course, the single tanked and failed to chart.

The instrumental work is quite a foreshadowing of where the band would be headed in 1966 with Pet Sounds.   When Glen's voice climbs to the heavens with the line "I'm not on top like I used to be" my heart just melts.  The lyrics speak for themselves:

The way I act don't seem like me
I'm not on top like I used to be
I'll give in when I know I should be strong
I still give in even though I know it's wrong, know it's wrong
I guess I'm dumb but I don't care

And breaking off wasn't hard to do
But I couldn't stay away from you
I feel love but not the way I did before
This time girl, has got to be forever more, ever more
I guess I'm dumb but I don't care

And baby since we've been apart
Maybe I've found I had a heart
I couldn't let go even if I wanted to
You must know baby now it's only you, only you
I guess I'm dumb but I don't care