Coming in at Number 13 on our countdown are The Beach Boys with "Wouldn't It Be Nice." It's from 1966 and for some reason, it doesn't have a question mark in its title. I saw this wound up as #97 on Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1966 and I thought it must have come out late in the year. I couldn't go anywhere without hearing it. But no…it came out in July. Meanwhile, Wikipedia says…
The song was inspired by [Brian] Wilson's confused infatuations for his sister-in-law Diane Rovell, who projected an "innocent aura" that he wished to capture in "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Lyrically, the song describes a young couple who feel empowered by their monogamous relationship and fantasize about the romantic freedom they would earn as adults. It subverted past Beach Boys songs, which had normally celebrated material possessions and casual flings, and inaugurates the themes that recur throughout the rest of the album.
I never thought of it that way, perhaps because I never thought of it any way. But I guess that's as good an interpretation as any…