Sumahama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Sumahama" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by the Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album L.A. (Light Album) | ||||
| A-side | "It's a Beautiful Day" | |||
| Released | September 1979 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 4:07 (album) 4:28 (single) | |||
| Label | Caribou | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Mike Love | |||
| Producer(s) | Bruce Johnston, The Beach Boys, James William Guercio | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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"Sumahama" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1979 album L.A. (Light Album). Written by Mike Love, it was lyrically inspired by his fiancée at the time, a woman named Sumako. The lyrics describe "a young girl who wants to go with her mother to a place called 'Sumahama' in search of her father."[1] Although some of the lyrics are in Japanese, Sumako was of Korean descent.[1]
Sumahama is also the name of a popular beach in Kobe, Japan. 'Hama' is the Japanese word for 'beach'.
It was originally written by Mike Love for his unreleased solo album, First Love.[2] When the release of that project fell through, the song was rerecorded by the Beach Boys.
The original United States LP release of the L.A. (Light Album) featured a version of "Sumahama" that faded out early during the final Japanese verse and did not feature the instrumental ending present on the later released 45 or the re-released CD version of the album. The original LP version of the song was approximately four minutes and seven seconds.[citation needed]
