FALL 2018, Issue #123: THE BEACH BOYS - "Kokomo" and Beyond

About the Song

The Beach Boys, renowned for their sun-soaked harmonies and surf-inspired sound, transported listeners to a tropical paradise with their 1988 hit, “Kokomo”. This upbeat and infectious track is a celebration of escapism and the allure of exotic destinations.

“Kokomo” paints a vivid picture of a fictional island paradise, evoking images of crystal-clear waters, swaying palm trees, and endless summer days. The song’s lyrics, filled with evocative imagery and romantic nostalgia, invite listeners to join the band on a dream vacation.

The Beach Boys’ signature harmonies shine throughout the song, creating a sense of warmth and nostalgia. The catchy melody and rhythmic guitar riffs further enhance the song’s tropical vibe. The addition of steel drums and other Caribbean instruments adds an authentic touch, immersing listeners in the island atmosphere.

“Kokomo” became a massive commercial success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming one of The Beach Boys’ most popular songs. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its upbeat tempo, catchy chorus, and nostalgic lyrics. The song continues to be a beloved classic, often played on radio stations and used in films and television shows.

Whether you’re dreaming of a tropical getaway or simply looking for a feel-good song to brighten your day, “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys is the perfect choice.Kokomo: how The Beach Boys' most detested song was made

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Lyrics: Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego
Baby why don’t we go
JamaicaOff the Florida Keys
There’s a place called Kokomo
That’s where you wanna go
To get away from it all
Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
We’ll be falling in love
To the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in KokomoAruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego
Baby why don’t we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then we’ll take it slow
That’s where we wanna go
Way down in KokomoMartinique, that Montserrat mystique

We’ll put out to sea
And we’ll perfect our chemistry
By and by we’ll defy
A little bit of gravity
Afternoon delight
Cocktails and moonlit nights
That dreamy look in your eye
Give me a tropical contact high
Way down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego
Baby why don’t we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then we’ll take it slow
That’s where we wanna go
Way down in Kokomo

Port au Prince, I wanna catch a glimpse

Everybody knows a little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go to get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego
Baby why don’t we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then we’ll take it slow
That’s where we wanna go
Way down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego
Baby why don’t we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to

You Missed

THE SONGS AREN’T HIS ANYMORE—THEY BELONG TO THE 60,000 PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO LET THE MUSIC STOP. There is a powerful, heavy silence that sits at the center of every Randy Travis concert, but it is never empty. Since the 2013 stroke that claimed his ability to sing and nearly took his life, the performance has evolved into something far more intimate than a standard tour. It has become a conversation between a legend who can no longer speak his truths and a world that refuses to forget them. For two years and 54 cities, Randy Travis has walked onto stages not to perform, but to be witnessed. With his wife, Mary, beside him and his original band anchoring the sound, the shows feature James Dupré taking on the vocal heavy lifting—but the real singer in the room is the crowd. Every night, thousands of voices bridge the gap left by aphasia. They handle the verses of “Three Wooden Crosses” and “On the Other Hand,” turning arenas into something resembling a massive, tear-filled revival. When Randy mouths the lyrics alongside them, he isn’t just watching a show—he is reclaiming his own catalog through the lungs of the people who grew up listening to it. The climax of the night is always the same: the final song. As the music fades and the band holds steady, Randy Travis takes the microphone. The man who was silenced by a stroke delivers the only word he needs to bridge the distance between his past and his present. He says, “Amen.” People often wonder why he continues to tour, why he chooses the grueling pace of the road when he could rest in the quiet of his home. But when you see the room “come apart” in that final moment, the answer is clear: this isn’t a farewell tour. It’s a reciprocal healing. The fans show up to give him back the songs he gave them, and he shows up to remind them—and himself—that while the voice may have changed, the spirit remains exactly where it always was. He is calling the tour More Life, and he has earned every syllable of that title. He is living proof that a legacy isn’t built on the perfection of a vocal performance, but on the connection that survives long after the ability to sing has faded.

THREE DECADES. THREE ICONS. ONE RECORD THAT FINALLY MOVED. For thirty-five years, the number “six” stood as the absolute ceiling for a single night at the ACM Awards. It was a benchmark set by Garth Brooks in 1991, an untouchable milestone that felt like it belonged in a different era of the industry. Over the years, country music saw legends like Faith Hill and Chris Stapleton reach that same height, but for over a generation, no one could push past it. Until May 17, 2026. Ella Langley didn’t just break the record; she rewrote the scale. Walking away with seven awards—a clean sweep of every category she was nominated in—the 27-year-old from Hope Hull, Alabama, proved that the next chapter of country music isn’t just arriving; it has already taken the stage. Her wins were across the board: Female Artist of the Year, Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and critical sweeps for “Choosin’ Texas,” including Song and Single of the Year, plus a Music Event win with Riley Green. But the most striking image of the night wasn’t the trophy count. It was Langley standing beside Miranda Lambert—the woman who co-wrote and co-produced the anthem that fueled her historic night. In a business that loves to talk about “the good old days” and the untouchable nature of its legends, seeing a new artist stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before her to reach a new height was a powerful shift. Garth, Faith, and Chris Stapleton defined what was possible for thirty-five years. Ella Langley simply showed us that the ceiling wasn’t a permanent fixture—it was just waiting for the right song to push it higher. History in country music doesn’t end when a record is broken; it just gains a new perspective. The “six” record was a mountain that seemed impossible to summit, but now it’s just the base camp for whatever comes next.

SHE DIDN’T WAIT FOR THE GRIEF TO FADE. SHE WALKED ONTO THE STAGE WITH IT. Lorrie Morgan has spent a lifetime learning a lesson that most people spend a lifetime trying to avoid: how to sing while your heart is breaking. In 1989, the world watched her lose Keith Whitley, and in the decades since, she has walked that same harrowing path again. When Randy White—the man she leaned on as her rock and her champion—passed away after his own battle with cancer, the silence in her home must have been deafening. But just six days later, Lorrie was in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. She didn’t go there to perform a polished, emotionless set. She went there to exist in the only place she has ever really known: behind a microphone. The most poignant part of that evening wasn’t the headliner, but the person who opened for her: her son, Jesse Keith Whitley. To see the man who lost his father decades ago now standing as a grown man, holding the space for his mother as she navigated the loss of Randy, was a silent, powerful testament to the only kind of legacy that matters. Randy had loved Jesse as his own, and in that moment, the love they had shared didn’t feel absent—it felt present in the way a son stood by his mother’s side. Lorrie didn’t return to the stage because she had “moved on.” There is no moving on from that kind of loss. She returned because she understands that strength isn’t the absence of sorrow; it’s the ability to keep moving even when sorrow is the loudest thing in the room. When she stepped into that spotlight, she was performing an act of defiance. She was proving that while life may leave you with empty chairs and broken pieces, the music—and the family you build—is the only thing that allows you to survive the night.

HE NEVER WORE THE UNIFORM, BUT HE CARRIED HIS FATHER’S FLAG FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. Toby Keith’s most iconic anthem, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” was never intended to be a commercial product. It wasn’t born in a high-end Nashville writing room or designed to top the country charts. It was written in 20 minutes on a piece of scrap paper by a son grieving a father who had been taken in a sudden, senseless accident just months before the world changed on September 11, 2001. Hubert Keith Covel was not a celebrity. He was a veteran of the Korean War, a man who had given an eye to his country and spent every single day of his life making sure a flag flew from his porch. When he died in a collision on I-35, he left behind a vacuum that Toby didn’t know how to fill. When the towers fell, Toby didn’t look to the charts for inspiration—he looked to the lessons his father had hammered into him for years. His father had spent a lifetime urging Toby to support the people who do the heavy lifting—the soldiers. Toby listened. He spent the next several decades in places most artists avoid: carrier decks in the middle of the ocean, the dust of Kandahar, and the forgotten corners of Bagram. Over 18 USO tours and 250,000 service members, he became a fixture in the lives of those serving overseas, showing up not as a star, but as a representative of the man who raised him. He didn’t have to wear the uniform to understand the weight of it. By carrying his father’s flag into the most dangerous places on earth, Toby Keith turned a personal loss into a national service. Long after the stadium lights go dark and the records stop spinning, that flag in Oklahoma continues to wave. For the soldiers he sang to in the dirt and the families he supported, his music became more than entertainment—it became a promise kept to a one-eyed veteran who taught his son that being an American wasn’t just a label, but a lifelong commitment.