Don't Back Down

<h2 id="composition">Composition</h2>
<p>The song, in the key of A-flat, modulates to the key of A during each chorus, and returns to A-flat during the verse. A modulation during the chorus had previously been used by Wilson in songs such as "<a href="/facts/Don%2527t_Worry_Baby/NDsf68Na">Don't Worry Baby</a>".
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<h2 id="critical-reception">Critical reception</h2>
<p><i><a href="/facts/AllMusic/Hb8cU8Fb">AllMusic</a></i> critic <a href="/facts/Richie_Unterberger/sykSK40E">Richie Unterberger</a> called the track a "relatively little-known treasure" and praised it for its "uncommonly anxious lyrics."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Music historian Andrew Hickey called the song "one of [<i>All Summer Long's</i>] best tracks."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Musicologist Philip Lambert said that "'Don't Back Down' positively explodes with surfing energy and vitality."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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<h2 id="alternate-version">Alternate version</h2>
<p>An alternate version, sharing some of the elements of the final produced version, has a more serious tone. Lines such as "I know what it's like when you feel like backing down" and "Just grit your teeth, take it on, but don't back down!" give this version a personal, conversational and challenging direction.[<i>according to whom?</i>]
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<h2 id="personnel">Personnel</h2>
<p>Per Craig Slownski.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
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The Beach Boys
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Mike_Love/y5Re5z7l">Mike Love</a> – lead, bass, backing, and harmony vocals</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Al_Jardine/FRWkJDy2">Al Jardine</a> – backing and harmony vocals, electric bass guitars</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Brian_Wilson/lHqBFEUI">Brian Wilson</a> – chorus falsetto, backing, and harmony vocals; upright, tack, or grand piano; <a href="/facts/Hammond_B3_organ/1Xr2Ia2c">Hammond B3 organ</a>; arranger</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Carl_Wilson/ewy0VSWt">Carl Wilson</a> – backing and harmony vocals, electric rhythm guitars</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Dennis_Wilson/1xrQgFYb">Dennis Wilson</a> – backing and harmony vocals, drums</li></ul>
Additional musicians and production staff
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Hal_Blaine/lW7lf9Rd">Hal Blaine</a> – drums</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Chuck_Britz/rMETQeTU">Chuck Britz</a> – engineer</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ray_Pohlman/FY0MwaTN">Ray Pohlman</a> – 6-string electric bass guitar</li>
<li><a href="/facts/The_Honeys/u8NjLSnw">The Honeys</a> (<a href="/facts/Marilyn_Wilson-Rutherford/RAJwBsI5">Marilyn Rovell</a>, Diane Rovell, Ginger Blake)  – backing vocals</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Hickey, Andrew. The Beach Boys On CD vol 1: The 1960s. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Unterberger, Richie. "All Summer Long - The Beach Boys | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-07-15. <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/all-summer-long-mw0000319105" target="_blank">http://www.allmusic.com/album/all-summer-long-mw0000319105</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Hickey, Andrew. The Beach Boys On CD vol 1: The 1960s. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Lambert, Philip. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Boyd, Alan; Linette, Mark; Slowinski, Craig (2014). Keep an Eye On Summer 1964 (Digital Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. Mirror <a href="/wiki/Alan_Boyd" target="_blank">/wiki/Alan_Boyd</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Don't Back Down open-in-new

Don't Back Down