Pocket symphony

 ( The Beach Boys ) 

A pocket symphony is a song with extended musical form.

The term was popularized by English journalist Derek Taylor, who used it to describe the Beach Boys' 1966 single "Good Vibrations".

Jon Stebbins (2025). 9781458429148, Backbeat Books. . ISBN 9781458429148

Sean MacLeod (2025). 9781442252028, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. . ISBN 9781442252028

(The description of a "pocket" symphony had appeared in print since as early as 1928.)

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Attributions

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Popular music

• The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations" (1966)
• The Beatles – "A Day in the Life" (1967)
• T. Rex – "Telegram Sam" (1971)
  Mark Paytress (2009). 9780857120236, Omnibus Press. . ISBN 9780857120236
• Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)
• Paul McCartney & Wings – "Band on the Run" (1973)
  Peter Ames Carlin (2025). 9781416562238, Simon and Schuster. . ISBN 9781416562238
• Queen – "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975)
• Radiohead - "Paranoid Android" (1997)
• Weezer - "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" (2008)

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Classical compositions

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik
  David Hurwitz (2025). 9781574670967, Amadeus Press. . ISBN 9781574670967
• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 12
  Reginald Nettel (1976). 9780234778616, Dobson. . ISBN 9780234778616

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See also

• Pocket Symphonies
• Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars

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