"God Only Speaks" is a vocal deconstruction of one of the most beautiful songs of all time, The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." I sought to strip down the song to its bare essence to determine how intrinsic Brian Wilson's complex orchestration and layered production is to the piece's emotional presence. In doing so, I discovered a great deal about its compositional structure - something which had always seemed to me a sort of enigma, and something which I have determined to be the true source of the ethereal beauty of "God Only Knows."

"God Only Speaks" uses two distinct methods of vocal arrangement. First, I replaced Wilson's instrumentation with three instruments made entirely of my voice. These instruments were then plugged in a rather simplified MIDI arrangement of the tune. I also replaced Carl Wilson's lead vocal with my own speaking of the lyrics, word by word, on the correct pitch as the original melody. The limited dynamic range of my voice drastically changes the quality of the music and the listener is left to compare my version to the original and determine what emotional resonance is lost and what remains.