Music is bipartisan.................

     The rest of the night was a blur, though I can pick out moments.  Art Garfunkle gave a nice speech about me while a film was shown.  The audience gave me a standing ovation.  I was focusing all my energy on just keeping it together.  It would have been so easy to be overwhelmed.   Then people started performing.  Lyle Lovett did a great take on "God Only Knows," and then Hootie and The Blowfish come out and sang "I Get Around."  Then they segued into "California Girls" and I saw all these powerful Washington people act like any other crowd:  they started dancing.  First it was Senator Ted Kennedy.  He stood up.  Then the distinguished gentleman next to him stood up.  Pretty soon the whole place was rocking.  I took a peek over at President and Mrs. Bush, and at Secretary Rice.  They were up, too, singing along with every word.  Music is bipartisan.

-Brian Wilson,  i am Brian Wilson:  a memoir