a 1995 radio interview, Wilson referred to his singing on the recording as an "atrocious" performance. He said, "I'm embarrassed. Totally embarrassed. That was a piece of shit. Vocally it was a piece of shit. I was the wrong singer for it in the first place.... And in the second place, I don't know why I would ever let a record go out like that." A few years later, he added that his vocal "was a little bit limited. It's not my favorite vocal I ever did, but it did have heart." In a 1975 interview, Mike Love voiced appreciation of the song's musical form and content, which he believed went beyond what was normally expected of commercial pop music. Accolades and polls , "Surf's Up" is listed as the 744th highest rated song of all time on Acclaimed Music. In 2006, Pitchfork ranked Wilson's solo piano performance of the song at number 134 in its list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s". In 2011, Mojo staff members voted it the greatest Beach Boys song. The song's entry stated, "Not so much timeless but a song out of time, Surf's Up is an elegy the richness and mystery of which only deepens with age." In 2016, Pitchfork ranked the Surf's Up version at number 122 on its list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Contributor Andy Beta stated, Surf's Up' bade farewell to the Beach Boys' outdated surf-boy personas, right there in the title; it was complex, impressionistic, and the crowning achievement of Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks’ collaboration. The lyrics alight on Tennyson, Maupassant, and children’s songs; the coda of 'The child is the father of the man,' easily the most effervescent chorus the Boys ever harmonized on, is also a stunning quote of a William Wordsworth poem." Personnel Per Craig Slowinski, Mark Dillon and Keith Badman. Musicians on November 1966 instrumental track Jimmy Bond – upright bass Arthur Brieglab – overdubbed French horn Roy Caton – overdubbed trumpet Frank Capp – car keys, hi-hat Al Casey – electric baritone guitar David Duke – overdubbed French horn Carol Kaye – Fender bass George Hyde – overdubbed French horn Al de Lory – upright piano Nick Pellico – glockenspiel Claude Sherry – overdubbed French horn Additional musicians on 1971 track Bill DeSimone – backing vocals (outro) Stephen W. Desper - Moog programming Mike Love –