To many people The Beach Boy's greatest song is Good Vibrations/God Only Knows.

[Mr_Simnock]

I like Surfs Up, this along with 'Heroes and Villains' is what the SMILE album was supposed to have been all about, would have been amazing had that lot been pulled off. Surfs Up has a bit of the 'Child is Father to the Man' track from SMILE right at the end. I love going down the SMILE album rabbit hole every now and again, so many nice little snippets of music out there floating around that were recorded but never used.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the brilliant Cabinessence, that's another SMILE escapee that made it to the 20/20 album

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

Wind Chimes is all about that RIFF

[danwho9]

Surf's Up is gorgeous and you'd have to be mad not to think so, but they never topped God Only Knows. It's one of those songs that's basically weatherproof for me. No matter the context I hear it, no matter how many people talk about it being one of the greatest songs ever, whenever I hear it it still exists in its own little musical universe where perfection is the only possibility. The final minute is absolutely impossible to top. There are pieces of music that I've had more of an emotional response to, for various reasons, but God Only Knows is pretty much note-for-note perfection.

Said it better than I could, it's one of those songs that is just objectively one of the best ever written whether it now sounds 'dated' or not. That said, Surf's Up is definitely strong competition.

[Key]

EDIT: Forgot to mention the brilliant Cabinessence, that's another SMILE escapee that made it to the 20/20 album

I like how after Pet Sounds, the following 6 or 7 albums are like a treasure hunt, sifting through occassionally weak material to find the shards of the exploded album.

[Rev Arthur Belling]

This is my current favourite.  All This Is That.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyHQdBAxLtY

[Rolf Lundgren]

Much like The Beatles, The Beach Boys' most interesting phase is when you get past all the early stuff. It's a pity that for most people they're shorthand for songs about surfing, cars and California because as soon as you go beyond that you're rewarded with some incredible albums.

Not that the early stuff doesn't has value because of course it absolutely does but that 10 year period from about 1968 to 1978 is when it all comes together for me.

Other shouts for best song should include All I Wanna Do, A Day in The Life of a Tree and I Went to Sleep.

[Dr Rock]

Trader, Sail On Sailor, Until I Die

But also Good Vibrations and that. And Do It Again.

[SteveDave]

One song that's only clicked with me recently is "A Day In The Life Of A Tree". I was listening to it a few weeks ago whilst doing something else and as it gets to the last go through when everything comes together I had to have a bit of sit down.