I haven't listened to any Beatles covers, so I should check those out.
Today I was thinking about how I admire the complexity of music by The Beatles, but I am more emotionally affected by The Beach Boys' music, and that matters more to me. The Beach Boys make me nostalgic for a life I've never had.
If I had to evaporate one band or the other, I'd rather evaporate the Beatles because I prefer the sweetness and emotional purity of The Beach Boys' songs to the bitter, intellectual coolness that I sense in many songs by The Beatles. I'd like to live more lives beyond my own, and the Beach Boys' music gives me the sense that I am. The Beatles' music, in contrast, leaves me being who I am, but shifts my state of mind and not always for the better.
For example, while listening to this Beach Boys song I get to enjoy being a teenage boy in love with a girl and dreaming sweetly with her of a simple, happy future together:
Beach Boys-(Wouldn't It Be Nice) - YouTube
Here I get to be some mellow, California former surfer reminiscing happily about the sunny, good ol' days that still can be resurrected:
Beach Boys - Do It Again (1968) - YouTube