Today, The Beach Boys released a long sought-after single titled “Carry Me Home,” which was recorded during Holland recording sessions in 1972. The song comes ahead of the release of the new box-set Sail On Sailor – 1972, which celebrates their 60^th anniversary as a band – the longest for an American pop group – and their transformative 1972 period. The box set is due to release on Dec. 2 via  Capitol Records/UMe.

“Carry Me Home” was written and produced by Dennis Wilson and follows the story of a dying soldier in Vietnam. The ballad is hauntingly beautiful and takes its time to show respect to the fallen soldier through a downtempo, melancholy piano, pedal steel, stripped-down guitar, and powerful vocals from Wilson and Blondie Chaplin, along with the group’s iconic layered harmonies. Though today’s release marks the song’s official deliverance, it has long been circulated by diehard fans as a bootleg with inferior audio quality.

The upcoming 6CD Super Deluxe Edition was produced by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, who worked on the Grammy Award-winning SMiLE Sessions and eel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971.

Sail On Sailor – 1972 will focus mainly on The Beach Boys’ 1972 LP Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” and 1973’s Holland, the EP Holland’s Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairytale), along with an unreleased live concert recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Thanksgiving of 1972. The addition marks the first-ever release of a complete Beach Boys concert from the era with the original setlist. It will also include a treasure trove of unreleased outtakes, radio promos, live recordings, alternate versions, alternate mixes, isolated backing tracks and a cappella renditions from the historic album sessions. In total, it contains 105 tracks, 80 of which are previously unreleased.

Find more information on the box set and pre-order the project here.

Listen to “Carry Me Home” below.