Netflix’s teen adventure series, Outer Banks, is subject to a theory indicating the show is actually based on an old song by the Beach Boys. Outer Banks documents the adventures of the Pogues, a group of teens living in North Carolina’s Outer Banks as they search for a lost treasure from the sunken Royal Merchant ship. The next season follows the teens on an even more intense journey, going after the Cross of the Santo Domingo and a key of even higher importance from the same shipwreck.

The island adventure series, while intense with drama in many of the action sequences, for the most part, has a surfer-crowd feel that seems like it comes straight out of a Beach Boys soundtrack, and some have theorized it actually does. John B Routledge, the ringleader of the Pogues, is a teen who hangs out with his friends in The Cut of the Outer Banks, the working-class section of the island. They go surfing, drive around on their boats, and lay around acting like teenagers while becoming treasure hunters on an adventure that starts in the Outer Banks but leads them on an international journey to the Bahamas at the end of the first season.

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The Beach Boys song that Outer Banks is supposedly based on is, “Sloop John B,” which isn’t original to the band, but was made popular internationally by the group in 1966. The song was originally titled “The John B. Sails,” a folk song from the Bahamas that details a boat called the Sloop John B, sailed by a man who is running from the police around Nassau and just wants to go back home. The similarities between the song and the plot of Outer Banks are uncanny, and considering John B goes by his first name and middle initial instead of just John, the connection to the surf song seems intentional.

Outer Banks’ first season ends with John B and Sarah headed for the Bahamas, specifically Nassau. During this time and at the end of the show’s first season, John B is running away from the cops because he has been falsely accused of killing Sheriff Peterkin. During Outer Banks season 2, like in the song, John B simply wants to clear his name so that he can return home to the Outer Banks. Season 2 practically confirms the truth behind the theory as it plays on the soundtrack while John B and Sarah are arriving in Nassau on a giant boat.

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Twitter user thetimetakenup points out that the lyrics from “Sloop John B” also more widely connect to season 1’s plot, including “drinking all night… got in a fight,” which refers to John B and Topper’s at the climactic beach party. Similarly, the real-life Sloop John B boat involved a crew of five people, which can be interpreted as the 5-member Pogues (John B, Kiara, JJ, Pope, and Sarah) going on their adventure. Although John B and Sarah only spend the first few episodes in Nassau before returning home, it’s undeniable that Outer Banks based several story details on the classic Beach Boys song.

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Jordan Williams
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Jordan Williams is a Movie/TV Feature Senior Staff Writer for Screen Rant. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies.

Jordan is based in Seattle, Washington and enjoys exploring the natural beauty the PNW has to offer. She runs on coffee and classic movies, taking pride in having watched every film on AFI’s 100 Greatest Films list and every Best Picture Oscar winner.

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