Al Jardine recalled that "Brian was very concerned" and asked the rest of the band for their opinions: "To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was ... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'" Love said that "Brian didn't balk" at his proposed lyric changes. "Maybe he cared, maybe he didn't. He never said anything to me directly." In a 2007 interview, Wilson said he "didn't mind" changing the lyrics, "But you know what? The ego of the band was Mike. He was the ego guy." When the song was published, Wilson neglected to credit Love as a co-writer. In 1994, Love successfully sued for writing credits on 35 Beach Boys songs, including "I Know There's an Answer".