Songs That Mention California

Gianna Nannini is a singer-songwriter from Italy, active since 1976, who holds the record for the most "n"s in a name. (Or at least it seems like that should be true.) Her pregnancy at the age of 56 was newsworthy enough to put her on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2010. This long '70s rocker with almost 5 minutes of guitar solo at the end is from her album "California" released in 1979.

In una strada forse in una stanza
Dietro mille finestre
Noi guardavamo nella stessa direzione
E la storia si ferma
Quando i padri sono stanchi
L'odio ci passava sopra
Ma non ci separava
Era California era via di là
Quanto fiato nella gola
Per rifare la realtà
Era California era via di là
Verso cosa non sapevo ma lo respiravo sembrava cielo
Guardami ora e dimmi cosa vedi
Non è tutto passato
Ma il sogno che interrompi non sarà più uguale
Quasi senza le stelle
Forse è più bello navigare
Non c'è niente di perso e che non possa continuare
Siamo noi la california
Siamo noi la libertà
Pugni chiusi nelle tasche
Sangue fragole realtà
Siamo noi la california
Siamo noi la libertà
Siamo noi che lo guardiamo e ci sembra ancora
Ancora cielo

On a street perhaps in a room
Behind a thousand windows
We were looking in the same direction
And the story stops
When fathers are tired
The hatred passed over us
But it didn't separate us
It was California it was away from there
So much breath in my throat
To remake reality
It was California it was away from there
I didn't know what I was going towards but I breathed it, it felt like heaven
Look at me now and tell me what you see
It's not all over
But the dream you interrupt will never be the same again
Almost without the stars
Maybe it's nicer to sail
There is nothing lost and that cannot continue
We are California
We are freedom
Fists closed in pockets
Blood strawberries reality
We are California
We are freedom
We are the ones who look at it and it still seems like it
More sky

Nantucket

Nantucket is a rock band formed in North Carolina in 1969. This song is from their album "Your Face or Mine" released in 1979.

"I've been waiting
Right by the phone
All night long, for you to call
I've been praying
For just one ring
To ease the pain, nothing at all
Telegrams of sadness
Say you're out having a ball
Tootin' grams don't ease the pain at all

California
Out in Hollywood
California
Hollywood
Leave me alone
Leave me alone

I've been thinking
What would I do without you, nothing at all
And I've been packing
All of my clothes 'cause heaven knows, this is a haul

Telegrams of sadness
Still found it, hard on my mind
Once I get to see you, I'll be fine

California
Out in Hollywood
California
Let me warn ya
Tickets only good one way
I'm coming to stay

Mr. Ticket man punch me a hole
Carolina to L.A.
Want you so bad it put me on the road today

California
Hollywood
Comin' on back
California
Hollywood
Why am I goin' back?
California
Hollywood
California
Hollywood"

Nappy Roots (featuring Slick & Rose)

Kalifornia Dreamin'

Nappy Roots is a hip-hop group from Kentucky, active since 1995. Slick & Rose was a Pop/R&B duo based in Atlanta starting in 2000. This song is not a cover but a re-imagining of the Mamas and Papas classic (which is probably why they spell it "Kalifornia.") It's from the group's album "The Humdinger" released in 2008. It adds new lyrics and melody, but keeps a few of the original song lyrics and melody, much like a sample-based song, or even a jazz interpretation, but instead of sampling the original song, they sing and rap it. So fast that I can't understand some of the words, which are marked with ??? instead.

"When all the chips are down
What we gon' do now, now, now

Kalifornia dreamin'

When all the leaves are brown
Winter's coming round
What we gon' do now

Kalifornia dreamin'

I'm Kalifornia dreamin'
Ride through the streets of Eden
18's beating out ??? pleadin'
As we welcome a new season
When a steady easin'
Round the corner Georgia's on my mind
But headed out to California
I'm going going back back
I gotta full tank of gas plus some fat stack
I'm doin' 90 on this country road
God sent a rainy day
Still I would be so much warmer if I was in L.A.
I feel it comin' like a million miles away
They tryna take my shine away
Like thunder clouds and rain man
And all I'm tryna say
Life is what you make it
Take a picture with a frame
Plain as day remain
Comin' soon they called it change
90 in the slow lane drivin'
Wish it was aranged
Wish a lot of things would happen
But I'm livin' can't complain
Another day above the ground
??? around
I try to down a couple lines
We're grindin' till it's quittin' time

When all the chips are down
What we gon' do now

Kalifornia dreamin'

When all the leaves are brown
Winter's coming round
What we gon' do now, now, now

Kalifornia dreamin'
I hate the holidays
In a lotta ways
They remind me
Of all of the money
I gotta raise
Seasons change
From calm winds to freezin' rain
N***a needs ??? changes
To ease the pain
Burn it down 'till no trees remain
Like Cali forest fires go as high as a plane
To keep me sane
Understand there's nothin' you can teach me man
I was a fan first
Set back in ??? game
...
When all the chips are down
What we gon' do now

Kalifornia dreamin'

When all the leaves are brown
Winter's coming round
What we gon' do now, now, now

Kalifornia dreamin'
...
When the leaves brown
Winter's coming around
When the leaves are brown
No one and no one and no one around
No one and no one and no one around
Leaves brown
Snow on the ground
Whatcha gonna whatcha gonna do do now
Whatcha gonna whatcha gonna do do now
Whatcha gonna whatcha gonna do do now
Whatcha gonna whatcha gonna do do now
Round, round, round
Round, round, round
I dream a little dream of Cali
I said I dream of California
I said I dream of California"

The Narrative

The Narrative is an indie pop rock band formed in Long Island in 2008. This song is from their 2016 album "Golden Silence." The singer of this song is upset that his friend took a trip to California and isn't coming back. He thinks that everybody in California spends all day shootin' off their guns, drugged up, passed out in the sun by a pool full of women at a big house in the hills with a fancy car in the driveway. Oh come on!
Sure, that's an amazingly accurate description of my life, but not everybody in California lives that way!

"California sun
I wish I was relaxing there with you
California sun
We're just swimmin' in women and shootin' off our guns

And I wish I could be someone else
I wish I could be anyone else but me sometimes I do
And I wish I could be like you
I wish I could be drugged up passed out by the pool
Just like you

Ahh

I bet a twenty dollar bill
I bet a twenty dollar bill you don't come home
No, I bet a hundred dollar bill
I bet a hundred dollar bill you don't come home
'cause you won't

And I could use a fancy car
I could use a big old house up on the hills
And sugar let me tell you I could definitely sell you on this
If you will listen to me still
And you will

Ahh

But I won't waste my energy
'cause these words won't buy me anything
And even if I close my eyes
The California sun will rise

Ahh

It feels good with the sun in your life
The good vibes and the golden silence
It feels good to be good to your vice
Burn it into the back of your eyelids"

Naser

California Dream

According to his Facebook page, Naser is a "Birmingham-based Persian singer, songwriter and musician. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran." This song was released in August, 2024.

"It is like the summer
The California dream
The sun is in the air
I'm walking by the sea

You've been like the summer
And I just love the heat
Love is in the air
And that's what I believe
And that's what I believe
And that's what I believe

Let's go and let the party start now
Can't stop but we can do it all now
I know we're gonna have a good time
This is what we aim for
Live a better life now

Let the party start now
(Let the party start now)

Come with me I'll be driving
Let's enjoy the scene
We can go anywhere
As long as you're with me

Your skin shines like a diamond
Your touch is all I need
You got that pretty face
I wanna see that seven days every week

I wanna go, we gotta let it go
It's a miracle, nothing hypothetical
You're putting on a show now
Everybody knows I've never ever seen
Anything like you this beautiful

And that's what I believe
Seven days every week

Let's go and let the party start now
Can't stop but we can do it all now
I know we're gonna have a good time
This is what we aim for
Live a better life now...."

Matt Nathanson

Kinks Shirt

Matt Nathanson is a singer-songwriter from Massachusetts who has been recording since the early 1990's. This song was released in 2013. I assume he lives or lived in San Francisco based on the oddly specific intersection he mentions which is in the Sunset district a block south of Golden Gate Park and includes a Starbucks, a gas station, a Bank, a deli, a flower shop, a Pizza joint, a Vietnamese noodle house, and a nail salon. I'm guessing he wants to meet at the nail salon to fix those chipped red fingernails.

"Rent love, run in circles.
Sweet fiction silhouette.
Meet me at 9th and Irving,
Let’s do things we can both regret.

It’s all there in your chipped red fingernails.
It’s all there in the twist of your pigtails.

It’s the way she walks,
The way she talks,
Can’t stop thinking
About the girl in the Kinks shirt.
Take me home, San Francisco.
Can’t stop thinking about the girl in the Kinks shirt.
You and my imagination,
You and my imagination,
You and my imagination,
Can’t stop thinking about the girl in the Kinks shirt.

Sidewalk mariachis,
I see you in your party dress.
Played out sid and nancy,
Bring on the apocalypse.

Don’t need no songs playing on the radio,
Get my truth from your thrift store halo.

Getting what you want can break your heart.

It’s the way she walks,
The way she talks,
Can’t stop thinking
About the girl in the Kinks shirt.
Take me home, San Francisco.
Can’t stop thinking about the girl in the Kinks shirt...."

The National

Pink Rabbits

The National is a critically acclaimed indie rock band from Cincinnati formed in 1999 that found their way to Brooklyn like so many bands. This song is from their sixth studio album "Trouble Will Find Me" released in 2013. It doesn't seem to be about California but it does name check Los Angeles.

"I couldn't find quiet
I went out in the rain
I was just soakin' my head to unrattle my brain
Somebody said you disappeared in a crowd
I didn't understand then
I don't understand now

Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?
Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?
... ... ... ...

You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in a park
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart

And everybody was gone
You were standin' in the street 'cause you were trying not to crack up
And bona drag was still on
Now I only think about Los Angeles when the sun kicks out
Now I only think about Los Angeles when the sun kicks out..."

Nazareth

Alcatraz

Nazareth is a hard rock band formed in Scotland 1968. This song is from their third studio album "Razamanaz" released in 1973. It really ramps up the cheesy faux "Indian" western movie phrases used in the original. It's a cover of the 1971 Leon Russell song about the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island and its prison complex in the San Francisco Bay by Native Americans and their supporters who believed that because it was abandoned Federal land, Indians could rightfully reclaim the island under an old treaty.

"Now lay me down on Market Street
I'm looking for some spare change
A Coast Guard ship is been lookin' for me
I might have to change my name

Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beads
The local chief's on the radio
We got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin’ back to Alcatraz

Lay me back down on the highway
One hundred and one ways to go
Solitary is so confining
To the legend of Geronimo

I know how to bring the rain
'Cause I danced for ABC
All the braves down on death row
Are pretending to be free
Back home in Alcatraz

In the land of the great white father
My American blood runs cold
I left my home in Oklahoma
To the Everglades I go
It's just the wings on the silver cars
And I'm allowed to plow a field
It's not the life for a nineteen seventy
Indian boy to do
I'm goin' back to Alcatraz

Lay me down on Market Street
I'm looking for some spare change
The Coast Guard ship is lookin' for me
I might have to change the name

Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beads
Local chief's on the radio
He's got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin' back to Alcatraz

Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beads
Local chief's on the radio
He's got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin' back to Alcatraz
Goin' back to Alcatraz
Goin' back to Alcatraz
Goin' back to Alcatraz..."

Neggy Gemmy

Neggy Gemmy (formerly known as Negative Gemini) is a project of Lindsey French, a singer-songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. This slow electronica song was released in 2021. worldinferno

"It's all over now
Let's pack all our stuff and get out
Everything is f**ked
I just wanna go and never come back

You're saying slow down
But I just wanna go fast
You know that I won't lie
I've been thinking that maybe we should go to California

It won't ever rain
Maybe all our problems will just fade away
I can't stay here anymore
I wanna set this place on fire

You're saying slow down
But I just wanna go fast
You know that I won't lie
I've been thinking that maybe we should go to California"

The Neighbourhood

Sweater Weather

They use the British spelling of "neighborhood" but this alternative rock band was formed in Newbury Park, CA in 2011. This song, from their 2013 album "I Love You," was a #1 hit on the Billboard Alternative chart.

"All I am is a man
I want the world in my hands
I hate the beach
But I stand
In California with my toes in the sand
Use the sleeves of my sweater
Let's have an adventure
Head in the clouds but my gravity's centered
Touch my neck and I'll touch yours
You in those little high-waisted shorts, oh

She knows what I think about
And what I think about
One love, two mouths
One love, one house
No shirt, no blouse
Just us, you find out
Nothing that I wouldn't wanna tell you about, no

'Cause it's too cold
For you here and now
So let me hold
Both your hands in the holes of my sweater...."

Rick Nelson

(I Don't Have a Reason) To Go To California Anymore

Rick Nelson

California Free

This is an originally-unissued song recorded in 1974 that was put on the 2004 album "Rick's Rarities 1964-1974."

"She's an earth shakin' love makin' San Fransisco lady
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free

I met a lot of women before
You know what I mean
But I never had a girl before
Who could do those kind of things

She can outshine the sunrise
Raise the dead at midnight
Love your bones, bring you to your knees

She's an earth shakin' love makin' San Fransisco lady
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free

Oh San Fransisco lady
California free

She's an earth shakin' love makin' San Fransisco lady
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free
She's a high rider and a good all nighter
And California free"

Tracy Lee Nelson

Hello San Diego

Tracy Lee Nelson is a Native American musical artist from California who has played punk music and classic rock. This blues dance song was released in 2021.

"Hello San Diego, are you ready for a good time
Hello San Diego, are you ready to let it shine
Tonight the music comes alive
We're gonnna party 'till the morning light

Hello San Diego, where the sun shines all year long
Hello San Diego, I'm proud to live in call my home
Everybody is friendly and know how to have a good time

Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
It's the party of the year
Come on and dance enjoy some good old blues

Come on San Diego, let me hear you scream and shout
All right San Diego, we're ready for the blues tonight
We got the hottest band in town, burning up the screen tonight

Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
Dance dance
Come on San Diego
It's the party of the year
Come on and dance enjoy some good old blues

We got the hottest bands in town
Tearin' up the street tonight
We got the California sun
And the ladies that'll drive you wild"

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is a singer-songwriter from Texas, active since 1965, and one of the most well-known country music artists in the world. He has made more than 70 solo studio albums. This is from the album "Born for Trouble" released in 1990. If California fell into the ocean from a giant earthquake every time a woman in a song refused to leave, Reno would be an international seaport by now.

"I met her by the ocean lyin' in the California sun
And she was something special like I never found in anyone
But living here in Texas sure kept this ole boy on the moon
She said when I wasn't with her someone else would be pulling off her shoes

That gal she hypnotized me and had me buying air love tickets every week
But every time I mention Texas she moves a little further up the beach
Then today she finally told me long distance love ain't working like before
And you don’t have a reason to come to California any more

I don’t have a reason to go to California anymore
And when she closed her heart she closed the California door
It might as well fall in the ocean
Like I've heard it said a hundred times before
'Cause I don’t have a reason to go to California anymore

It might as well fall in the ocean
Like I've heard it said a hundred times before
'Cause I don’t have a reason to go to California anymore
I don’t have a reason to go to California anymore"

Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack

Mendocino County Line

Lee Ann Womack is a country music singer-songwriter from Texas active since 1996. This is a sweet country duet from the album "The Great Divide" released in 2002.

"Counted the stars on the 4th of July
wishing we were rockets bursting into the sky.
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
as the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line.

Scarce as as Monday morning feeling washed away
I orchestrated paradise, couldn't make you stay
You dance with the horses through the sands of time
As the sun sinks west of the Mendocino County Line.

I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
to remind me of a time...

These pictures and these photographs
let me know I'm doing fine

I use to make you happy once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line."

NemRaps

California Dreaming

According to a YouTube bio: "Nem is a pop rap artist hailing from Charlotte, NC. He is an avid gamer, comic reader, movie go-er, and toy collector, and those influences are reflected heavily in his music. Mainly known as a “NerdCore Artist, Nem raps about video games, movies, TV shows and anything dealing with popular culture. He is also known for his sampling and remixing ability, as he likes to mix different musical genres into a cohesive melodic blend."

This song is from the video game Dead Island 2, released in 2023. I don't know when it is heard in the game. I don't play video games, so I don't know how common it is, but using a weed whacker to kill zombies sounds like a lot of fun.

"Heads are gonna roll
We gon let 'em roll on the cement
Zombie bodies are piling up to the ceiling
You feeling how we feeling then you
California dreaming
California dreaming
California dreaming
Zombies all around me
California is bleeding
How do we survive through all the trouble that we're in
Just keep your head high
We'll be California dreaming

I don't wanna play
I just wanna stay alive
Running through the flames
Yeah you know it's do or die
Zombies ate my neighbors
But it's time to say goodbye
Yeah they got me wit a bite
But you see I'm still alright

Swinging wood and it's batter up
I don't think that they've had enough
They want more 'cause they standing up
All these zombies they outta luck
All these kills that I'm racking up
They should really be backing up
I don't even need to grab a gun
Slash 'em up, yeah I'm having fun

California dreaming but it's not a good time
You can see the blood on the Hollywood sign
If you don't run they you're outta your mind
If a zombie smells blood that is not a good sign
Yeah, welcome to the Westside
Out here we don't live and let die
If you got a lead pipe then you gotta let it fly
If you wanna stay alive, you need more than 'just vibes'
Grab a wrench, grab a bat, grab a weed whacker
If your wife turns, don't hesitate, attack her
In the kitchen there's a knife, go ahead and stab her
No you're not hallucinating, watch the blood splatter
Don't be a dumb bastard
You need to run faster
Until your lungs burn
Keep jumping over cadavers
You're a survivor now
Yeah you are a fighter now
Chewing on your flesh, mmm mmm
That is not allowed

Oh yeah we coming out swinging
Heads are gonna roll
We gon let 'em roll on the cement
Zombie bodies are piling up to the ceiling
You feeling how we feeling then you
California dreaming
California dreaming
California dreaming
Zombies all around me
California is bleedingHow do we survive through all the trouble that we're in
Just keep your head high
We'll be California dreaming"

Gen Neo (featuring DeVita)

Like California

Gen Neo is a Singaporean singer-songwriter-producer based in South Korea, active since 2016. DeVita is the stage name of Cho Yoonkyoung, a South Korean singer-songwriter raised in Chicago. This song was released in January, 2023 and described as "...a Contemporary R&B dance track with an upbeat rhythm blended with chill vibes."

[Gen Neo]
"Drowning inside her
Moving in silence
We'll leave on the weekend
Don't need a reason
I'll satisfy her
She wanna ride all night
U and I can make it right
I'll be your pilot
Takin' off right here
Ignited
Where you wanna go
Higher
Feedin' the fire
Desire
When I'm with ya

It feels like California
It feels like California
It feels like California
It feels like California
Feels like California

[DeVita]
I see the signs like
There's something in your eyes
We could pretend like
We're all alone
Don't you know
Don't you know
We can get reckless with it
Like that
You and I can't make this right

Cuz I like your vibe, are you down to go
Come on over I wanna know
Late at night ridin' down the coast
Feelin' like I can lose control
Overdrive never feeling low
Never cruising alone when I'm with you

[Gen Neo]
It feels like California
It feels like California
It feels like California
It feels like California
Feels like California...."

Neon Trees

Hooray For Hollywood

Neon Trees are a rock band formed in Utah in 2005 by a couple of guys who grew up in California. The title is a sarcastic play on the campy Hollywood anthem, evidenced by the list of dead stars who died tragically by 2012. Unfortunately, there have been a lot more names to add in the following six years.

"Take me on
What ever went wrong
My tongue on your tongue
Makes me feel better
Our first kiss
A slap on the wrist
My heart is a fist
And you're left of center

Gimme gimme gimme your attention
Strange ways babe
I only wanna move like you move
I'm watching you

Ohhh
Hooray for Hollywood

Read my lips
I'll get my kicks
You get your fix and we'll go out dancing
You're so low
I'm watching you glow
The last picture show

I only wanna move like you move
I'm watching you

Ohhh
Hooray for Hollywood

River Phoenix, James Dean, Corey Haim, Brandon Lee, Michael Jackson, George Reeves, Sharon Tate, Britney Murphy, Heath Ledger, Freddie Prinze, Marilyn, The Lizard King, Natty Wood, John Belushi, Janis, Jimi, Amy, Whitney...

Ohhh
Hooray for Hollywood"

The Network

Spike

The Network is a band formed in 2003 as a secret side project of the band Green Day. They were together until 2005, then formed again in 2020 before disbanding in 2021. This song is from their debut album "Money Money 2020" released in 2004. Danville, Concord, and Blackhawk are communities in the outer East Bay. The Med is or was a coffee house on Telegraph avenue in Berkeley, aka "the avenue", which is always full of street people asking for spare change.

"Hello?
Hey, this is Brandon, but my friends call me Spike now
I just moved out of my parents' house in Danville to this wicked warehouse in Oakland
Uh, anyway, I spent most of the day spare-changing on the Avenue
I started out in front of the Med, but everyone kept saying I "look too young and healthy"
So I went up the street to the Gap where all the yuppie college kids shop
I was there until about 5:30 or 6, I scored about 10 bucks
So... me and my girlfriend, uh...you met her, she's from uh... La Jolla?
Uh, anyway, we got some money from her parents, so we're gonna stop by because...]

I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a...

What's that?
Now's not a good time?
What do you mean there's none left?
Well, what the f**k, dude?
If I would've known that, I would have gone to Concord
What do you mean, go back to Concord then?
Dude, you don't even know who you're talking to
Don't make me get all Blackhawk on your ass!
Wait, man, I didn't mean that!
Come on, dude, please?
All right then...
Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!
Do you know anyone that's got any?
Do... do you got a number?
What do you mean you won't give it to me?
I didn't call for a shitty conversation, I called because...

I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a...

Man, I got it rough
When drinking cough syrup just ain't enough, man
Oh, Lord
I'm a teenage rebel and I'm fu**ing bored
(I'm a teenage rebel)
(And I'm fu**ing bored)

Hello?
Uh, Mom?
Uh, this is Spi— I mean Brandon
Umm, I got kicked out of my place in Oakland
Uh, I don't really have a place to go, so I was just wondering if I could stay with you or Grandma or something?
I don't know...
Uh, my girlfriend dumped me, she moved back to La Jolla
Yeah, that's kind of a drag
I guess she's gonna go back to school or something
Anyway, call me back
Wait, wait, wait, one more thing, uh, mom?
I was wondering if I can borrow 200 dollars, because...

I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a fix!
I need a...

I'm a teenage rebel"

Never Shout Never

Never Shout Never is Christofer Drew Ingle. This upbeat pos song was released in 2010.

"...I had the most amazing time last night
I dreamt I saw you again
That's when the flashback started to begin

They started slow
But they picked up fast
So I got off my ass
And I ran away
To Californ-I-A

[La La La La]

Oh my god I
Should've never let you leave my side
Should've never left you alone
It probably seems like I'm never coming home

But I'm so lost
Living life fast
Please get off your ass
So I won't waste away
In Californ-I-A

[La La La La]

Just so you know
I'm never comin' home
I'm having a great day [Great Day]
In Californ-I-A

[La La La La]"

David Nevory

His YouTube page says that David Nevory is a folk/rock singer and songwriter from Cologne, Germany, but he sounds like he's originally from the U.S.A. This is from his debut album "Seagazing" released in 2022.

"I keep running like I never needed sleeping
All because you said you needed me to keep up
Is it worth it
Is it worth it
My friends said come and watch, the sundown is on fire
Wish I could go but I'm still dancing on this wire
Is it worth it
To do this for you
I'm counting on one, two, three, one, two
It could be one, two, three and you're gone

I've been running so far
Now it don't feel right
Anymore
I miss California
The way it was
Before us
I miss California, oh yeah, oh yeah
I miss California, oh yeah, oh yeah

I keep thinking 'bout our trips out on the weekend
And the way you let your body do the speaking
Was it worth it
To play these games
I'm counting on one, two, three, one, two
It could be one, two, three and you're gone

I've been running so far
Now it don't feel right
Anymore
I miss California
The way it was
Before us
I miss California, oh yeah, oh yeah
I miss California, oh yeah, oh yeah"

New Amsterdams

From California

A 2003 release by the Lawrence Kansas indie pop band started by Matthew Pryor of The Get Up Kids.

"I hope that you know this is killing me
It's all in the name of the family
We only can play the cards the dealer dealt us
The end of the cycle is closing in
With you I see new hope begin again
There suddenly seems to be promise in California

La da la da da da da da da da da da da (repeat)

As heavy as all this is weighing me
Believe in the words I am promising
I'm still here for her
The distance is only an obstacle
Hardly a match for a miracle
I'm finally ready to go to California"

Randy Newman

I Love L.A.

Randy Newman is an award-winning singer-songwriter who was born in New Orleans and has been in the music business since 1961. This song is from his album "Trouble in Paradise" released in 1983. I'm not sure if it's satire or if it was commissioned to promote tourism. Many of Newman's other songs are satirical, and there's some of that here - New York is too cold and the people dress like monkeys and Chicago is for Eskimos - but mostly it seems that he just loves driving in the city. He might not feel so amorous if he was on foot.

"Hate New York City
It's cold and it's damp
And all the people dress like monkeys
Let's leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town's a little too rugged
For you and me, you bad girl

Rollin' down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north
And we was born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don't let the music stop
We're gonna ride it 'till we just can't ride it no more

From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it!)
I love L.A. (We love it!)

Look at that mountain
Look at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man
He's down on his knees
Look at these women
There ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere

Century Boulevard (We love it!)
Victory Boulevard (We love it!)
Santa Monica Boulevard (We love it!)
Sixth Street (We love it! We love it!)
We love L.A.

I love L.A. (We love it!)
I love L.A. (We love it!)
I love L.A. (We love it!)"

New Riders of the Purple Sage

Lonesome L.A. Cowboy

New Riders of the Purple Sage is a country rock band formed in San Francisco in 1969 and still kickin'.
This song is from their fourth studio album "The Adventures of Panama Red" released in 1973.

"I'm just a lonesome L.A. cowboy
Hangin' out, hangin' on
To your window ledge, callin' your name
From midnight until dawn
I been smokin' dope, snortin' coke
Tryin' to write a song
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along

Well there's so many pretty people in the city
I swear some of them are girls
I meet'em down at Barney's Beanery
With their platform heels and spit curls
I buy'em drinks, we smoke our hopes
Try to make it one more night
But when I'm left all alone at last
I feel like I'll die from fright

I'm just a lonesome L.A. cowboy
Hangin' out, hangin' on
To your window ledge, callin' your name
From midnight until dawn
I been smokin' dope, snortin' coke
Tryin' to write a song
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along

Well, I know Kris and Rita and Marty Mull
Are meeting at The Troubadour
We'll get it on with the joy of cooking
While the crowd cries out for more
'Round six o'clock this morning
I'll be gettin' kind of slow
When all the shows are over, honey
Tell me, where do you think I go?

I'm just a lonesome L.A. cowboy
Hangin' out, hangin' on
To your window ledge, callin' your name
From midnight until dawn
I been smokin' dope, snortin' coke
Tryin' to write a song
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along
Forgettin' everything I know
'Til the next line comes along"

New Riders of the Purple Sage

L. A. Lady

This is another song from "The Adventures of Panama Red" released in 1973.

"Someone said she came here from L.A.
Well I know she rides the one-way fare
Looks like she's had more than her share
I don't believe the L.A. lady really cares

If she lives or dies
I don't wonder why
'Cause I can see the sadness in her eyes
Oh the love she had
You know it's all turned bad
But you know the L.A. lady's not one to cry

If you want to understand her story
You've got to read between the lines
You see how love can bring you down, Lord it's so unfair
And that's why the L.A. lady she don't care

If she lives or dies
Well I don't wonder why
'Cause I can see the sadness in her eyes
For the love she had
Well it's all turned bad
But you know the L.A. lady's not one to cry
But you know the L.A. lady's not one to cry
You know the L.A. lady's not one to cry"

Joanna Newsom

In California

Newsom is an amazing singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California, who plays a harp, and sings strange lyrics with an unusual voice. This song is fro her album "Have One on Me" released in 2010.

"My heart became a drunken runt
On the day I sunk in this shunt to tap me clean
Of all the wonder and the sorrow I have seen
Since I left my home:

My home on the old Milk Lake
Where the darkness does fall so fast it feels like some kind of mistake
Just like they told you it would
Just like the Tulgey Wood

When I came into my land, I did not understand
Neither dry rot, nor the burn pile
Nor the bark-beetle, nor the dry well
Nor the black bear

But there is another who is a little older
When I broke my bone, he carried me up from the riverside
To spend my life in spitting distance of the love that I have known
I must stay here in an endless eventide
And if you come and see me, you will upset the order
You cannot come and see me, for I set myself apart
But when you come and see me in California
You cross the border of my heart
Well, I have sown untidy furrows across my soul, but I am still a coward
Content to see my garden grow so sweet and full of someone else's flowers
Sometimes I can almost feel the power
Sometimes I am so in love with you
Like a little clock that trembles on the edge of the hour
Only ever calling out, 'Cuckoo, cuckoo'

When I called you, you little one, in a bad way
Did you love me, do you spite me?
Time will tell if I can be well
And rise to meet you rightly

While moving across my land
Brandishing themselves like a burning branch
Advance the tallow-colored, walleyed deer
Quiet as gondoliers

While I wait all night for you in California
Watching the fox pick off my goldfish from their sorry, golden state
And I am no longer afraid of anything
Save the life that, here, awaits
I don't belong to anyone
My heart is heavy as an oil drum
And I don't want to be alone
My heart is yellow as an ear of corn
And I have torn my soul apart
From pulling artlessly with fool commands
Some nights I just never go to sleep at all, and I stand
Shaking in my doorway like a sentinel, all alone
Bracing like the bow upon a ship and fully abandoning
Any thought of anywhere but home, my home
Sometimes I can almost feel the power
And I do love you
Is it only timing that has made it such a dark hour
Only ever chiming out, 'Cuckoo, cuckoo'?

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
My cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
My cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo

My heart, I wear you down, I know
Gotta think straight, keep a clean plate
Keep from wearing down, if I lose my head
Just where am I going to lay it?
For it has half-ruined me to be hanging around
Here among the daphne blooming out of the big brown
I am native to it, but I'm overgrown
I have choked my roots on the earth as rich as roe
Here, down in California"

NHale & Bishop Snow

NHale is a musical artist from Long Beach and the son of Long Beach musician Nate Dogg, whose government name was Nathanial Hale. Bishop Snow is a musical artist from southern California. This G-funk song was put on YouTube in January, 2024.

"California, California
Raised in California, California
California, California
Raised in California, California
Where n***as will run upon ya, run upon ya
California, I been honest
Why'd you call quits
She just bulls**t, you the full clip
I'm a use it, she just foolish, never fool with
Well, I guess we all just need someone
To top down and feel the breeze in the sun
It's just a little beef to me man it's up
If I don't got heat with me I'm going

California, California
Raised in California, California
California, California
Raised in California, California
Where n***as will run upon ya, run upon ya
California

The state is like paradise but don't be blind
To ni**as in the alleyways living on borrowed time
And I'm a product of the east side, G
Where the gun shots are normal so this s**t don't faze me
The women on the West Coast might be bad
But they run game on n***gas
This s**t in my past Hollywood could make to a movie
Don't get it twisted
I lived that life so my heart was in it
The politics will make a n***a stay in school 'cuz the streets are education
I use my tools to get around
Some n***as might be down but when s**t gets thick and you used to the sound
All the ghetto birds, gunshots, mom crying, sons drop
Due to the lifestyle the block is dumb hot
You might see we still wear hoodies during the summer
To stay low key while I'm ducking under the covers
S**t still crcaking even during the daytime
I love this life but they trying to take mine
A young n***a living his days in California
You'll see the palm trees before I run up on ya

California, California
Raised in California, California
California, California
Raised in California, California
Where n***as will run upon ya, run upon ya
California"

Nickleback

Rockstar

This was a top 10 hit in 2007 for Canadian band Nickleback, the most successful rock band of the 2000s. It refers to Hollywood Boulevard but everything else it describes screams L.A. and the search for entertainment business fame part of the California Dream.

“I’m through with standin' in lines to clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth and I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house on an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub
Big enough for ten plus me
(Yeah, so what you need?)

I need a a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
(Been there, done that)

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher
And James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat

And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny with her bleach blond hair

And well, hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar….”

Nico Vega

Hollywood Sign

Nico Vega was a rock band from L.A. formed in 2005, fronted by vocalist Aja Volkman. This song, from their first release - 2006 EP “chooseyourwordspoorly,” appears to be another reference to committing suicide by jumping from the top of the Hollywood sign as Peg Entwistle did in 1933.

“Yesterday's post was a nightmare
I'm still afraid of the man that I was
'cuz I'm drinking with Dr.Jekyll
Never hold on to the state of a buzz

I'm sloppy
It ain't pretty
Do a golf clap
Take a man bow
Until the next time that we meet
At the top of the Hollywood sign
Of the Hollywood sign

Don't leave me next to the pool bar
Where I'm all alone with the conscience of fate
'cuz I'll choose my favorite beverage
And vomit it up on the chest of my date

I'm sloppy
It ain't pretty
Do a golf clap
Take a man bow
Until the next time that we meet
At the top of the Hollywood sign

The name's Baby, and in the spot light I'm a real lady
But when the camera's off I die slowly
I've got Entourage but they don't know me
'cuz I'm the ghost of the Hollywood Sign
Of the Hollywood sign

I won't remember your first name
No matter how many drinks that you buy
'cuz I scared myself in the first life
Now I'm the ghost of the Hollywood sign
Of the Hollywood sign
Of the Hollywood sign
Of the Hollywood sign”

Jerrod Niemann

Bakersfield

Jerrod Niemann is a country music singer-songwriter from Kansas, active since 1999. This song about a California country girl is from his album "Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury" released in 2010.

"She was born in central California
Just as sweet as the fruit on her daddy's farm
And my best friend, said man
'I gotta warn ya she's a city girl
With a little country charm'

We all met up out in San Jose
With the top down, we headed for the bay
And with her hair, blowing in the breeze
She leaned and whispered my name is Tiffany

But I called her Bakersfield
And it would always make her smile
Don't know where she is today
But she was mine for awhile
Every time I drive through the California hills
I find my mind is on Bakersfield

A couple sunsets and mimosa mornings
I got more than my share of kisses on the beach
And Sunday found us too early with out warning
She was once in my arms and now she's outta reach

Oh I called her Bakersfield and it would always make her smile
Don't know where she is today but she was mine for awhile
Every time I drive through the California hills
I find my mind is on Bakersfield

Yeah every time I drive through the California hills
I find my mind is on Bakersfield
Mmm Bakersfield"

Nieve (featuring Tunji)

Nieve is a hip-hop artist from Los Angeles active since 2007. Tunji is Olatunji Ige, a rapper from Philadelphia. This song is from "Playback" released in 2010.

"Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from

It's the city of the do what you got to do
Whatever's going to get you through, well that ought to do
Well we just here to help you move when you want to move
Play the music in your ride, call it auto tune
Play the music real high like its smoked out, doing its thing
We party like its '99 every night of the week
Summer time, all the time, winter fall or spring
My city, so silly when you stop to think
There really ain't no other place to go
Peace to the West Coast, stay stapled like the Laker's show
Maybe go on a vacation sure, but when it's time to return
We let it burn, leave the rest in smoke
Let it simmer and soak through, my city keep it so true
It's no lie, thats the really s**t I wrote you
We don't die we just fade away
So fly Cali-for-ni-a, and it got me like

Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from

Uh, yeah, riding down the boulevard
Trying to shine bright in the city full of stars
Trying to drive safe in the city full of cars
Big dreams, big breasts, tattoos, and bullet scars
The West Coast where I rest my dome
Earthquakes and forest fires, but I'm blessed it's home
It's best if the left coast just be left alone
And I'm a California king, I don't stress the throne, yo
Rolling up some fire from the medical dispensary
Thinking bout some s**t thats sort of getting to me mentally
Just a couple years ago they never would've mentioned me
But I always knew that I would get 'em too eventually
See I'm Cali 'till my very last breath
And I'm so very blessed, cuz I never ever stress
Every single time I rep, I represent for the west
I do it till my motherf**kin death, yes

Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from
Cali-for-ni-a whoop whoop Cali-for-ni-a
Let me represent where I'm from

Yeah, no stress, no seeds, no stems, no sticks"

Night Lovell

Night Lovell is Shermar Paul, a rapper from Canada active since 2013. This song was released in 2019.

""I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight, ya, ay
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight, tonight, ya, ay

I wake up, I see the sun is shining, but I don't like the f***ing light
You know, you know, you know
Can't you see my mind is lost and blinded, b**ch you run my f***ing life
You know, you know, you know
I said: "F**k that b**ch ass 9 to 5 and do my s**t the way I like"
You know, you know, you know
Can't you tell me what you done decided, was I wrong or was I right?
I know, I know, ay, I know, ay, ay, ay

I done wasted all my money on this palmy
Dirty b**ches always claiming that they want me
I could read your mind lil b**ch, I ain't no dummy
I'm the realest n***a and these n***as know that
I don't like pics, put down your Kodak
My b**ch ass fat, watch how she throw that
Can't you tell that I'm a motherf**king maniac
That's what my lady said

I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight
I don't wanna go to California, go to Califor-ni-a, tonight""

Night Ranger

Growin' Up In California

Night Ranger is a rock band from San Francisco that formed in 1979. This California rock anthem is from the album "Somewhere in California" released in 2011. Thanks to Adolfo Morales for recommending this and many other California songs.

"I was born in southern California sand
To a gypsy mother and a guitar-playing man
Oh yeah

Raised inside the American dream
Desert parties, had it all so it seemed
Hell yeah

Yet there was something driving me wild, driving me crazy
Deep inside like a knife cuttin' on me
So I said to myself you got one life sittin' on the shelf
Get out
Oh yeah

Growing up in California
Growing up in California
Got the sun got the beach
And it's always calling me
Oh yeah

So I headed north San Francisco Bay
There was music all night
It was a party every day
Oh yeah

I found myself in a funky band
Led by a family stone horn-playin' man
Hey hey yeah
Yet there was something pulling me hard
Driving me crazy

I needed more too much music inside of me
So with my friends we had a plan
Start our own rockin' band that's right
Oh wow yeah
Growing up in California
Growing up in California
Pretty women you gotta see
And they're always callin' me
Oh yeah

Hollywood Boulevard, Rainbow Bar & Grill
Lots of gold records I still love it here
Pacific coast highway, Fillmore where the music lives
Wine country the most beautiful place I know
Sierra mountains southern beaches
Inland cities rock'n'roll

In California
In California

Check out the sun check out the beach
And it's always callin' me
Oh yeah oh yeah
Growing up in California
Growing up in California"

Fjaere Nilssen

California Dream Girl

Fjaere Nilssen is an American singer-songwriter who moved to Edinburgh. This folk-rock song is from the album "Cleo September" released in 2022. An annotation on the Lyrics Genius page quotes her dedicating the song to the actress Anne Heche who died in 2022: "I wanted to write about the actress Anne Heche. She was a California Dream Girl. came to Los Angeles, worked in soap operas, and quickly advanced as a film star… that is, until she fell in love with Ellen DeGeneres. Her life became a series of stops and starts. She never got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She ended her life much as it had begun, battling for her sanity and her soul. It’s a tragedy."

"Wearing many mood rings
Swaying on the mood swings
Blue-eyed blonde on the red carpet
California Dream Girl
California Dream Girl

Playing good and evil twin
Hollywood said, “Welcome in”
You loved Ellen, made them spin
California Dream Girl
California Dream Girl

Something crazy took you down
What you fought came back around
Was it bad thought or a sad background
You danced with the stars, in a whirling world
California Dream Girl
What happened to you?
California Dream Girl
What happened to you?
California Dream Girl

Trouble beyond the Emmy runway
'A past returns to haunt her' some say
She can’t keep it uncomplicated
California Dream Girl
California Dream Girl

No star on the Walk Of Fame
From acting cred to hall of shame
Somehow I wonder if you’re at blame
California Dream Girl
California Dream Girl

What flipped your fortune upside down
Why drive yourself into the ground
Bring destruction all around
You danced with the stars, in a swirling world
California Dream Girl
What happened to you?
California Dream Girl
What happened to you?
California Dream Girl

You wrote a book about your crazy life
Two times you were somebody’s wife
You couldn’t get beyond where you come from
Your children set you free to circle the sun
California Dream Girl"

Nine Mile Station

Nine Mile Station is a band from California. I think that only because their merch is a CA flag with their name on it and because they know about the Santa Ana winds.. According to their website bio they "...discovered their collective sound in the studio during 2020's pandemic shutdown while making Santa Ana Winds..." which will be on their album "Open Highways" due out in 2022.

"Yeah I'm walkin' down the beach
The smoke's fillin' the air there
Can't even see the sky now
Just followin' the footsteps in the sand
I see the ferris wheel ahead
And you reach out ...

Those Santa Ana winds are draggin' me down
Takin' me down where I was found
The fire goes in, the fire goes out
Burnin' all that you see
And everytime I think your love isn't down
I fall down on my knees

Those Santa Ana winds are bringin' me down
Pushin' those dust clouds all over town
Cloggin' my tears and robbin' my years
Of all we could be
And every time I think our love wasn't down
I'd get the ...

Those Santa Ana winds are spinnin' me 'round
Breakin' my knees and kickin' me down
Takin' me out and bringin' me in
Was it all just a game
And every time I wanna tell you goodbye
You give me just a little taste

Those Santa Ana winds are draggin' me down
Takin' me down where I was found
The fire goes in, the fire goes out
It burns all that you see
And when I though the wind gave me what I need
It took the devil out of me
And when I though the wind gave me what I need
It took the devil out of me
And when I though the wind gave me what I need
It took the devil out of me"

Nipsey Hussle (featuring Kendrick Lamar)

Dedication

Nipsey Hussle is the professional name of Airmiess Asghedom a rapper, entrepreneur, and activist from the Crenshaw district of south Los Angeles, active from 2005 until he was murdered in 2019. Kendrick Lamar is a rapper from Compton. This is from the album "Victory Lap" released in 2018. The address in the song "59th and 5th Ave." refers to his grandmother's house near his elementary school. You can even buy an imitation street sign with a quotation attributed to him: "59th & 5th at my granny's house, uncle Reggie spilling Schultz on my granny's couch, the lesson was never go the addict route."

[Nipsey Hussle:]
"Look, my ni**a this is dedication, this is anti-hesitation
This a real ni**a celebration, this a Dime Blocc declaration
59th and 5th Ave., granny's house with vanilla wafers
This the remedy, the separation, 2Pac of my generation
Blue pill in the fu**kin' Matrix, red rose in the gray pavement
Young black ni**ga trapped and he can't change it
Know he a genius, he just can't claim it
'Cause they left him no platforms to explain it
He frustrated so he get faded
But deep down inside he know you can't fade him
How long should I stay dedicated?
How long 'til opportunity meet preparation?
I need some real ni**a reparations
'Fore I run up in your bank just for recreation

Dedication, hard work plus patience
The sum of all my sacrifice, I'm done waitin'
I'm done waitin', told you that I wasn't playin'
Now you hear what I been sayin', dedication
It's dedication, look

[Kendrick Lamar:]
I spent my whole life thinkin' out the box
Boxin' homies three on one, got DP'ed but I ain't drop
Chirp on me, here I come, brrt, spin around the block
They blurped on me, said I ran a stop sign but that's a lie
I spent my whole life starin' at the stage
Playin' Sega, daddy smokin' sherm, mama playin' spades
Catchin' vapors, grandma said I'd get some Jordans for my grades
That's my baby, when she died my heart broke a hundred ways
I spent my whole life tryna make it, tryna chase it
The cycle of a black man divided, tryna break it
You take a loss, s**t don't cry about it, just embrace it
Minor setback for major comeback, that's my favorite
My ni**a L said you do a song with Nip, K. Dot he a better crip
I said he a man first, you hear the words out his lips?
About flourishing from the streets to black businesses?
Level four, yard livin' and give in to false imprisonment
Listen close my ni**a, it's bigger than deuces and fours my ni**a
Since elementary we close my ni**a, yeah, straight like that
I give you the game, go back to the turf and give it right back
For generations we been dealt bad hands with bad plans
Prove your dedication by hoppin' out Grand Am's
I'm at the premiere politickin' with Top, Nip, and Snoop
Damn, Pac watchin' the way we grew, from dedication

If it ain't congratulate then it look like hate
If it ain't congratulate then it look like what, Nipsey?
Hol' up!...."

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Santa Rosa

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a country rock band founded in Long Beach in 1966 and still kickin' more than 50 years later. This song is from their album Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy, released in 1970. It was written by Kenny Loggins, who went on to fame and fortune with the duo Loggins & Messina. The lyrics "...standing by the bay at Santa Rosa" are confusing because Santa Rosa is landlocked and more than 20 miles from the San Francisco Bay.

"Seems like ten years ago
Though today my mind is slow
Me and Mickey Craig
Were running west from Idaho

Robbed a bank to get some bread
Seems like fifteen men lay dead
In a path that led us straight
To Santa Rosa

Now and then ol' Mick'd say
Boy, at home you should of stayed
Than to follow me and learn the life
Of looking back

But he'd spit and slap his side
Just to see if he's alive
Then he'd sing his banjo song
Of Santa Rosa

He said, whoa
Singing, oh, Santa Rosa
Whoa, high and low

Then one day, sang ol' Craig
I'll be free to go my way
And be standing by the bay
At Santa Rosa

Now one time late at night
Mickey lit no fire light
'Cause he feared the posse close behind
Might flush us out

But he picked a bit 'fore sleep
To the tune of Cripple Creek
He was murdered by a man
From Santa Rosa, they shot him

He said, whoa
Singing, oh, Santa Rosa
Whoa, high and low

'Til I come once again
With my banjo pickin' friend
We'll be, oh, high and low
In Santa Rosa"

Maximo Nivel (featuring Los Atrevidos De California)

California Es Mi Tierra

As far as I can figure out, Maximo Nivel is a musician from Salinas and Los Atrevidos De California must also be from California given their name and the title of the song. This song, with some crazy tuba playing, was put on Youtube in March, 2024. These are a few of the lyrics, based on the YouTube transcript, which was a mess, and a Goolge translation, so it's probably not too accurate.
"California es mi tierra no me ando con chingaderas trabajando de masito Por poder sobre salir ya me viene el sol rayando el tiempo se me está escapando Puro pedo que me rajo para esto yo nací recuerdo los 15 años andaba de arriba abajo y me lo dio mi viejito mi hijo la vida está así el que no busca no come que Diosito me perdone pero no nacimo rico de al trabo me meti ..."	"California is my land I'm not messing around working as a masito to be able to leave The sun is already shining on me Time is slipping away Pure fart, this is what I was born for I remember being 15 years old Walking up and down And my old man gave it to me My son, life is like this] He who does not seek does not eat May God forgive me But we weren't born rich, I got into work..."

nok nok (featuring Clara Jo)

Cold In California

This downtempo electronic dance track was released in 2022. There are several remixes online, also.
Nok nok posted this in his Threads 2/26/2024:
"Hello Threads! My name is nok nok, and I play flute and piano. I like to make weird electronic music about camping and video games, and my song ‘Cold In California went kinda mini-viral last year. I also own a cafe jazz venue in SLO, CA. Cafe things have kept me pretty busy for the past year, but I hope to release a lot of new music in 2024. See you at a show sometime!" Clara Jo has some songs on Spotify in French, so maybe she's from France.

"You make it cold, cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
I see right through those lies
You make it cold, so cold in California

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

Cold
Cold
You make it cold
Cold in California

You make it cold

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

You make it cold
You make it cold
You make it cold

You make it cold in California
All of my friends they should've warned ya
That I'm not gonna play this game twice
See right through those lies
You make it cold in California

Cold
Cold
You make it cold
Cold in California"

Nomad

California Love

Nomad is a 5- member K-Pop boy group under Nomad Entertainment. This song is from their first EP "Nomad" released in early 2024.

"Apdwiro da wonlae neoui momeji
Nan nollaetji
Nune ttwiji neon imi haihil aen syeocheu-e ppalgan lujeu
Kareul daeji anh-eun nun ko ip
Siloheohaneun namjahan ten silh-eoyo, waeyo
Neon maltubuteo dallaji go
Gyaenedeul jekkigo nan balo dwieoseo dagaga nan
Gami jom dalla
Jumoghago iss-eossji neol
A donina mwo bissan chaneun eobsjiman
Jom ttoggohan nom-iya
Jigeum neol nohchindamyeon nan cham meongcheonghan nom
Chingudeul gass-euni wilo hae jwo
Yeppeoseo bodaga kkeumbagh-aessneunde
Neon Where are you from?

Oneul saeng-il-in geoscheoleom
Nal mandeulgo issjanh-a, now
Jogeum wiheomhaejin uli dul
Neoui heolil jab-a salmyeosi
California i neukkim
Modeun ge aleumdawun girl like you

Neukkim-i wassji
Ulin California love, yeah
Cheoeum bwassneunde do
Balo dwilo dol-assji
Na jeojeollo ne son-eul jabne
Ne gyeot-eseo swillae
Geuge nae lu-lya
Jamkkan nun gamgo kkwag jab-a
Geoui da wassji
Ulin California love, yeah, ah
Amjig an gabwassjiman
Neoman iss-eumyeon yeogiseo nal-ag-a
California love, yeah, ah
Ama ga bwass-eodo
Neoga yeogi issjanh-a
Ulin California love, yeah

Yuchihan uisim-eun jeob-eo (jeob-eo)
Chum-eun mos chundago haneundedo
Jakkuman seksihae jyeo ga
Neon deo
Beosji anhado
Ttak ti nan neoui silhouette
Jeoldae eodil gado ne momman kkulliji anh-eul geol
Heolag tteoleojyeossji
Il-iwa cheoncheonhi
I bang-e iss-eul ttaen geobnaeji malgo
Nan neoman balabol teni
Baby, please
Dwae jullaehal haman California queen
Dowum jom bad-assji this party
Hae tteun jeog eobsneun bam-i
Oneul-eun tto naeil-i doegessji

Nuga bomyeon jaesu eobsneun aegessji
Baebuleun soliji man New York Cityneun ga bwassja
Gal iyuneobsjanh-a
Mwo Parislado an gallae
Nae son jabgo yeogil ppalli tteonaja (Woo)

Neukkim-i wassji
Ulin California love, yeah
Cheoeum bwassneunde do
Balo dwilo dol-assji
Na jeojeollo ne son-eul jabne
Ne gyeot-eseo swillae
Geuge nae lu-lya
Jamkkan nun gamgo kkwag jab-a
Geoui da wassji
Ulin California love, yeah, ah
Amjig an gabwassjiman
Neoman iss-eumyeon yeogiseo nal-ag-a
California love, yeah, ah
Ama ga bwass-eodo neoga yeogi issjanh-a
Ulin California love, yeah

Oh
Yeah, baby, oh
California love, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Woo)

Neukkim-i wassji (Oh)
Ulin California love, yeah
Cheoeum bwassneunde do
Balo dwilo dol-assji (I'll get you right back)
Na jeojeollo ne son-eul jabne
Ne gyeot-eseo swillae (Oh)
Geuge nae lu-lya
Jamkkan nun gamgo kkwag jab-a
Geoui da wassji
Ulin California love, yeah (That California love, yeah)
Ah (Ah)

Amjig an gabwassjiman
Neoman iss-eumyeon yeogiseo nal-ag-a
California love, yeah (It's that California love)
Ah (California love, babe)
Ama ga bwass-eodo (Alright)
Neoga yeogi issjanh-a
Ulin California love, yeah
California love, yeah, ah"

"Front and back, it's all originally your figure
I was surprised
You stand out, you're already in high heels and a red blouse
Eyes, nose, lips without makeup
To the guys you dislike, you say you dislike them, why?
Even your way of speaking changes
I ignore them and approach you from behind
It feels a bit different
I've been paying attention to you
Ah, I don't have money or expensive cars, but
I'm a bit smart
If I lose you now, I'm really stupid
My friends have left, so comfort me
I was mesmerized by your beauty
Where are you from?

Today feels like my birthday
You're making me feel special, now
The two of us have become a bit dangerous
I softly hold your waist
This feeling is like California
Everything is beautiful, girl like you

The feeling came
We're California love, yeah
Even though it's our first time meeting
I turned around immediately
I naturally hold your hand
I want to rest by your side
That's my rule
Close your eyes for a moment and hold tight
We're almost there
We're California love, yeah, ah
Even though we haven't gone yet
As long as I have you, let's fly from here
California love, yeah, ah
Even if we've gone before
You're here with me
We're California love, yeah

Let's put away childish doubts (Put them away)
Even though I can't dance
I keep feeling sexy
You
Even without undressing
I can tell by your silhouette
No matter where we go, your body won't go unnoticed
Permission has been granted
Come here slowly
Don't be afraid when you're in this room
Because I'll only look at you
Baby, please
Will you be my California queen for just one day?
I've received some help, this party
On this sunless night
Today will become tomorrow again

People might think I'm hopeless
It's a boastful thing, but even if we go to New York City
There's no reason to go
I don't even want to go to Paris
Hold my hand and let's leave here quickly (Woo)

The feeling came
We're California love, yeah
Even though it's our first time meeting
I turned around immediately
I naturally hold your hand
I want to rest by your side
That's my rule
Close your eyes for a moment and hold tight
We're almost there
We're California love, yeah, ah
Even though we haven't gone yet
As long as I have you, let's fly from here
California love, yeah, ah
Even if we've gone before, you're here with me
We're California love, yeah

Oh
Yeah, baby, oh
California love, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Woo)

The feeling came (Oh)
We're California love, yeah
Even though it's our first time meeting
I turned around immediately (I'll get you right back)
I naturally hold your hand
I want to rest by your side (Oh)
That's my rule
Close your eyes for a moment and hold tight
We're almost there
We're California love, yeah (That California love, yeah)
Ah (Ah)
Even though we haven't gone yet
As long as I have you, let's fly from here
California love, yeah (It's that California love)
Ah (California love, babe)
Even if we've gone before (Alright)
You're here with me
We're California love, yeah
California love, yeah, ah"

NoMbe

NoMBe is the stage name of Noah McBeth, a German-American recording artist and producer active since 2012. He refers to his music as "Electric Soul." This song was released in 2015, and followed up with another version you can see below.

"She loves the sunlight
How it paints on her soft skin
Takes care of those tan lines
Scar tissue from the morphine

Baby, don't you know you are stardust
And you're a long, long way from home, way from home
Baby, brush it off like it's sawdust
Or you'll spend the California days alone, days alone

Because those California girls do me outside all night

This is the last straw
Take it off
This is the last straw
Why don't you take it all

She ain't never seen the zoo
With the monkey on her back
They'd arrest her at the booth
And then sell her to the lab
Put a label on the box that says
Treat it like it's glass
If she gets one scratch her parents
Never take her back
To be honest, she's a liar full of promise
She thinks her Rolex makes her timeless
Her famous friends think she's harmless
I'd burn the bridge with her on it

Those California girls do me outside all night

Pinned down, pinnacle
She looks like a centerfold
Sinner, cynical
(Baby)
Oh my, make her moan
Amateur, baritone
Sex drive, like animals

Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones"

NoMbe x Sonny Alven

California Shoeshine Boys

NoMBe is the stage name of Noah McBeth, a German-American recording artist and producer active since 2012. Sonny Alven is a musical artist from Norway. This song was released in 2016. It's a remix of the original (above) with a faster tempo, a brighter mix, and slightly different lyrics.

"She loves the sunlight
How it paints on her soft skin
Takes care of those tan lines
Scar tissue from the morphine

Baby, don't you know you are stardust
And you're a long, long way from home, way from home
Baby, brush it off like it's sawdust
Or you'll spend the California days alone, days alone

This is the last straw
Take it off
This is the last straw
Why don't you take it all

Baby, don't you know you are stardust
And you're a long, long way from home, way from home
Baby, brush it off like it's sawdust
Or you'll spend the California days alone, days alone

She ain't never seen the zoo
With the monkey on her back
They'd arrest her at the booth
And then sell her to the lab
Put a label on the box that says
Treat it like it's glass
If she gets one scratch her parents
Never take her back
To be honest, she's a liar full of promise
She thinks her Rolex makes her timeless
Her famous friends think she's harmless
I'd burn the bridge with her on it

Pinned down, pinnacle
She looks like a centerfold
Sinner, cynical (baby)
Oh my, make her moan
Amateur, baritone
Sex drive, like animals

Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones

Baby, don't you know you are stardust
And you're a long, long way from home, way from home
Baby, brush it off like it's sawdust
Or you'll spend the California days alone, days alone

Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones
Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones "

Noname

Don't Forget About Me

Noname is a neo soul rapper-poet-producer from Chicago, active since 2010. This song is from her debut album "Room 25" released in 2018. (She released a mixtape called "Telefone" in 2016, which is mentioned in the song.) Englewood (not Inglewood) is a neighborhood in Chicago.

"Your family looking like a prayer song
Your momma at the table cryin'
All her hair gone
Feeling fishy Finding Chemo
Smoking seaweed for calm
These Disney movies too close
He title email 'Noname thank you for your sweet Telefone
It saves lives'
The secret is I'm actually broken
I tried to raise a healer kneeling at the edge of the ocean
Somebody, somebody said it saves lives
Who holds my hand at night? I think the glass half full
Who brought me back to Englewood, I shouldn't bleed this good
Holy conundrum
I'ma pray to hope the bank account wishin' both of my loved ones
Tell ‘em Noname still don’t got no money
Tell 'em Noname almost passed out drinking
Secret is, she really think it saves lives
Somebody hit D'Angelo, I think I need him on this one
Brothers and sisters, mommas, cousins, uncles, everyone
Missing somebody
Dancing daylight

I know everyone goes some day
I know my body's fragile, know it's made from clay
But if I have to go, I pray my soul is still eternal
And my momma don't forget about me
I pray my momma don't forget about me
I pray my granny don't forget about me
I know everyone goes some day
I know my body's fragile, know it's made from clay
But if I have to go, I pray my soul is still eternal
And my momma don't forget about me
I pray my momma don't forget about me
I pray my daddy won't forget about me

Let's get down to the nitty gritty, changed my city
Ti**ies 13k, the pretty costs these days
Doctor really love me, I'm only half awake
I just came from the funeral, my ugly passed away
Welcome to Beverly Hills
Welcome to Vicodin, I took the pills
I think they save lives
I just hope that they right
All I am is everything and nothing at all
All I am is shoulder for your heart to lean on
All I am is love, all I am is love...."

NoNameTillBeFamous

California Dreamer

NoNameTillBeFamous is a Japanese pop singer. There's not much info about him (In English) on the internet. If we want to know more about him, I guess we'll have to wait until he's famous. This song was released in 2024.

"Nani mo kawan'nai asa guttari densha yura renagara omou kattari i' hitogomi no naka no machi de battari gikochinai kaiwa
ga hazumu 2-ri furikaeru kako ni awai hokago nani mo shiranakatta jinsei, kyokasho atama n naka
'issho ni ikitai Cali'-kai
tte subun kangaeru ore tte baka ka na?

Sakibashiru kimochi osaerude m o auyakusoku tate teru shumatsu mada norikire-soda
yo kono shu wa motteru dakede
wa nyu in'nai shuto wa

No way machiboke doro-darake
no ashi, machi o boken suru
shonen no yna kokoro de mita kotonai
mono o mitai dake o

Pretty mama kioku no naka mieta senaka oikakeru life
California mada to iya saki made yume o kanaeru tabi

Pretty Mama kioku no naka mieta senaka oikakeru life
California mada to iya saki
made yume o kanaeru tabi-jin

sorezore kyaria wa chigaedo
mokuhyo made no michi o
isogi-gachidashi supido
notte mo mawari ga mienai
tsukiru nenryo ni kokoro
wa mitanai kidzukanai
kamo ne jibun ja ano
hito to sugoshita shunkan ano toki ni ita ano kukan sasainakoto wasurezu ni

City to City
mukau kuni to kuni sono sunaona kanjo ni makasu hibi tamani ikitsugi,
sore mo aridashi jibun ga jibun
no mama de oreru yo ni
shuyaku wasurezu ni sono sutori kono-goe
ga kimi ni todoku yo ni kyo mo
maiku mae utau
You know me

Pretty mama kioku no naka mieta senaka oikakeru life
California mada to iya saki made yume o kanaeru tabi

Pretty Mama kioku no naka mieta senaka oikakeru life
California mada to iya saki made yume o kanaeru tabi"

"I'm tired in the morning and nothing has changed
'Katarii' I think while the train is rocking
I bump into you on the street in a crowd
Two people having an awkward conversation
After school, looking back on the past
A life I knew nothing about, a textbook
In the middle of my head, 'Cali, I want to go with you'
Am I an idiot who thinks for a few minutes after meeting me?

Suppress the feeling of running ahead
But we've made a promise to meet this weekend
I feel like I can still get through this week.
You can't get into the shot just by holding it.

No way wait
Adventure through the city with muddy feet
With the heart of a young boy who
I just want to see something I've never seen before

Pretty mama in my memory
The life of chasing after what I see
California is still far away
A journey that makes dreams come true

Pretty mama in my memory
The life of chasing after what I see
California is still far away
A journey that makes dreams come true

Everyone's career is different
I tend to rush the path to my goal.
I can't see my surroundings even when I'm driving fast
My heart is not satisfied with the running out of fuel

I might not notice it myself
The moment I spent with that person
That space I was in at that time
Don't forget the little things

City to City
Country and country to which we are heading
The days I leave it to those honest feelings
Sometimes I take a breather, but that's okay too.
Just be yourself
So that I can stay
Don't forget the main character in the story
May this voice reach you
You know me, singing in front of the microphone today too

Pretty mama in my memory
The life of chasing after what I see
California is still far away
A journey that makes dreams come true

Pretty mama in my memory
The life of chasing after what I see
California is still far away
A journey that makes dreams come true"

The Notorious B.I.G.

Going Back to Cali

The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls was a celebrated rapper from New York City, active from 1992-1997. This song is one of the hits from his second album "Life After Death" released in 1997 only sixteen days after he was killed in a drive-by homicide in Los Angeles. I doubt I'm the only one of his fans who wished he had not gone back to Cali, at least not in February of 1997.

"When the lala hits ya lyrics just splits ya
Head so hard, that ya hat can't fit ya
Either I'm witcha or against ya
Format venture, back through that maze I sent ya
Talkin' to the rap inventor
N***a wit the game tight, Bic that flame right
Spell my name right, B-I, Double-G, I-E
Iced out lights out, me and Ceasar Leo
Gettin head from some chick he know
See it's all about the cheddar, nobody do it better
Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women, and the weed -- sticky green
No seeds b***h please, Poppa ain't soft
Dead up in the Hood, ain't no love lost
Got me mixed up, you drunk them licks up
Mad cause I got my d**k sucked
and my b***s licked, forfeit, the game is mine
I'ma spell my name one more time, check it
Its the, N-O, T-O, R-I, O
U-S, you just, lay down, slow
Recognize a real Don when you see Juan/one
Sippin on booze in the House of Blues

I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali

If I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East
I live out there, so don't go there
But that don't mean a n***a can't rest in the West
See some nice breasts in the West
Smoke some nice sess in the West, y'all n***az is a mess
Thinkin' I'm gon' stop, givin' L.A. props
All I got is beef with those that violate me
I shall annihilate thee
Case closed, suitcase filled with clothes
Linens and things, I begin things
People start to flash, 818's, 213's
313's, B.I.G.
Frequently floss hoes at Roscoe's
If I wanna squirt her, take her to Fatburger
Spend about a week on Venice Beach
Sippin Crist-o, with some freaks from Frisco

I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali

Cali got gunplay, models on the runway
Scream Biggie Biggie Gimme One More Chance
I be whippin on the freeway, the NYC way
On the celly-celly with my homeboy Lance
Pass hash from left to right
Only got five blunts left to light, I'm set tonight
Paid a visit to Versace stores
Bet she suck until I ain't got no more, only in L.A.
Bust on b****es belly, rub it in they tummy
Lick it, say it's yummy, then f**k yo' man
F**k your plan, is it to rock the Tri-State?
Almost gold, 5 G's at show gate
Or do you wanna see about seven digits
F**k hoes exquisite, Cali, great place to visit

I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali"

Nova Doll

California Sunshine

Nova Doll is the solo project of Casey, from Barrie, Ontario, Canada, also with two other Barrie bands - Heavy Petter and Angry Spells. This heavy, grinding, doom rock dirge was released in June, 2023. It might be a song from their upcoming album "Denaturing" to be released Fall 2023. There are lyrics to it, bit they're buried somewhere in the grunge where I can't make them out. Maybe I need to brush up on my Canadian, ay.

Now We're Even

All For California

Now We're Even is the duo of Violette Lani and Iris Andie from Jacksonville, Florida. This sort of folk pop song was released in late 2024. I can't make out a lot of the lyrics. Let me know if you know what they are.

"Are we ...
It's no surprise I guess I'm just yours

I know those neon lights ... escape
... like you're LL Cool J

And I feel burning like this bridge up in flames
Guess you never knew it was the Golden Gate

I think you're making me homesick
You think I'm out of my mind
Now you're falling for the old trick
That stupid Hollywood Sign
Can't you see where this is going?
You can't just run that red light
You can't turn back once it's broken
So hurry up and realize

Are we ...
It's no surprise I guess I'm just yours
You left it all for California
Got nothing good enough to show ya
It's no surprise I ...

I still get your mail, I go and throw it out
But what if we're just having up and downs
But then I close my eyes and let you ...
Guess I need a new ... not for this small talk

Now you're chasing the sundown
While I have a meltdown
My heart was too rundown
For someone so Hell bound
Got your ... pass for a new town
You have nothing to lose now
What do I have to prove now
Oh if only you knew how

Are we ...
It's no surprise I guess I'm just yours
You left it all for California
Got nothing good enough to show ya
Are we ...
It's no surprise I ...

Keeping my phone by the window
Trying to get service
Two hours behind
I'll give it some time
But do you deserve it

Are we ...
It's no surprise ...
You left it all for California
Got nothing good enough to show ya...."

Maty Noyes

California Palms

Maty Noyes is a singer-songwriter from Mississippi. This song is from her album "The Feeling's Mutual" released in 2021. I like her use of the homonym "palm" here, which makes me wonder if you can identify the trees by their fingerprints.

"...A million dollar sunset,
Burning through my darkest shades
Maybe I was blinded,
Swimming underneath your waves

Yeah
Going way way back
As far as the sky
With the seat leaned back
The sun in your eyes
Almost re-relapse
Every time
I drive by all those

California palms
In California sands
The California palms
Of your California hands
I - I - I wish I could belong
Where summer never ends
In the California palms
Of your California hands

(Ohh Whoa Oh
Ohh Whoa Oh Oh Oh
Ohh Whoa Oh)

The Polaroid is faded,
But I know what we could have been
Still I can't explain it babe
I just knew it had to end

Yeah
Going way way back
As far as the sky
With the seat leaned back
The sun in your eyes
Almost re-relapse
Every time
I drive by all those

California palms
In California sands
The California palms
Of your California hands
I - I - I wish I could belong
Where summer never ends
In the California palms
Of your California hands

Would've been so easy
If we never slowed down
In your soft white sheets
We, we could never fall out

I'm going way way back
As far as the sky
With the seat leaned back
The sun in your eyes
Almost re-relapse
Every time I drive by
All those

California palms
In California sands
The California palms
Of your California hands
I - I - I wish I could belong
Where summer never ends
In the California palms
Of your California hands...."

Nullset

This Ain't California

Nullset is a rapcore band from Boston, MA, formed in 1997. They used the name "Gangsta Bitch Barbie" until 2000 when Mattel sued them and forced the name change. This screaming punk/metal song with inscrutable lyrics is from the album "Nullset" released in 2008.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you got your health, I'll call the wealth
So what you fell, scraped your knee
I can't believe you got the nerve to deserve me
Well I'm busy can't you see, take a peek
Now please leave me alone when I'm on the phone of god
The caller ID alerts they bring the bomb squad
Bad kids have the licks, when it fits, the time flies
Mystical your hits open eyes, don't look surprised (playa)

We're in disguise

Living it a lot when you're done go screw your head on
Did you get your cross
I look, one taste is all it took
Put back that piece you took

Reaping the benefits, sold the seats you label this
Hope be keep on your feet come back in like a nemesis
Look he's on your back attack stepping daily
And suckers walk away everyday, they're born lazy
Save me from the songs of remorse while you're brainless
Reality is challenging for you, spit out the weakness
Well I guess I could've warned ya this ain't California
There's more than met your eye, your disguise
Is so poetic but pathetic

Self
Self pathetic
Self pathetic
[?]

Living it a lot when you're done go screw your head on
Did you get your cross
I look, one taste is all it took

Living it a lot when you're done go screw your head on
Can't afford the ride, how come you wanna get on
It's not free, it's not free
Put back that piece you took

Take it cause you look in their bag of tricks
At the one they call co-real
Little did you know that you are playin' in my ball field, sugar
Well I guess I could've warned ya this ain't California
But I guess I let a [?] if you let it

Your pathetic self
Pathetic self
[?]

Living it a lot when you're done go screw your head on
Did you get your cross
I look, one taste is all it took

Living it a lot when you're done, go screw your head on
Can't afford the ride ,how come you wanna get on
It's not free, it's not free
Put back that piece you took

Well I guess I should of warned ya this ain't California
So I guess I could've warned ya this ain't California

Flat pay attention co-real
Little did you know that you are playin' in my ball field, sugar
Well I guess I could've warned ya this ain't California
But I guess I let a [?] if you let it
Pathetic"

Jasiel Nuñez & Peso Pluma

California Sunset

Jasiel Nuñez is a musician born in Guadalajara, Mexico. Peso Pluma is the stage name of Hassan Emiio Kabande Laija, a singer and rapper from Zapopan, Mexico. ("Hassan pura doble p.") This laid back regional Mexican song is from Nuñez's album "La Odisea" released in 2024. Why is the title in English, and what do the strange lyrics mean? No sé. Maybe there are some slang terms that aren't understood by the translators or maybe it's just poetic license.

"California calles donde me han de ver
Y unas donas son las que me forjé ayer

California calles donde me han de ver
Unas donas son las que me forjé ayer
Apestosa, Silvero de martille
Y unos Sambas, bipolares los porté

Con Caviar me las desayuno
Y eso que yo siempre ando en uno
El veneno que fumo es puro pues
Yo controlo mi propio consumo

Con Caviar me las desayuno
Y eso que yo siempre ando en uno
El veneno que fumo es puro pues
Yo controlo mi propio consumo

Lo sé siempre lo supe y siempre lo seré
Que siempre fuimos la punta del pre
Y para abrir los mares varias claves
Fue por mi madre que yo me le animé

Apestosa Silvero de martille
Doble vaso que sabe a piñita express

Con Caviar me las desayuno
Y eso que yo siempre ando en uno
El veneno que fumo es puro pues
Yo controlo mi propio consumo

Con Caviar me las desayuno
Y eso que yo siempre ando en uno
El veneno que fumo es puro pues
Yo controlo mi propio consumo

Y andamos en una compa Hassan
Pura doble P"

“California streets where I'll be seen
And some doughnuts that I made yesterday

California streets where I'll be seen
And some doughnuts that I made yesterday
Stinky hammered Silvero
And some Sambas, bipolar I wore them

I eat caviar for breakfast
And I always ride in one
The poison I smoke is pure because
I control my own consumption

I eat caviar for breakfast
And I always ride in one
The poison I smoke is pure because
I control my own consumption

I know I always knew and I always will be
That we were always the tip of the pre
And to open the seas several keys
It was because of my mother that I encouraged him

Stinky hammered Silvero
Double glass that tastes like a pineapple express

I eat caviar for breakfast
And I always ride in one
The poison I smoke is pure because
I control my own consumption

I eat caviar for breakfast
And I always ride in one
The poison I smoke is pure because
I control my own consumption

And we're in a Hassan company
Pure double P”.

N.W.A.

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A. was a hip hop group formed in Los Angeles in 1987. This is from the album "Straight Outta Compton" released in 1988. A movie about the band with the same title was released in 2015.

"Ain't no tellin' when I'm down for a jack move
Here's a murder rap to keep ya dancin'
With a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don't make me act the motherf**king fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I'm knockin' n***az out tha box, daily
Yo weekly, monthly and yearly
Until them dumb motherf**kers see clearly
That I'm down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can't f**k with me
So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck
Cuz Ice Cube is crazy as f**k
As I leave, believe I'm stompin'
But when I come back, boy, I'm comin' straight outta Compton"

Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was a singer/songwriter from New York, now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who also wrote hit songs for and influenced many other artists. This is an upbeat folk rock song with a banjo from her first album "The First Songs" released in 1967.

"California shoeshine boys, counting up their dimes,
Counting up the girls they've known and counting up the times.
I got heartache but I got news,
California shoeshine boys, you can shine my shoes.

California shoeshine boys never really care,
only for that California shoeshine in their hair.
I've got heartache but I got news,
California shoeshine boys, you can shine my shoes.

California shoeshine boys, rapping ten feet tall.
John can make sweet Cindy cry but Joe can make her crawl.
I've got heartache, I've got heartache, I got miles of heartache,
and I've got heartache, got loads of heartache
... ... ...
I got heartache but I got news,
California shoeshine boys

California shoeshine boys, counting up their dimes,
Counting up the girls they've known and counting up the times.
I got heartache but I got news,
California shoeshine boys, you can shine my shoes.

California shoeshine boys
California shoeshine boys
California shoeshine boys
California shoeshine boys"

Winona Oak

Baby Blue

Winona Oak is the stage name of Johanaa Ekmark, a singer-songwriter from Sweden, active since 2018. This electronic pop/dance single is from March 2022.

"you smelled like palm trees and cigarettes
you were the tangerine sky after a wildfire
you were a lost thing inside my chest
loosening my screws and crossing all my wires
how many ways did i say love you
did i say i love you
but you just couldn’t give it back
how many days til the sky was falling
cause i kept on stalling
i knew i’d have to give you back

you were a Hollywood day dream
a beautiful sad thing
oh so blue baby blue, yeah

you were torn like your ripped jeans
a bird with a bad wing
oh so blue baby blue baby

baby blue
baby blue
you were the stranger I knew the best
with those angel eyes, you were a wild liar
i was the savior you never asked for but I tried
and i would until i died oh
how many ways did i say love you
did i say i love you
but you just couldn’t give it back

you were a Hollywood daydream
a beautiful sad thing
oh so blue baby blue, yeah

you were torn like your ripped jeans
a bird with a bad wing
oh so blue baby blue

you were cold like a winter sky
yeah you’re so blue baby blue yeah
you were rare like the northern lights
I wonder was it true, was it true yeah

you were a Hollywood daydream
a beautiful sad thing
oh so blue baby blue, yeah

you were torn like your ripped jeans
a bird with a bad wing
oh so blue baby blue
baby blue
baby blue"

O.A.R.

Cruising California (Bumpin' In My Trunk)

O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is a rock band formed in 1996 in Maryland. This song is from their ninth studio album "The Mighty" released in 2019. It's a great upbeat danceable song that will make you want to go straight to California! Unless you're already there, in which case you're probably planning on moving to Texas....

"Early in the morning you'll remember all the words just right
If you never wanna be a silhouette you've got to find your light
For forty days and forty nights
You lie awake
I know you cry
But dreaming in your room isn't ever gonna get it done
Yeah, you got to walk before you run

Hey, son, go to California
Dance with angels, dress how you wanna
Anyway, just like the river starts with a raindrop
You'll make it better
Papa said, son, fight like the great ones
Keep your chin tucked just like I taught ya
Anyway, who said you can't go
Where you wanna?
California

So call me when you're close and you feel them city lights
Don't let the voices in your head talk too, you know they tell you lies
Yeah, for a hundred days, a hundred years
Yeah, there'll be demons, yeah there'll be fears
One day you're gonna look back how far you've gone
But you better walk before you run

Hey, son, go to California
Dance with angels, dress how you wanna
Anyway, just like the river starts with a raindrop
You'll make it better
Papa said, son, fight like the great ones
Keep your chin tucked just like I taught ya
Anyway, who said you can't go
Where you wanna?
California
California
California
(Oh, oh, oh, California)
(Oh, oh, oh, California)

Hey, son, go to California
Live with the angels, love who you wanna
Anyway, you know I'll miss you
Just like your mama call if you want to
Any time you need a hand now
I'll be there now just like I taught ya
Anyway, who says you can't go
Where you wanna?
California

Hey, son, go to California
Dance with the angels, dress how you wanna
Anyway, just like the river starts with a raindrop
You'll make it better
Papa said, son, fight like the great ones
Keep your chin tucked just like I taught ya
Anyway, who says you can't go
Where you wanna? California

(Oh, oh, oh, California)
(Oh, oh, oh, California)
(Oh, oh, oh, California)
(Oh, oh, oh, California)"

Connor Oberst

Sausalito

Bright Eyes considers moving west and living on a houseboat in Sausalito in this 2008 indie song. I hope he brings plenty of cash - it's in Marin County after all.

"We should move to Sausalito,
Living's easy on a house boat.
Let the motion rock us back and forth to sleep.
And in the morning when the sun rise
Look in the water, see the blue sky.
As if heaven has been laid there at our feet.
So we remain between these waves,
sheltered for all our years.
While bikers glide by highway shrines,
Where pilgrims disappear.
Where time takes icebergs,
Where fields burn westward,
Where pilgrims disappear."

John O'Brien

California Wildfire

John O'Brien is a recording artist and songwriter originally from Syracuse New York, active for more than four decades. This rock song was released in 2019 after a wildfire destroyed the entire town of Paradise, California. He put it on YouTube again in January, 2025 when the historic Los Angeles wildfires were still burning.
He wrote this in a Facebook post: "After releasing this song in 2019 about the Campfire wildfire in Paradise California, it is so unthinkable to comprehend what has transpired in Los Angeles. The song is getting a lot of radio airplay on the west coast now. I studied news reports about people being awakened from a deep sleep and suddenly being told to run for their lives. I tried to capture fear and apprehension along with the sensory shock of the situation in the song's lyrics. The video, directed and produced by the talented Victor Zimet, captured all of those emotions and visuals. These fires of got to stop!!"

"I caught that scent, it don't smell like it should
I ran to my door thinking something's no good
Smoke is rising up through the floor
I feel the heat, I bust right through my door

I look to the west, crimson fire is shining
Trees on fire, heat and sparks are flying
Where's the help, is it on the way?
Oh please, oh lord, could we live another day?

It came right through without a warning
Hot wind blowing, the fire storming
Everywhere I look, I see the end

I grab my coat, I cover my head
Run for my life, I won't be left for dead
Cars on fire, the inferno roared
The ground is hot, I'm scared right to my core

It came right through without a warning
Hot wind blowing, the fire storming
Everywhere I look, I see the end

Sun is rising, the help is here
Uniforms everywhere, it quelled my tears
But if there be another way
Make these wildfires go away

It came right through without a warning
Hot wind blowing, the fire storming
Everywhere I look, I see the end"

Frank Ocean

Sweet Life

Frank Ocean is a singer/songwriter/rapper born in Long Beach and raised in New Orleans. This song is from his 2012 Grammy-Award-winning debut album "Channel Orange."

"The best song wasn't the single, but you weren't either
Living in Ladera Heights, the black Beverly Hills
Domesticated paradise, palm trees and pools
The water's blue, swallow the pill
Keeping it surreal, whatever you like
Whatever feels good, whatever takes your mountain high
Keeping it surreal, not sugar-free
My TV ain't HD, that's too real
Grapevine, mango, peaches, and limes, the sweet life

The sweet life, sweet life
Sweet life, sweet life
The sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet life
Sweet life, the sweet life
Sweetie pie

You've had a landscaper and a house keeper since you were born
The star shine always kept you warm
So why see the world, when you got the beach?
Don't know why see the world, when you got the beach
The sweet life

The best song wasn't the single
But you couldn't turn your radio down
Satellite need a receiver, can't seem to turn the signal fully off
Transmitting the waves
You're catching that breeze 'til you're dead in the grave
But you're keeping it surreal, whatever you like
Whatever feels good, whatever takes you mountain high
Keeping it surreal, not sugar-free
My TV ain't HD, that's too real
Grapevines, mango, peaches, and lime, a sweet life...."

Frank Ocean

Thinkin Bout You

This is another song from "Channel Orange" released in 2012. It nicely uses the presumption that it never rains in Southern California to apologize for his emotional distress which is likened to a bad storm.

"A tornado flew around my room before you came
Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain
In Southern California, much like Arizona
My eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they pour

When I'm thinkin' 'bout you (ooh, no, no, no)
I been thinkin' 'bout you (you know, know, know)
I been thinkin' 'bout you
Do you think about me still?
Do you, do you?

Or do you not think so far ahead, ahead?
'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)...."

Phil Ochs

Bound for Glory

Phil Ochs was a folk rock protest singer-songwriter in the 1960s and 1970s. This song, about one of his major musical influences, Woody Guthrie, is from Ochs' first albm "All the News That's Fit to Sing" released in 1964. The title of the song comes from Guthrie's partly fictionalized autobiography of the same name published in 1943.

"He walked all over his own growin' land
From the New York island to the California sand
He saw all the people that needed to be seen
Planted all the grass where it needed to be green
And now he's bound for a glory all his own
And now he is bound for glory

He wrote and he sang and he rode upon the rails
And he got on board when the sailors had to sail
He said all the words that needed to be said
He fed all the hungry souls that needed to be fed
And now he's bound for a glory all his own
And now he is bound for glory

He sang in our streets and he sang in our halls
And he was always there when the unions gave a call
He did all the jobs that needed to be done
He always stood his ground when a smaller man would run
And now he's bound for a glory all his own
And now he is bound for glory

And its Pastures of Plenty wrote the dustbowl balladeer
And This Land is Your Land, he wanted us to hear
And the risin' of the unions will be sung about again
And the deportees live on through the power of his pen
And now he's bound for a glory all his own
And now he is bound for glory

Now they sing out his praises on every distant shore
But so few remember what he was fightin' for
Oh why sing the songs and forget about the aim?
He wrote them for a reason, why not sing them for the same
And now he's bound for a glory all his own
And now he is bound for glory"

Phil Ochs

Tape From California

This is a long story song, from the 1968 album "Tape from California," but we never really find out what will be on that tape. Maybe it's this song...

"Who's that coming down the road
A sailor from the sea
He looks a lot like me
I'd know him anywhere, had to stare

Feathers at his fingertips
A halo 'round his spine
He must have lost his mind
He should be put away, right away

In the corner of the night
He handed me his water pipe
His eyes were searching
Deep inside my head, here's what he said

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from California

New York City has exploded
And it's crashed upon my head
I dove beneath the bed
Fighting, biting nails, turning pale

The landlord's at my window
And the burglar's at my door
I can't take it anymore
I guess I'll have to fly, it's worth a try

Someone's banging on the wall
But there's no party to recall
The singer of the shadows of his soul
So he's been told

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from California…"

Odetta

Pastures of Plenty

Odetta was a singer, actress, songwriter, and activist called "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" in America from the 1950s on. She inspired many musicians including Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joen Baez and Janis Joplin. This is a cover of the Woody Guthrie song discussed above. She recorded it in 1960 on her "Ballad for Americans and Other American Ballads" album.

The Offspring

The Offspring is a band formed in Huntington Beach in 1984 that became one of the best-selling punk bands of all time. This song is from their 2012 album, Days Go By. It's sort of a punk/pop hybrid summer-song anthem about girls wearing g-strings made of dental floss and all that.

"Boom, boom, boom
Turn up the beat, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
I wanna feel it
California – don’t cha wish that you could come
Cause we’re never going home
Till the summer’s all gone

Ahh, summertime and the living’s easy
Cruisin’, bumpin’ my Huntington Beach
Cause the sun will shine
We have a good time
They all line up for a bump and grind

And the girl that you want
Is directly out in front
And she’s waving her caboose at you
You sneeze
Achoo
She calls you out woo hoo!

‘I know you heard that bass
Bumpin’ in my trunk
B-bumpin’ in my trunk
B-bumpin’ in my trunk’ – Oh yeah!

‘I know you heard that bass
Bumpin’ in my trunk –uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk – uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk’ – Let’s go!

Boom, boom, boom
Turn up the beat, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
I wanna feel it
California – don’t cha wish that you could come
Cause we’re never going home
Till the summer’s all gone

The sun goes down
The fire pits leap
It’s another summer night here in the OC

Well I’m not no baller
Though I do have an Impala
And I might say hey
But I’d never say holla

And the girl with the gloss
And a G-string just like floss
Well she’s waving her caboose at you
I bet you do!
She calls you out woo hoo!

‘I know you heard that bass
Bumpin’ in my trunk – Uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk – Uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk’ – Bump that trunk!
‘I know you heard that bass
Bumpin’ in my trunk –Uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk – Uh huh
B-bumpin’ in my trunk’ – Let’s go!

Boom, boom, boom
Turn up the beat, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
I wanna feel it
California – don’t cha wish that you could come
With the radio on
Blazin’ all summer long

Boom, boom, boom
You’re all up freakin’
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
My friends are drinkin’
California – don’t cha wish that you could come
Cause we’re never going home
Till the summer’s all gone"

The Offspring

L.A.P.D.

This is from the album "Ignition" released in 1992 the year of L.A. uprising caused by the Rodney King beating verdict.

"When cops are taking care of business I can understand
But the L.A. story's gone way out of hand
Their acts of aggression, they say they're justified
But it seems an obsession has started from the inside

They're shooting anyone who even tries to run
They're shooting little kids with toy guns
Take it to a jury but they don't give a damn
Because the one who tells the truth is always the policeman

Beat all the n***rs
Beat whoever you see
Don't need a reason
(We're) L.A.P.D.

The city of L.A. feels like a prison
With helicopters overhead and bullets whizzing by
Martial law ain't no solution
Police brutality's just social pollution now

Beat all the white trash
Beat whoever you see
Don't need a reason
(We're) L.A.P.D.

They say they're keeping the peace
But I'm not buying it because a billy club ain't much of a pacifier
'Protecting your freedom'
Man that's just a lie

It's an excuse for power that's more like an alibi
Law and order doesn't really matter
When you're the one getting bruised and battered
You take it to a jury, they'll throw it in your face
Because justice in L.A. comes in a can of mace

Beat all the n***rs
Beat whoever you see
Don't need a reason
(We're) L.A.P.D.
L.A.P.D
L.A.P.D"

Oh, Hush!

Oh, Hush! is Chris Sernel, a recording artist and producer from Los Angeles, active since 2007. This upbeat pop rock song was released in 2010. Frosty the Sandman and Santa's elves in bikinis - those are worth staying home for.

"So sick of snow fallin'
And nasty wind blowin'
Another Christmas in ...
Do you ever wonder
What happened to summer
It's time to move to Cal-i-for-ni-ay
Palm trees and Disneyland
And Frosty the Snowman made out of sand
And sun-kissed California girls
Are sure to bring joy to my world

It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Sandy beaches instead of snow, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Is that Santa surfin' ho, ho, ho
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Palm trees line the road, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
We're having Christmas at the West Coast

I can't remember
A warm December
Seein' the sun this time of year
Need suntan lotion
Lay by the ocean
I can't get used to this Christmas cheer
Hot girls with mistletoe
Santa's elves in bikinis, yeah
What a show
Presents layin' poolside
Yeah, everything's merry and bright

It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Sandy beaches instead of snow, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Is that Santa surfin' ho, ho, ho
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Palm trees line the road, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
We're having Christmas at the West Coast

Back home my mother says
There's a blizzard on the way
She asks if I'll be home for Christmas
But I think I'll stay
In Cal-i-for-ni-ay

It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas

It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Sandy beaches instead of snow, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Is that Santa surfin' ho, ho, ho
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
Palm trees line the road, oh, oh
It's a Cal, C-C-California Christmas
We're having Christmas at the West Coast

California Christmas time
California Christmas time
California Christmas time
California Christmas time"

Oh Laura

Oh Laura is an indie pop band from Sweden, active since 2004. This song is from their album "The Mess We Left Behind" released in 2012.

"It loves to rain on Mondays lined up in a row
Then judging by my luck it's bound to snow

Sitting by the window watching the cars go by
And the airplanes they're heading west across the sky

I guess by now I could be halfway to California
Heading for the good life and the sun
We could start all over in California
We could be two lovers on the run
Kicking back and laying in the sun

I woke up from a bad dream
There was running from business suits
And I reached out a hand for you
Something to hold on to

Now I'm waiting for the sunrise
I've got the Pacific blues
Valley of San Fernando
I'll dream of you

I guess by now I could be halfway to California
Heading for the good life and the sun
We could start all over in California
We could be two lovers on the run
Kicking back and laying in the sun

I guess by now I could be halfway to California
Heading for the good life and the sun
We could start all over in California
We could be two lovers on the run
Kicking back and laying in the sun"

Oingo Boingo

Oingo Boingo, besides being one of the most memorable band names ever, was a new wave band formed in Los Angeles in 1979 by Danny Elfman, and disbanded in 1995. Elfman went on to write more than a hundred film scores. This bizarre inter-planetary version of the Beach Boy's song is an unreleased demo from 1981. There is also a demo of the song that was recorded in 1979 when the band was called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

"Now Pluto girls are neat but you know they'll
Eat you up alive
Although they're nice to know when it's a thousand below
It isn't easy to survive
(To survive)
And Neptune girls are great for dancing
With a dozen arms and legs
They really hold you tight and they can boogie all night
But it's so hard to kiss three heads
(Kiss three heads)

I wish they all could be California girls
(Wish they all could be California girls)
I wish they all could be California girls

Now Martian girls are really pretty
With complexions bright and green
But nothing can surpass an Andromeda lass
I think their pointed heads are keen
And Saturn girls are really funny they can
Make you laugh to death
With methane clouds alas combined with hydrogen gas
Why it's a chore to take a breath

I wish they all could be California girls
(Wish they all could be California girls)
I wish they all could be California girls

I wish they all could be California girls
(Wish they all could be California girls)
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish they all could be California girls
(Wish they all could be California girls)
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish they all could be California girls
(Wish they all could be California girls)
I wish they all could be California girls

I wish they all could be California girls
(Girls- girls- girls- girls - I need girls -girls- girls- girls - yeah I need
I wish they all could be California girls
(Girls- girls- girls- girls - I need girls -girls- girls- girls - yeah I need
... ... ...
Calif-(ornia) Calif-(ornia) Calif-(ornia) Calif-(ornia) Calif-(ornia) ...."

Okkervil River

Don't Move Back to L.A.

Okkervil River is rock band formed in Austin, Texas in 1998 led by Will Sheff who is originally from New Hampshire. This song is from the album "In The Rainbow Rain" due to be released in April, 2018, but this song was put on YouTube in February, 2018. The singer of this song is begging someone not to move back to L.A., even though it appears like that person is doing well there - big house, got sober. I think he's just tired of creative people moving to the big cities and abandoning their roots when they could be writing songs about the Midwest and the Deep South instead of getting destroyed by the music industry. Makes sense to me.

"Don't move back to L.A.
Don't move back to L.A.
Don't move back to L.A.
Although it's 70 out
Don't move back to L.A.
You got a bigger house
Don't move back to L.A.
I know you're sober now
Don't move back to L.A., my baby
In your place out in L.A., my baby

I'm gonna send this out to Mistress Mike
She knows who she is and what I like
I'm gonna send this out to Susan Sneeze
I'm gonna say thirty rosaries
I'm gonna tell her

Don't move back to L.A.
Don't get your license back
Don't move back to L.A.
Don't cut your intake back
Don't move back to L.A.
You think it's best?
It's actually worse out in L.A., my baby
Don't move back to L.A., my baby

'Cause those West Coast cats
They're gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune you out
They're gonna chew you up and spit you out
They're gonna break, gonna break, gonna break, gonna break you down
They're gonna waste your time and watch you drown
They're gonna make, gonna make, gonna make, gonna make you die
You say I lost my soul or sold it out
But I told you, I want you
I told you, I want you
I told you now

Well, in two more weeks I'll drop this track
And you can have your New York City back
Well, I will send this out to Space Camp Chip
I saw him living on the ocean's lip
And I will send this to A Lone Heart Chris
He might not agree, but I'll insist

And I will tell him
Don't move back to L.A.
I said I'll move back to L.A.
You got a Midwest song so sing it out
Don't move back to L.A.
You got a Deep South song so sing it out
Don't move back to L.A.
You got a mountain song, just sing it out
I got a East Coast song, I'll sing it out
Don't move back to L.A.
I won't move back
To L.A. in my heart, my baby
Don't move back to L.A.

They're gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune you out
Don't move back to L.A.
You got a beach state song, country state song, wolverine state song
They're gonna break, gonna break, gonna break, gonna break you down
Don't move back to L.A.
So sing it out
Or fight it out, sing it out
They're gonna make, gonna make, gonna make, gonna make you die
Oh
Don't move back to L.A.
They're gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune you out
Don't move back to L.A.
They're gonna break, gonna break, gonna break, gonna break you down"

Old Californio

California Goodness

Old California is a rock band from Pasadena This is from the album "Westering Again" released in 2009.

"Started out a good man
Got tangled in the arms of a wicked plan
The years, the years, the years

Somewhere south of old Truckee
In the granite cliffs of the Gabilan peaks
There's a mountain fit for Moses
Where a man can feel as close as heavenly

When I come to my senses
Gonna get me some California goodness
It flows through the trees
And feels like being sun kissed

Man joins this world born to lose
Gotta give it all he can just to see it through
The years, and the fears, and the years

I've been lost some thirty odd years
And cry every one just to waste the tears
The years, and the tears, and the years

When I come to my senses
Gonna get me some California goodness
It flows through the trees
And feels like being sun kissed

Like a man caught in the hurricane's eye
I could only wish to to wake before this whole thing flies
The years, and the tears, and the years

Somewhere east of old Santa Rosay
The seven cities of Cibola lay
Under the years, and the tears, and the fears

When I come to my senses
Gonna get me some California goodness
It flows through the trees
And feels like being sun kissed
Yes it flows through the trees
And feels like being sun kissed"

Old Californio

Mother Road

This is another song from the album "Westering Again" released in 2009. In his book The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck called Route 66 "the mother road" and the name stuck. It runs from Chicago to L.A., passing through San Bernardino along the way, which is mentioned in the song.

"You've got to get on the mother road
It's like a river reflecting everything it's told
You've got to get on get your story told
It's like a pot of gold coast at the end of a rainbow
You can see it standing tall ... the old soul
Yeah the old soul
Fabulous sun
Fabulous one

Well I was ... trying to find old 66
She used to snake through the valley like a river cutting through all the chaparral
Now you can't see nothing for the commerce and all the traffic
But it's still the waves crashing with the weight of the sun

You've got to get on the mother road
It's like a river reflecting everything it's told
You've got to get on get your story told

Well I've been laying around too long like old San Bernardino
Sad and tired and proud like old Californio
But you can only stand so long by the side of a river bank
Before that cool cool water will cool you like the current will pull you
Let it pull you
Let it pull you away

I'm gonna pack up my wife and my son and a guitar
Gonna saddle up ...take a trip
Don't matter how far
Should anyone come around just a lookin to know
Well just give 'em the finger and point it on down the road
Ah 'cause the story is there to be told
On the mother road

You've got to get on the mother road
It's like a river reflecting everything it's told
You've got to get on get your story told
You've got to get on get your story told
You've got to get on"

Old Dominion

Make it Sweet

Old Dominion is a country music band formed in Nashville in 2007. This song is the lead single from their third album "Old Dominion" released in 2019.

"I know it's a drag, I know it's a grind
I know that a dollar ain't worth a dime
Just trying to keep up with the Joneses at the end of the block
I know you get tired, I know you get down
I know you get sick of this soul sucking town
But let's make a little lemonade if lemons is all we got

'Cause I'm stuck on you, you're stuck on me
I never gotta wonder where my honey be
I ain't savin' all my sugar for a Saturday night
Seven days a week I got an appetite
The sun sets like a tangerine
Let's find a road we've never seen
Don't waste another mile or a minute not kissin' me
Life is short, make it sweet

Open sky, glimpse of heaven, take the top off the CJ-7
Let that surf side Santa Ana wind mess up your hair
And let that windshield frame the ocean
Radio keep coast-to-coastin'
If we don't get where we're going, baby I don't care
I'm already there...."

The Olés

Goin' Back to Cali

The Olés are a West Coast reggae-hip-hop hybrid band from Santa Barbara. This is from "Westward Bound" released in 2014. I thought it was going to be a cover of the LL Cool J classic, but it's something completely different and a great upbeat California song.

"Far away but still I’m comin'
Home real soon, my mind is runnin'
Always thinkin’ bout goin’ goin’
Back, back, to Cali, Cali
Goin’ goin’ Back, back,
To Cali, Cali. That’s where I ought to be

Always travellin' mind rattlin' first stop Seattle
Then Carolina where I'ma set up for battlin’
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes you wonder
What they listening to back home, all I hear is thunder
Visions of Cali encircling my iris
Minutes of free time I’m writing; ink and papyrus
My homie showed me Raleigh and the southern flow
Still I’m dreamin’ of my home in El Dorado
So I made my way to the bay towards Santa Fe
Float ‘n’ wrote about the delta like Mark Twain
Since 92 I’ve had this Californian view
Sunshine state of mind man I thought you knew that I’m

Far away but still I’m comin'
Home real soon, my mind is runnin'
Always thinkin’ bout goin’ goin’
Back, back, to Cali, Cali
Goin’ goin’ Back, back,
To Cali, Cali. That’s where I ought to be

Westward Bound with the Pacific Sound
White Sandy Beaches oh the lovin’ we found
Overnight flight then I ride to Oceanside
Won’t stop ‘til I see the California sunrise
Gunnin’ for Huntington, slow jam in Rosecrans
The Bay to L.A. in a day, no traffic jam
Three hundred and sixty five days of summer time
Passin’ through Garden Grove, thinking of Sublime
Floatin’ in the water living to be alive
Forever Charging the line like number 55
Since 92 I’ve had this Californian view
Sunshine state of mind man I thought you knew that I'm

Far away but still I’m comin'
Home real soon, my mind is runnin'
Always thinkin’ bout goin’ goin’
Back, back, to Cali, Cali
Goin’ goin’ Back, back,
To Cali, Cali. That’s where I ought to be"

Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen is a singer/songwriter originally from St. Louis then Chicago. Like so many interesting musicians these days, her music is not easy to shoehorn into any one genre. Wikipedia currently describes her music as: art pop, indie folk, indie rock, and alternative country. This song is the B-side of her 2013 single "Sleepwalker."

"On the way to California
and I don't mean California literally
I was thinking, it's so comforting quiet

you read so softly over my head
it's late but I'm maintaining interest in the things that you say
I could listen to you speak all day

in the silence dripping wet with
kisses running down my lips
could be just a good friend
who knows at this point anyway

there's just something about the way you surrender your eyes
without this barrier of bodies, we'd already be inside

on the way to California
and I don't mean California literally
I was thinking, I was thinking, I'm not dreaming
not this time anyway…."

Joy Oladokun

Changes

Joy Oladokun is a singer-songwriter from Arizona, active since 2016. This song is from her album "Proof of Life" released in 2023. It only has one quick side trip to Cali but she and the song are so good that I had to put her on the list. It makes me feel ancient knowing that she was just a baby during the L.A. riots. Wait a minute - that was 30 years ago and the Watts riots were about 30 years before that. I hope that doesn't mean it's time for another L.A. riot....

"I hate change, but I've come of age
Think I'm finally finding my way
Danced with chaos at every occasion
She looks me up every day
Even when I'm tired and low there is gold in this
River that is carrying me home

Newspaper says the world's on fire
People yelling and the water's rising
It's easy to feel kinda anxious
Yeah, we've thought it was the end of time
We're still holding on and we're still trying
Life's always been a little dangerous
But I don't wanna stay the same, so

I'm tryna keep up with the changes
I'm tryna keep up with the changes

I was a baby during the L.A. riots
And I've seen cities burn again
Cried for the innocent a thousand times
And people still don't understand
What's it like to hope again and again knowing
That heartache's gonna be there 'til the end

Newspaper says the world's on fire
People yelling and the water's rising
It's easy to feel kinda anxious
Yeah, we've thought it was the end of time
We're still holding on and we're still trying
Life's always been a little dangerous
But I don't wanna stay the same, so

I'm tryna keep up with the changes
I'm tryna keep up with the changes"

one32west

Cold in California

One32west is a rock band fronted by Greg West, a singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia and Florida. This song was released in 2023.

"Landed in Kansas City, snow on the ground
I'm on my way to the California sun
You know I spend so much time on these airplanes
They always make me feel alone
But it's just 3 days and then I'm coming home

And it's cold, cold in California
When the January sun sinks into the sea
Morning comes every day without question
Guess that's just the way some things are meant to be

I'm surrounded by strangers in this place
Down Sunset Boulevard
And the fire from last night
Has left you out again today

It's amazing how life knocks you down
When you're least expecting to fall
And how bad things pass
When you're not even looking at all

And it's cold, cold in California
When the January sun sinks into the sea
And morning comes every day without question
I guess that's just the way some things are meant to be

Yeah, you know and I know
Some things are just meant to be."

OneRepublic

Good Life

OneRepublic is a band formed in Colorado in 2002. The song mentions London more than L.A. but it's one of my favorite songs from the band, best known for their huge 2007 hit with Timbaland "Apologize." The band's lead vocalist Ryan Tedder has also written and produced some great songs for other singers.

"Woke up in London yesterday
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly
Don't really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone

New names and numbers that I don't know
Address to places like Abbey Road
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want
We're young enough to say

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don't know
Where I've been for the past few years or so
Paris to China to Colorado

Sometimes there's airplanes I can't jump out
Sometimes there's bulls**t that don't work now
We all got our stories but please tell me-e-e-e
What there is to complain about

When you're happy like a fool
Let it take you over
When everything is out
You gotta take it in

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life...."

OneRepublic

West Coast

OneRepublic is a band formed in Colorado in 2002. This single was released in early 2022. It's more California dreamin'.

"I've been dreamin' 'bout the west coast (I've been dreamin')
Found some faces that I don't know (I've been dreamin' about it)
Give me the sun for just a year
I'll kiss the sky and disappear

I've been starin' up at the grayest skies
Tryin' to find myself some luck but it's runnin' dry
It's like the weather makes the worst of my cloudy mind
I could really use a dose of some paradise
Sometimes you gotta run from a broken heart
Before I turn into a ghost need a brand new start
Get myself headed to the coast, man it ain't that far
Yeah, they got sun in L.A. and some shinin' stars

[Chorus:]
I've been dreamin' 'bout the west coast (I've been dreamin')
Found some faces that I don't know (I've been dreamin' about it)
Seein' signs for California
Trade the shade for somethin' warmer
I've been dreamin' 'bout the west coast (I've been dreamin')
Where the people take it real slow (I've been dreamin' about it)
I need the sun for just a year
I'll kiss the sky and disappear

Ain't felt a drop now for forty days
But still they're washing cars and they don't show any age
Ain't nothin' that you want'll cost you more than time
If you're tryna find yourself, better get in line
I'm countin' up my money and spendin' to get it right
Got the future in my pocket, I'm spendin' it all tonight
Like a prophet with the vision, I finally see the light
And you know

[Chorus]

When I saw the starry sky
All I wanna do is fly
Take me where the sun shines bright, oh

I've been dreamin' 'bout the west coast
Time to find myself a new glow
I need the sun for just a year
I'll kiss the sky and disappear

[Chorus]"

OneRepublic & SEEB

Rich Love

In this 2017 pop song, OneRepublic and SEEB, a trio of Norwegian producers, venture into the tropical dance music genre. A good place for them. The Hollywood Sign again symbolizes fame and fortune in the entertainment industry.

"I remember talking and drinking what we could find
Burnin' all those candles and stayin' up through the night
We'd make reservations for the places we know we'd never try
But then oh, we found some rich love

I remember feeling broke as a bottle of wine
I didn't move to the city to count all my pennies and worship the Hollywood sign
She'd say, "Hey man, nice to meet you"
But she'd take it in one last time
And I know, cause I found some fake love

Ooh, broke as a bottle of wine
Ooh, but drink with you all damn night
Ooh, I'm not trying to trade love
Cause if we don't find money
Then what we got honey is just enough
We got some rich love

She'd say, "Hey man"
She'd say, "Hey man, nice to meet you"
She'd say, "Hey man, nice to meet you"
But she'd take it in one last time

Do you remember dancing? The parties out in the yard?
We would p**s off the neighbors
They'd eventually call the cops
And I was saving up for something, hoping life would finally start
Cause oh, we had some new love

Ooh, broke as a bottle of wine
Ooh, but drink with you all damn night
Ooh, broke as a bottle of wine
Cause if we don't find money
Then what we got honey lifts it up
We got some rich love...."

Olivia Ooms

California Country

Olivia Ooms is a country music singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach.
This single was released in 2019 when she was 18.

"Blonde hair
Lyin’ underneath the palm trees
Blue ocean
Giving me a melody
We’re chasin' waves
Like we’re chasin' dreams
So come and follow me

We light our bonfires on the sand
Bunch of Beverley Hillbillies with a tan
Staring at the same stars seen in the deep south
No doubt

I’m a California country girl
Got a west coast vibe
That’ll rock your world
I’m hard to catch
Like the rollin' tide
Got a blazing fire
Burning inside

Ooo ooooo
I'm a little more funky
Make you feel something
Ooo ooooo
I'm a 6 string strumming
California country girl

In the car with Brett young and John Pardi
Crank it up to the max, we ain’t sorry
4runner on the highway in good company
Summer raisin’ me

We’re burning up gas on PCH
Up and down all around 80 mph
Got a Golden State of mind
If you’ve been there
Hands in the air

I’m a California country girl
Got a west coast vibe
That’ll rock your world
I’m hard to catch
Like the rollin' tide
Got a blazing fire
Burning inside

Ooo ooooo
I'm a little more funky
Make you feel something
Ooo ooooo
I'm a 6 string strumming
California country girl

I’m taking these boots
And my Huntington roots
And I’m gonna cut loose tonight
I’m taking these boots
And my Huntington roots
And I’m gonna cut loose tonight

I’m a California country girl
Got a west coast vibe
That’ll rock your world
I’m hard to catch
Like the rollin' tide
Got a blazing fire
Burning inside

Ooo ooooo
I'm a little more funky
Make you feel something
Ooo ooooo
I'm a 6 string strumming
California country girl"

Operation Ivy

Bombshell

Operation Ivy was a punk band formed in Berkeley, California in 1987 and active until 1989. This minute-long song is from their album "Energy" released in 1989.

"(She) She (she) she's a bombshell
(She) She (she) she's a bombshell

(Whoa)

Down in South Oakland, off East 14th it's raining (Oh yeah)
Six a.m. on Sunday, the bums are praying (Oh yeah)
Met her at a party, we were drunk, now we're sober (Oh yeah)
She said, 'It's cold, got a long walk home, come over'
Oh yeah

She's a bombshell
She's a bombshell
She's a bombshell

I've retraced my steps a thousand times (Oh yeah)
Seems like I've spent hours asking all my friends about her (Oh yeah)
Been six months, I'll never be the same (Oh yeah)
Nobody, nobody, nobody remembers her name
Oh yeah

She's a bombshell
She's a bombshell
She's a bombshell...."

Rita Ora

Anywhere

Rita Ora is an English singer and actress. This is a dance-pop song from 2017.

Some time in the early 21st Century, songwriters ran out of words to use in the chorus of their songs, and sometimes in the verses, too. Maybe hip hop used them all up. It's probably the worst word drought since the Doo-Wop era with its dom de dooby rat a ta ta toos, and the great Jazz Scat word shortage with its doot-n doodle du-ee-ah vee zee nonsense. During the current lyrics scarcity, the solution seems to be to chop up a couple of words, throw them in a song blender to stretch them back and forth and bounce them around to the beat. The breakdown in this song does just that. It makes a silly and catchy hook, but not one you can sing along with easily unless you're Max Headroom.

In the song's chorus, the singer wants to be taken anywhere a million miles from L.A., but since the moon is only around 240,000 miles from Earth, that would put her about four moons away in the middle of space where she would freeze to death instantly and never record another hit song. So Rita, maybe L.A.'s not so bad after all?

"Time flies by when the night is young
Daylight shines on an undisclosed location, location
Bloodshot eyes looking for the sun
Paradise delivered and we call it a vacation, vacation

You're painting me a dream that I
Wanna belong in, wanna belong in

Over the hills and far away
A million miles from L.A.
Just anywhere away with you
I know we've got to get away
Someplace where no one knows our name
We'll find the start to something new
Just take me anywhere, take me anywhere
Anywhere away with you
Just take me anywhere, take me anywhere
Anywhere away with you

Fun, little less fun
Little less, over, over, over, over, me
Oh, fun, little less fun
Little less, over, over, over, over, me

Truth comes out when we're blacking out
Looking for connection in a crowd of empty faces, empty faces
Your secrets are the only thing I'm craving now
The good, and the bad, let me in
'Cause I can take it, I can take it

You're painting me a dream that I
Wanna belong in, wanna belong in

Over the hills and far away
A million miles from L.A.
Just anywhere away with you...."

Roy Orbison

California Blue

Roy Orbison was a rock, rockabilly, pop, and country singer-songwriter from Texas, active 1953-1988. A song co-written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, released posthumously in 1989 on Orbison's last album.

"Working all day
And he sun don't shine
Trying to get by
And I'm just killing time
I feel the rain
Fall the whole night through
Far away from you
California Blue

California Blue
Dreaming all alone
Nothing else to do
California Blue
Everyday I pray
I'll be on my way
Saving love for you
California Blue

One sunny day
I'll get back again
Somehow, someway
But I don't know when
California Blue
California Blue

Living my life
With you on my mind
Thinking of things
That I left far behind
It's been so long
Doing all I can do
To get back to you
California Blue

California Blue
Dreaming all alone
Nothing else to do
California Blue
Everyday I pray
I'll be on my way
Saving love for you
California Blue ...."

Orion Sun

Pressure

Orion Sun is the professional name of Tiffany Majette, a singer-songwriter based in Philadelphia, active since 2013. This song is from her "Getaway" EP released in 2022.

"Low
Got me running on E
All this pressure on me
Got me wishing I was six feet deep In the yard
Somebody checking for me
In the streets
Whippin' ‘round California
In the car
Windows down
Top down
I know you feel me now
I know you feel me now

I’ll go
Faster
Than them demons chasing after
Our art
Our laughter
I said 'baby, what happened?'
Now we overreacting
What's wrong?
Last one
Jump in
Be the captain

Low
Got me running on E
All this pressure on me
Got me wishing I was six feet deep In the yard
Somebody checking for me
In the streets
Whippin' ‘round California
In the car
Windows down
Top down
I know you feel me now
I know you feel me now

Patience
Build my house out of brick
Evenings
In the lot learning stick
I never got it down no it never made sense
Fast forward
Ended up with it
Automatic
I need to let it go
Let it go
Let it go let it go...."

Johnny Orlando

Hollywood Sign

Johnny Orlando is a pop singer-songwriter and actor from Ontario, Canada active since 2011 when he was 8 years old. This song is from his album "All The Things That Could Go Wrong" released in 2022.

"Walking 'round in a modern tragedy
All the zombies swaying casually
We could try, we could try, we could try to leave
But we built up a life in a fever dream
Playing people, plotting strategies
Bunch of angels lacking empathy
If a bridge isn't worth it you burn it down
Lose your head just to wear the crown

They say this place is paradise calling
Sky full of stars that keep falling
It's all that you've ever wanted (All you ever wanted)

All the lights in the city, don't look so pretty
When you count all the people inside
Who all pray for a moment, hearts halfway to broken
Staring up at the Hollywood sign
We all sell ourselves, while we bide our time
Yeah, I know what they say but I think they lied
What doesn't kill you might just make you lose your mind

Na na na na na
Na na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na na
Na na na

At a party in the hills just to show my face
Weaving through a crowd of people that I hate
Heaven's never felt so far away, so far away

They say this place is paradise calling
Sky full of stars that keep falling
It's all that you've ever wanted (All you ever wanted, woah)

All the lights in the city, don't look so pretty
When you count all the people inside
Who all pray for a moment, hearts halfway to broken
Staring up at the Hollywood sign
We all sell ourselves, while we bide our time
Yeah, I know what they say but I think they lied (I think they lied)
What doesn't kill you might just make you lose your mind...."

Mike O'Rourke

California's Callin' Me

Mike O'Rourke sent me a copy of his song which nicely evokes the 1960s southern California Beach Boys sound.

"I'm on my way to California
To maybe somewhere near L.A.
I'm on my way to Calfornia
The sun is out and there I'm gonna stay

California's callin' me California's callin' me

Oh way out west under a blue sky
The ocean mist it fills the air
I'm on my way to find that blue sky
Where I won't have a worry or a care
I won't have a care

California's callin' me California's callin' me

I never thought I'd get to go
And leave behind the falling snow

I'm on my way to California
Things they should be brighter from now on
Things they should be brighter from now on

And I can hear the ocean's roar
Lying right outside my door

I'm on my way to California
To chase that dream I hold so dear
And when you think of California
Think of me darlin' whishing that you were here

California's callin' me California's callin' me
California's callin' me California's callin' me"

Lee Oskar

San Francisco Bay

Lee Oskar is a harmonica player from Denmark, active since 1966, known for his work with the band War. This song that begins with 90 seconds of sound effects - seagulls, ship bells, water, fog horns, traffic and cable car bells - is from the album "Before the Rain" released in 1978. You might recognize one of the harmonica parts that was used in the song "Timber", a #1 hit for Pitbull and Ke$ha in 2013.

"A million people in San Francisco
A million people I don't really know
Nine hundred thousand doing 9 to 5
A hundred thousand staying up all night
Hey la da la da da da hey hey
It's San Francisco Bay
La da la da da da hey hey
It's San Francisco's way
La da la da da da hey hey
It's San Francisco Bay

Go to a nightclub drink it all up
They hate to go home
But they got to get up

Drive to the country Sunday afternoons
Get the kids down early
So they'll get 'em up for school

La da la da da da hey hey
It's San Francisco Bay

In the morning they roll away the fog
Round up the hookers, stolen cars, and stray dogs

Hey hey, it's San Francisco's ways
Hey hey, San Francisco Bay

A million people in San Francisco
A million people I don't really know
(I'd like to know)
Nine hundred thousand doing 9 to 5
A hundred thousand staying up all night
The city's ways on San Francisco Bay
La da la da da da
Everyone plays at San Francisco's way
Everyone plays at San Francisco's way
The city's ways on San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay
The San Francisco Way
San Francisco Bay
The San Francisco Way
San Francisco Bay
The San Francisco Way...."

The Outfield

The Outfield were a new wave/power pop band based in London, active from 1984-2014.
This song is from the album "Replay" released in 2011.

"One day the California sun will come your way
Walking along through endless rain
Wonder if times will ever change
Hearing the wind that cry's your name
Too many leaves upon the ground
Everyone else seems safe and sound
Faith is your only consolation

One day the California sun will come your way
One day the California sun will come your way

Lost in a place - nobody home
People around you they're all alone
Failure is not you own invention (oh no)

One day the California sun will come your way
One day the California sun will come your way

Waiting in line – taking your turn
Every mistake's a lesson learned
Surviving the pain is no salvation (oh no)

One day the California sun will come your way
One day the California sun will come your way
One day the California sun will come your way
One day the California sun will come your way

California sunshine
California sunshine
One day - California sunshine
One day - California sunshine"

Over It

Siren On The 101

Over It was a rock band from Alexandria, Virginia, that later was based in Orange County, California, active from 1998-2007. This pop punk song was released in 2005. U.S. Highway 101 travels more than 1,500 miles through the states of California, Oregon and Washington, but I'm sure this song is about the California stretch of highway because the band was based there.

"Up and away to stay
A while in the arms of fate
When did we start this crush?
The question could stop my heart

Sun on your skin, all smiles
A star at your side you fly
Hands on the wheel held tight
Don't you let go, just give it time, no

Tell me all you hear is our song
Like a siren on the 101
Did you come to say so long?
I was sure we had just begun

Tell me all you hear is our song
I know I can't be the only one
But you and me we are a breakthrough
(Just forget the rear view) Don't ever let me go

Was it a test?
This crime a footnote in your meantime?
A shot in the dark
When I was certain we'd come so far?
But I've got a light to blind
A vision of doubt tonight

The song on my lips will fly
And follow you home wherever you go

Tell me all you hear is our song
Like a siren on the 101
Did you come to say so long?
I was sure we had just begun

Tell me all you hear is our song
I know I can't be the only one
But you and me we are a breakthrough
(Just forget the rear view) Don't ever let me go

Where'd you go, what'd you want to know?
What did you come all this way for?
Where'd you go, what'd you want to know?
What is the luster worth so much more?

Where'd you go, what'd you want to know?
Wonder if my heart can tie up the score
Where'd you go, what'd you want to know?
Where'd you go, what'd you want to know?

All I hear is our song
I don't care 'bout the damage done
So turn it up and sing along
I still feel like we've just begun

All I hear is our song
I know I can't be the only one
But you and me, we are a breakthrough
Just forget the rear view, don't ever let me go

Tell me all you hear is our song
Like a siren on the 101
Did you come to say so long?
I was sure we had just begun

Tell me all you hear is our song
I know I can't be the only one
But you and me, we are a breakthrough
(Just forget the rear view) Don't ever let me go
Let me go
Let me go"

Buck Owens

California Okie

Buck Owens was a singer-songwriter-band leader from Texas. He and his band The Buckaroos were the pioneers of the "Bakersfield Sound" and racked up 21 number 1 country hits. Owens did move to Bakersfield, but the song is not exactly autobiographical. It's from the album "Buck 'Em" released in 1976.

"I'm a first-generation, genuine California Okie
Born in Barstow, raised in Bakersfield
My Ma and Pa were orphans of the Oklahoma dust bowl
I was born in the back of a rusty Oldsmobile

My daddy followed his dream West and when we laid his soul to rest
I knew he finally found that promised land
And now I am a working man and with the help of the good Lord's hand
I get to have what daddy never had

I'm a first-generation, genuine California Okie
Born in Barstow, raised in Bakersfield
My Ma and Pa were orphans of the Oklahoma dust bowl
I was born in the back of a rusty Oldsmobile

Well, I like Jimmy Rodgers songs, corn bread beans and honkytonks
I like the smell of new mowed field of hay
This valley is in my blood and bones, the sand walking where I call home
Where I belong is where I'm gonna stay

I'm a first-generation, genuine California Okie
Born in Barstow, raised in Bakersfield
My Ma and Pa were orphans of the Oklahoma dust bowl
I was born in the back of a rusty Oldsmobile

I'm a-born and bred, cornbread fed, California Okie"

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos

Streets of Bakersfield

This California country classic was written by Homer Joy and first recorded by Buck Owens and released in 1973. When Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens recorded it again in 1988 it became a #1 hit on the country music charts.
Los Hermanos Mendoza, three brothers from Bakersfield, also recorded a version of the song that was released in 2024.

"I came here looking for something
I couldn't find anywhere else
Well I don't want to be nobody
I just want a chance to be myself

I've done a thousand miles of thumbin'
Yes, I've worn blisters on my heels
Tryin' to find me something better
On the streets of Bakersfield

You don't know me but you don't like me
You say you care less how I feel
How many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

Spent some time in San Francisco
Spent a night there in the can
They threw this drunk man in my jail cell
I took fifteen dollars from that man

I left him my watch and my old house key
I don't like folks thinkin' that I'd steal
Then I thanked him as he was sleeping
And I headed out for Bakersfield

You don't know me but you don't like me
You'd say you care less how I feel
How many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?
How many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?"

Owl City

West Coast Friendship

By request: from "Maybe I'm Dreaming" the 2008 debut album by Owl City, an electronic pop project from Adam Young of Minnesota. A very catchy chorus on this one.

"Aloha, my happy west coast friends
Do you feel alive
When the breaking waves arrive
And wash all around you
The beach homes and ocean side
Are quite well known by the evening tide
And we can sleep where we reside
With redwoods around us
The blue air is up there
And could I bring it down
I bottle it up and save it for a sweet summer night

I bought a one way ticket
Cause I knew I'd never see the ground
Unless I was aboard a jet plane
And we were going down
When I wiped the tears from my eyes
The warm water took me by surprise
And I woke up beside the ocean
I realized I must be in California
I must be in California

Am I awake or is this just a dream?

The new year is out here
And I will make a lovely list
Of your charms
So I'll never feel alone in your arms
I must be in California
I must be in California
I must be in California"

Owl John

Los Angeles, Be Kind

Owl John was Scott John Hutchinson, a singer-songwriter-artist from Scotland, active from 2003 until his suicide in 2018. He was known as the founder and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Frightened Rabbit. This song is from his only solo album "Owl John" released in 2014.

"You exhaust me you know
Bellowing black exhaust pipe smoke
And the smog won’t wash from this unsuitable immigrant skin

Such a villainous grace
Oh I don’t know what you’ve done to your face
Some nights I can’t figure out quite where your heart is

Oh Los Angeles, be kind
No more trouble or red lights
I can learn to love you in good time
Oh Los Angeles, be kind

I read you all wrong
So I get drunk just to feel I belong
By a river so dry it’s barely a river at all

And we suck one another at night
Fire pistols and cover our eyes
And we waltz unseen behind Hollywood’s ballroom doors

Oh Los Angeles, be kind
No more headaches or fistfights
We can live with each other, it just takes time
Oh Los Angeles, be kind
Take me to bed with a painkiller, say goodnight
Oh Los Angeles, be kind"

Ozomatli

City of Angels

Ozomatli is a Latin/hip-hop/rock band formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. This song is from the album "Don't Mess with the Dragon" released in 2007.

"What you know about my city that's tic tac?
Hustle to get stacks
Fail get laughed at
Even from here I hear the chit chat
Grew up Miracle Mile
Fairfax to tar traps, Hamilton High alumni
What you know Ham and cheese supreme
JB to Carthay cat L.A. it be the base and the catalyst
Walk Crescent Heights worldwide back to strangle us
Land of the saint and the land of the wicked
Hollywood to Bell
The Manichean kick it
What a duality, arid reality
Devon Brown Shot
Minor technicality
Brad Pitt's cheatin' front page reality
Stanley Miller Beatin'
DA don't want to touch it
But I love my city
Soft yet rugged
Rep L.A. I know the angels will love it
City of angels! "

Anderson .Paak

'Til It's Over

Anderson .Paak (Brandon Paak Anderson) is an American singer-songwriter/rapper from Oxnard, CA. Even though he collaborates with Dr. Dre, his music owes more to vintage soul, funk, and R&B than to hardcore rap. This song is a single that was released in 2018. It mentions L.A. only briefly, but it's a really good song. (Looking at Wikipedia a year later, I see that this song has now been used in a TV commercial by Apple.) You can tell he's from So Cal just by looking at the names of the albums he's released so far: Venice, Malibu, Oxnard, and Ventura.

"We stayed up all night watching the comedy show
That aged whiskey and hydro
Good lord, what a nice conversation
I'm too floored to get anywhere safely
You know I talk about you highly
I'm fascinated for the time being
We can laugh until the morning
Or we can dance in the hallway

Only one more night in Los Angeles
I really thought I could handle it
But the funny thing is, I was holding back tears
I didn't think this day would happen
I give all this up for a chance at it
You would have thought I'd be the man for this
But the funny thing is, we can never stay here
I didn't think this day could happen

I'ma ride it 'til it's over
I'ma ride it 'til it's over
I'ma ride it 'til it's over
I'ma ride it 'til it's over

I'ma ride, I'ma ride
Ride
I'ma ride it 'til it's over
I'ma ride, I'ma ride
I'ma ride, I'ma ride

And don't all this new music sound the same?
Yeah, we must be getting old and grey
We left early, girl, that bed was s****y anyway
We went home and left our clothes up in the living space, aye
Would you stay if your heart had the power?
Would you run and find another life to imitate?
It's important that we make the best of short time
You could never be my one and only, anyway
Say, can't a young man dream?
Can't we all live the life on a widescreen?
What's the point? Yeah
Yeah, we had fun, if only for the time being

I'ma ride it 'til it's over...."

Palaye Royale

No Love in L.A.

Palaye Royale is a rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2008 by three brothers. This is a single released in 2021.

"Livin’ in the moonlight
Lookin’ at the hills, but the hills don’t shine right
Lookin’ at her nose but the s**t don’t blow right
Gesundheit!
Your mom says,
“You can change your face, but the pain won’t go away”
Addicted to the fame, but the fame is momentarily
Reality

The creeps are crawling up to the doorways
They’re dying to find out what’s inside
The creeps are always posting their photos
To show off what they’re lacking inside

There is no such thing as love in L.A.
Plastic people don’t got nothing to say
They’re judging me, I’m judging you
We ain’t got nothing else to do
There’s no such thing as love in L.A.

Livin’ on Melrose In motel rooms
Up all night drinkin till the day shows
With the B-list and the C-list
And the demons comin’ till I see s**t
On a private jet
But you can’t afford your rent
Gettin’ high with fake friends
‘Cause that’s all you got

I’m late for my own premiere
Maybe I should leave, my dear
I don’t feel a thing out here
But it seems to me that the demons of the city
Wanna keep me here
They wanna keep me here

There is no such thing as love in L.A.
Plastic people don’t got nothing to say
They’re judging me, I’m judging you
We ain’t got nothing else to do
There’s no such thing as love in L.A.
There is no such thing as love in L.A.
I said, “There’s no such thing as love in L.A.!”

Pacific Dub

Pacific Dub is a reggae rock band from Huntington Beach, active since 2008. This is from the band's first EP "First Drop" released in 2009.

"I got a little girl you know that she's all mine
I got a little girl I can't keep her off my mind
I got this little chick you know that she's just right for me
When I wake up every morning and she's by my side
When I fall asleep at night I can't help but staring in her eyes
She's that type of girl that all them girlies they want to be

Everything she does and all of everything she says just right
My green eyed slice of heaven got to keep her by my side
She's my little crazy one and everything that I wish I could be
When I hold her in my arms I know that nothing could go wrong
When she's holding on my hand she's really holding on my heart
She knows that I know that she's the only one that I can see

She's the only one that I know that can make me feel like this
And when she's not around you know her smile and her eyes I truly miss
Yeah she's everything, she's everything in me
Yeah she's all that I want and she's all that I could ever need

My California girl you know she's like that sweet sunshine
Like laying in the sand she's got that peace I want to find
My gorgeous little girl she helps to see the good in me
She's my smile when I get sad, my lonely face when I am lost
My sweet and perfect kiss, my happiness when I am not
She's got that type of loving in her soul she only lets me see

And everything that I am is all because of her
When she's holding onto me you know that I am truly sure...."

Pacific Dub

Utica

Pacific Dub is a reggae band from Huntington Beach, California, active since 2008. This song is from their first studio album "Fire Eye" released in 2009. I have no idea why this is titled "Utica" which as far as I know only refers to the city in New York state.

"I wish that I could find the words to say
To try and explain the way I feel today
Wake up in the morning everything feels alright
10 AM the smoke up in my face
The shining sun begins to set the pace
It's gonna be another crazy night, the California way

A brand new world we call the summer time
This herbal fade has got me on the line
You know just how I want to spend my days
Caught up in this crazy style
We live the day to make it worth the while
As we find our way through life's maze, the California way

We know not to live for tomorrow
Moving on day to day
Our own steps you know we will follow
We live the California way
We know not to live for tomorrow
Moving on day to day
The California way

And now the time has come for us to move along
To the place we started from
Today I realized through all the constant highs
These were the streets that gave us life
And all the times we've spent
The music we have sent from our hearts
We share it with the world
From the sunshine city we reside in
To everywhere the lovin' vibe is
We're coming with this irie fade

We know not to live for tomorrow
Moving on day to day
Our own steps you know we will follow
We live the California way
We know not to live for tomorrow
Moving on day to day
The California way"

Pacifique

Another Love in L.A.

Pacifique was a trio formed in France, active from 1988-1994. This song id gtom their album "California" released in 1991.

"On roulait vite sur la highway
On avait pris la direction d'L.A.
Mes mains serrées sur ton cuir usé
Ont glissé enlacés au son de ta Harley
On s'est aimé sur la highway
Dans ce motel où on s'est arrêté
A la télé Eagles chantaient
Un vieux slow que je n'ai jamais pu oublier

Je me rappelle d'un vieux motel
De la mer qui baignait le ciel
D'une guitare qui pleurait
Sur les bords du Pacifique
Another love in L.A.
Je me rappelle de ce motel
Un guitare criait vers le ciel
Un sentiment aussi grand que l'océan Pacifique
Another love in L.A.

Tu m'as quitté sur la highway
J't'ai regardée partir sur ta Harley
A la télé Eagles chantaient
Ce vieux slow que je ne pourrai plus oublier

Je me rappelle d'un vieux motel
De la mer qui baignait le ciel
D'une guitare qui pleurait
Sur les bords du Pacifique
Another love in L.A.
Je me rappelle de ce motel
Un guitare criait vers le ciel
Un sentiment aussi grand que l'océan Pacifique
Another love in L.A.

"We were driving fast on the highway
We had taken the direction of L.A.
My hands clenched on your worn leather
Slipped entwined to the sound of your Harley
We loved each other on the highway
In this motel where we stopped
On TV Eagles were singing
An old slow [song] that I could never forget

I remember an old motel
From the sea that bathed the sky
Of a weeping guitar
On the shores of the Pacific
Another love in L.A.
I remember this motel
A guitar was screaming to the sky
A feeling as big as the Pacific Ocean
Another love in L.A.

You left me on the highway
I watched you leave on your Harley
On TV Eagles were singing
This old slow that I can no longer forget

I remember an old motel
From the sea that bathed the sky
Of a weeping guitar
On the shores of the Pacific
Another love in L.A.
I remember this motel
A guitar was screaming to the sky
A feeling as big as the Pacific Ocean
Another love in L.A."

Paco Versailles

Young in California

This song was released in July, 2023.This is from group's website:
"Paco Versailles is a collaboration between guitarist/composer Vahagni and songwriter/producer Ryan Merchant (Capital Cities). Their sound is a mix of flamenco guitar rhythms with disco-leaning electronic production and captivating vocals, a new genre they call Dancemenco.

The name Paco Versailles was conceived while imagining a collaboration between their biggest influences, the legendary Spanish guitarist Paco De Lucia and French electronic artists Daft Punk and Air, both products of the Parisian suburb of Versailles."

"I miss those days
Young in California
No one to be dissatisfied
But now my ego's going crazy
I'm letting everything faze me
I feel the world try to change me
It's all on me but please save me

I want to cut to the chase
I want it all not just a taste
I want to cut to the chase
I want it all not just a taste

I miss those days when life was simple
No one to be dissatisfied
But now my ego's going crazy
I'm letting everything faze me
I feel the world try to change me
It's all on me but please save me...."

Cleo Page

California Prison Farm

Cleo Page (born Cleo Mallard) was a blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Louisiana, born in 1928 and active from 1955-1979. It is thought that he relocated to Los Angeles by the early 1950s and started his music career there. This electric guitar blues number is from the album "Leaving Mississippi" released in 1979. Page died in 1979, so the song was probably recorded before then. The back cover says that the songs were recorded at various dates through the 1970's at Los Angeles.

"If you ever do wrong
Don't get in a California prison farm
Yes, If you ever do wrong
Don't get in a California prison farm
Yeah, it's just a cold, cold place
Just like a wet fish slapped in your face

No my woman, she can't see me
I'm in a place they call the hole
No my woman can't see me
I'm down in a place they call the hole
Now don't nobody love you here
You're just a number, lord when the white man call the role

Yeah, only God knows
What makes the warden treat me like a dog
Yes, only God in heaven knows
What makes the warden treat me like a dog
No I didn't do no one no harm
But yet they got me down on a California prison farm

Woah, my woman, she can't see me
I'm in a place they call the hole
No, lord have mercy, my woman she can't come to see me
You know I'm in a place they call the hole
Yeah, don't nobody love you down here
You're just a number when the white man call the role"

Cleo Page

California Style

This is another song from "Leaving Mississippi" released in 1979.
This song proves that "California style" is more than just a thin crust pizza with veggies on top.

"California style
California style
California style
You know you're lovin' wild
California style

Got me soakin' wet
You got me soakin' wet
Baby I can't quit
Shake a little bit
It's California style

You made a move on me
You made a move on me
I won't let you be
Rock a little bit
It's California style

Lay your love on me
Lay your love on me
I like your sexy eyes
Love me a while
California style

Got me soakin' wet
You got me soakin' wet
Baby I can't quit
Shake a little bit
It's California style

Make a move on me
You made a move on me
I won't let you be
Rock a little while
California style"

Pak-Man & wewantwraiths

(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window?

Pak-Man is a musician from South London, England and wewantwraiths is the professional name of Mohamed Dahir, a musician from Leicester, East Midlands, UK. This rap track was released in 2024.

"I get my weed from California
I mix the lean with Molly water
Wash our Germans every day, got germaphobia
Light 'em up, these rappers dying for exposure
Cah I've been patient
Now we fifty-seven levels up on vacation
Take your bras off in this Brabus truck, must be amazing
It's a marathon and I've been working on duration
Hard work, dedication

So high, I can touch the stars
Got the double fours in the double R
Pot on the stove like a bubble bath
All I know is hustle hard, doing numbers fast
All I need is just a chance, what's a hundred large?
Family affairs and Damier squares
I'm coming from the jungle, it's just animals here
Pigs ran in my crib, just found cannabis there
This didn't happen overnight, I had to plan and prepare
Everything gon' be okay, wewantwraiths

Got the nine with me like Tion Wayne
Money team shut down the after-party
I'm really on, got a pretty one, half Somali
Skin caramel, hit a bag of sales
Turn your bag Chanel, now we're up in Bagatelle
Turn nuttin' into sumtin', no magic spell
Are you buzzing? Never had no help

I get my weed from California
I mix the lean with Molly water
Wash our Germans every day, got germaphobia
Light 'em up, these rappers dying for exposure
Cah I've been patient
Now we fifty-seven levels up on vacation
Take your bras off in this Brabus truck, must be amazing
It's a marathon and I've been working on duration
Hard work, dedication

We ain't hard to find, we on level fifty-nine
Pretty bi**hes on Molly, they're throwing up
I just mix and matched the time, baby I'll be free in five
Give me two, guarantee we gon' f**k
And all my akhis flashy, I just made a million tax-free
I can't let a bad B trap me, I'm stuck
And I've been on my grind, three sixty-five
You ever seen twenty brizzies uncut?
Free all the heroes
F**k the labels, tell them "Add another zero"
Fam all your life ain't even worth a kilo
Pakachino really move like Al Pacino
On the D-low, I'm a D-boy, need a reload
Maxy doing freeflow, free up Mali till he's free though
Way too direct like I was Quentin Tarantino
But wait a sec, prefer the lean over the Percocet
I don't want your weed

I get my weed from California...."

Patti Page

Patti Page was an American pop and country singer. According to Wikipedia "She was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, selling over 100 million records during a six-decade long career."

This song from 1953 is one of her four number one hits. It's considered a novelty song, popular with little children, but I think the singer is a hard boiled dame with foul play in mind. (Don't believe me? Listen to Page's hit "Conquest" sung by a femme fatale who hunts down an innocent man and traps him in a legal contract until one of them dies.)

Why does the woman singing this song have to suddenly take a trip to California? Why does she think her sweetheart is such a cad that he needs a puppy to keep him from cheating on her while she's away? Why does she talk about armed criminals coming to his house? I suspect that the dog is a McGuffin, her California trip is just an alibi, and she's hired a hit man to knock off her cheating boyfriend while she's gone. Or maybe I've just been watching too much Film Noir lately....

"How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale
I must take a trip to California
And leave my poor sweetheart alone
If he has a dog, he won't be lonesome
And the doggie will have a good home
How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale
I read in the papers there are robbers
With flashlights that shine in the dark
My love needs a doggie to protect him
And scare them away with one bark
I don't want a bunny or a kitty
I don't want a parrot that talks
I don't want a bowl of little fishies
He can't take a goldfish for a walk
How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale."

Panic! At The Disco

Laurel Canyon Blvd (Down)

Panic! At The Disco is a rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2004 that became a solo project for founder Brendon Urie in 2015. This is an unreleased song from the recording sessions for the album "Viva las Vengeance" released in 2022. It's hard to imagine how good the other songs must be. This one is too good to have been cut.

"Your daddy bought you a new black Jetta
A little something that's to curb the pain
Waiting on a call, text, or whatever
Your life's a storm cloud without any rain

Filled your life full of boys that are broken
Validation needed more than you
Scratching your arm with the blade while you're smoking
I wanna cover you

Said I love you, California, but you're bringing me down
You love me then you hate me then you're never around
A natural disaster in a fabricated town
I love you, California, but you're
You're bringing me down
Down, down, down, down, down, down, Down
(Down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down,)

A bitter pill that you never learned to swallow
A sight unseen from your new third eye
Your little tricks, never got them to follow
It's not enough to be the pitiful type

So take your medicine, your freak adrenaline
The kind of problems you had always dreamed you'd settle in
Stop making promises, you don't know what honest is
I wanna cover you

Said I love you, California, but you're bringing me down
You love me then you hate me then you're never around
A natural disaster in a fabricated town
I love you, California, but you're
You're bringing me down

(Around)

Said I love you, California, but you're bringing me down
You love me then you hate me then you're never around
A natural disaster in a fabricated town
I love you, California, but you're
You're bringing me down
Down, down, down, down, down
You're bringing me down"

Panic! At The Disco

Dying in L.A.

This is from the album "Pray For The Wicked" released in 2018.

"The moment you arrived
They built you up
The sun was in your eyes
You couldn’t believe it
Riches all around
You’re walking
Stars are on the ground
You start to believe it

Every face along the boulevard
Is a dreamer just like you
You looked at death in a tarot card
And you saw what you had to do

But nobody knows you now
When you’re dying in L.A.
And nobody owes you now
When you’re dying in L.A.
When you’re dying in L.A.
When you’re dying in L.A.

The power the power the power
Of L.A.

Nights at The Chateau
Trapped in your Sunset bungalow
You couldn’t escape it
Drink of paradise
They told you
Put your blood on ice
You’re not gonna make it"

Panic! At The Disco

L.A. Devotee

This is from the album "Death of a Bachelor" released in 2016.

"You got two black eyes from loving too hard
And a black car that matches your blackest soul
I wouldn't change ya, oh oh
Wouldn't ever try to make you leave, no
The neon coast was your sign
And the Midwest wind with Pisces rising
Wouldn't change ya, oh oh
Wouldn't ever try to make you leave, no

Static palms melt your vibe
Midnight whisperings

The black magic of Mulholland Drive
Swimming pools under desert skies
Drinking white wine in the blushing light
Just another L.A. Devotee
Sunsets on the evil eye
Invisible to the Hollywood shrine
Always on the hunt for a little more time
Just another L.A. Devotee

You got bleached out eyes from the valley sand
And the black tar palms keep weeping your name
I couldn't change ya, oh oh
Couldn't ever try to make you see, no
The high rise lights read your rights
And a downtown storm with Aries rising
Couldn't change ya, oh oh
Couldn't ever try to make you see, no

Static palms melt your vibe
Midnight whisperings

The black magic of Mulholland Drive
Swimming pools under desert skies
Drinking white wine in the blushing light
Just another L.A. Devotee
Sunsets on the evil eye
Invisible to the Hollywood shrine
Always on the hunt for a little more time
Just another L.A. Devotee"

Panicland

The California Song

Panicland is a rock band from Canada. This song was released in 2014. I miss the old days when maps were made of paper and you could throw a dart at one to decide where to go. Try doing that with your maps app.

"We're throwing darts at a map
Without a thing to say
Now we could paint an old school bus
And live out the cliché
(Hey hey)
We'll be in Hollywood by nine and
Dancing in the street
Let's fall in love, not in line
And live the teenage dream

Let's kick it like we're going to California
And got nothing to say
Except for get me out (out) of this damn town
Before I pick up all the pieces that I haven't found
(Woo!)

She took the chains around my neck, had flowers in her hair
(Flowers in her hair)
She said I'll race you to the stars and back
But darlin' that's not fair
(Uh-uh honey)
If life's a joke we'll be the punchline
The perfect mess my dear
We'll be a couple bodies worn out by their souls
But honey I don't care
(We don't care, we don't care, we don't care)

Let's kick it like we're going to California
And got nothing to say
Except for get me out (out) of this damn town
Before I pick up all the pieces that I haven't found
(Woo!)

Sing with me, sing with me
I'ma say pretend with me
Sing with me, sing with me
Won't you be my friend?
(Woo!)

When the moon is finally dead
The little things are all we'll hear
With Coca-Cola-coloured hearts
I'll be your souvenir
Heard someone ask whatever
Happened to this season's
Losers of the year?
Let's carve our names into a wall
We're all alright
We're here

Let's kick it like we're going to California
(We goin' down)
And got nothing to say
(Nothin' to say, nothin' to say)
Except for get me out (get me out) of this damn town
Before I pick up all the pieces
That I haven't found
(Woo!)"

Papa Roach

Hollywood Whore

Papa Roach is a band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. This blast of hard rock misogyny is the first single from the album "Metamorphosis" released in 2009.

"Hollywood whore, passed out on the floor
I'm sorry, but the party's over

Cocaine nose and trendy clothes
Gotta send her to rehab
She found out she's got no soul
But it really doesn't bother her
White trash queen, American dream
Oh, what a role model
Throwing a fit, making a scene
Like no tomorrow

Hollywood whore, passed out on the floor
Can't take it no more
I'm sorry, but the party's over
The talk of the town is she's goin' down
I'm sorry, but the party's over now

Awake by noon, drunk by 4:00
Sucked up in the showbiz
You're so lame, you're such a bore
I wanna kick your teeth in
Plastic smile to match your style
We can tell ya got a facelift
You're so vain, oh-so vile
You're a number one hit

Hollywood whore, passed out on the floor
Can't take it no more
I'm sorry, but the party's over
The talk of the town is she's goin' down
I'm sorry, but the party's over now

The cameras are gone, and nobody screams
She couldn't survive her 15 minutes of fame
Her friends are all gone; she's going insane
She'll never survive without the money and fame
It's all going down the drain
(Down the drain, down the drain, down the drain)

Hollywood whore, passed out on the floor
I'm sorry, but the party's over
The talk of the town is she's goin' down
I'm sorry, but the party's over

Hollywood whore, passed out on the floor
I'm sorry, but the party's over
The talk of the town is she goin' down?
I'm sorry, but the party's over now

Wake up, the party's over
Wake up, the party's over
Wake up, the party's over
Wake up, the party's over
Don't let the door hit ya
Where the good Lord split ya, honey!"

Paper Tongues

Ride to California

Paper Tongues is an alternative rock band from Charlotte, North Carolina, active since 2007. This is another rock anthem about going to Calfornia from the album "Paper Tongues" released in 2009. Charlotte to L.A. would be an epic road trip, crossing the entire country.

"40-40 dollar to the man who wanna go
20-20 to the sister with the ticket at the grocery store
I wish someone would get mine
If you got an extra dollar, can you lend it to a man who's poor?
I'm beat up but I ain't down
I've been lost but now I'm found
I've been defeated for sure
And now I got a chance and the city better let me go

[Chorus:]
I can't wait to get a ride to California
'Cause it makes sense to go to California
If Hollywood is where it's at, let's go to California
'Cause it makes sense to go to California
Can I give up? No
Let's just go
L.A., whoa
Got no money, sure
If you was me, see, you'd do the same thing you know
So leave your bags at your momma's door

Going, going, going to the man in the back
Cut the line if you feel me
Let me hear you sing it one more time
I've set my mind to break free
Now my body's gettin' loose
while I'm shakin' like a dancing tree
I'm beat up but I ain't down
I've been lost but now I'm found
I need deliverance for sure
If you got another seat on the bus will you let me go

[Chorus]

I really gotta catch that ride
I need to find a place in line
I'm pickin' up an L.A. vibe
I really wanna go this time

[Chorus]

Interstate, freeway, green light--go
You can even get a plane or a train if the traffic's slow
I bet you won't beat me
I've been waiting for a mighty long time so you best believe
I'm beat up but I ain't down
I've been lost but now I'm found
I need a ticket for sure
If you got another seat on the plane will you let me go

Hey! Break free
Hey! Break free
Hey! Break free
Hey! Come, go with me
Hey! Break free
Hey! Break free
Hey! Come, go with me

I can't wait to get a ride to California
'Cause it makes sense to go to California
If Hollywood is where it's at, let's go to California
'Cause it makes sense to go to California
Can I give up? No
Let's just go
L.A., whoa
Got no money, sure
If you was me, see, you'd do the same thing you know
So leave your bags at your momma's door"

Jon Pardi

California Sunrise

Jon Pardi is a CMA-award-winning country music singer-songwriter from Dixon, California, active since 2012. This is from "California Sunrise" released in 2016. I have to laugh at the online lyrics sites versions of line 3 where they have "Wi-Fi" burning" instead of "wildfire." I wish that Wi-Fi was the only thing burning...

"You could hear the wind howling across the ocean
And the taste of the wine and the buzzed feel in my head
And the only wildfire was burning right beside me
And we had us a night I'll never forget
She was a 1960s Beach Boys song
And we're living that dream all night long

In that California sunrise
In that California sunrise
She took me to Heaven and so much more
Like nothing I've ever seen before
In that California sunrise

Pretty soon it was raining up in Seattle
And it sure was cold out in Colorado
Yeah, I was missing her kiss in the heat of Arizona
Been everywhere and nothing could compare
Yeah, to that one of a kind trip I was on
Everything about her felt like home

In that California sunrise
In that California sunrise
She took me to Heaven and so much more
Like nothing I've ever seen before
In that California sunrise
Take me on back

Found her number in a pocket of my blue jeans
Picked up the phone and let it ring
Said 'I'm counting down the miles back to you, babe'
Yeah, I'm heading west on a big old jet plane

Back to that California sunrise
That California sunrise
She took me to Heaven and so much more
Like nothing I've ever seen before
In that California sunrise
Take me on back
That California sunrise
That California sunrise
That California sunrise
That California sunrise
Take me on back"

Jon Pardi

Santa Cruz

This song is from his fourth studio album "Mr. Saturday Night" released in 2022.
(One online lyrics site has Champagne and "rocky road" instead of "rock 'n' roll." Champagne and rocky road wouldn't be bad, either, but I take my rocky road straight up.

"Lookin' back through the memories in my mind
Takes me back to a distant time
It was me and it was you
And love was still brand new
On a beach with all my friends
Lead to a wild weekend

Love was in the air, stars were up in the sky
Fireworks was lit, burnin' up the Fourth of July
The breeze through our soul
Champagne and rock 'n' roll
West Coast dancin' with you
In Santa Cruz

Sent a postcard to a friend
Wishin' summer would never end
With that rollercoaster high
Ain't it funny how time flies by?

Love was in the air, stars were up in the sky
Fireworks was lit, burnin' up the Fourth of July
The breeze through our soul
Champagne and rock 'n' roll
West Coast dancin' with you
In Santa Cruz

Let the waves come crashin' in
'Cause I'm feelin' that again
Let the waves come crashin' in
'Cause I'm feelin' that again

It was a top down, freeway, California sunset
Kissin' on you is somethin' I'll never forget

Love was in the air, stars were up in the sky
Fireworks was lit, burnin' up the Fourth of July
The breeze through our soul
Champagne and rock 'n' roll
West Coast dancin' with you
In Santa Cruz

Let the waves come crashin' in
'Cause I'm feelin' that again
When the waves come crashin' in
'Cause I'm feelin' that again"

Jim Parker

California Day

I don't know who Jim Parker is. There are an English composer, a Nashville singer-songwriter, and a Canadian singer-songwriter with the same name, and probably even other musicians. This is written on his YouTube page for the song, which was posted in October 2022: "CALIFORNIA DAY is the second song on Jim Parker's, 60's influenced album, MAKE BELIEVE. It has a Beach Boy's influenced sound with big vocals and a whole lot of sunshine!" It might seem that the lyric "Sunset in L.A." refers to the actual sunset, but since it's capitalized in the video and we even see a street sign for Sunset Boulevard one time when we hear the lyric, it definitely refers to the street.

"Blue sky, sunshine
You and me
On that Santa Monica beach
And you know
It's a California day

Skateboards, palm trees
On the pier
Girls in bikinis drinking beer
And you know
That it's a California day

California day so fine
Take your blues away in no time
Nothin' better than Sunset in L.A.
And you know that it's okay
'Cause it's a California day

Tow down, Highway number one
Catchin' waves and barefoot fun
And you know
It's a California day

California day so fine
Take your blues away in no time
Nothin' better than Sunset in L.A.
And you know that it's okay
'Cause it's a California day

And when the sun goes down
We're just startin' to make the rounds
Party time!
Under warm star shine
'Till the sun comes up again

California day so fine
Take your blues away in no time
Nothin' better than Sunset in L.A.
And believe me when I say
It's always time to play
And everything's okay
When it's a California day
California day
California day"

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke Parks' career as a singer-songwriter, actor, composer, producer, and author has been prolific. He wrote some lyrics with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' Smile album and played with the Byrds, and more. Born in Mississippi, he moved to L.A. to become a Beatnik. I'm guessing that means he grew a goatee, wore a beret, played the bongos, and clapped by snapping his fingers. I don't hear any bongos on this, but it is a very weird song from his debut album "Song Cycle" released in November, 1967. The album uses unconventional song structures and a variety of popular music genres to explore Parks' experience of moving to Southern California to work in the film and music industries.

"Tracks of the beaten in automobile
Pound the from nine to fivers
'Round a long line of drivers
Wind to dine in the divers
And dandy lie

One line bled in tandem
From some new hatchet deals

Cracks in the heat and then caught by the wheel
Catch the country store feel
For the hackamore crew
View the cracker-bare coterie
Standing by

One line bred randy-rand and
Too few wretched meals

What's up Laurel Canyon, hey
What is up in Laurel Canyon
The seat of the beat
To meet and eat
In the heart of their companion way

That's up Laurel Canyon
And what is up the Canyon
Will even eventually
Come down"

Van Dyke Parks

Palm Desert

This is another strange song from the album "Song Cycle" released in 1967.

"By Palm Desert
To market to buy
Tenderfoot up to date
Palms of the real estate
By Palm Desert
Springs often run dry

I came west unto Hollywood
Never-never land
Juxtaposed to B.B.D. and O
Beyond San Fernando
On hillside manors
On the banks of toxicity
Those below and those above the same

Dreams are still born
In Hollywood I don't understand
Just suppose the youngster knows
He's had a good deal of fortune
And up through the babble
On the fair banks complicity
Buy your leave or stay beyond the game

Palm Desert
Not fade away
Palm Desert
I wish I could stay
Palm Desert
Sages abound
So head your head
To the ground round

Meanwhile in the wild west
Of Hollywood age is losing hold
Inasmuch as you are touched
Tto have withstood
By the very old search
For the truth within
The bounds of toxicity
Left unsung
So I have strung the frame

Not fade away
I wish I could stay
Palm Desert
Head your head
To the ground round"

Gram Parsons

California Cotton Fields

Gram Parsons was a singer-songwriter from Georgia, active from 1963-1973. He made a classic album with the Byrds - "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" and two with the Flying Burrito Brothers then went solo, helping to create the L.A. country sound of the '70s.

This song was written by Dallas Frazier and Earl Montgomery and originally recorded by Dallas Frazier in 1969 then by Merle Haggard in 1971. It's from Parsons' album "Live in 1973" which was released posthumously. For the lyrics see the original version by Dallas Frazier.

Passenger

Passenger is the stage name of Michael David Rosenberg, an indie folk singer-songwriter from Brighton England, active since 2001. This version of the song was recorded live in Los Angeles with just him and an acoustic guitar and put on YouTube in September, 2024. I have not yet found a studio recording of. It's about a road trip up the PCH from L.A. to S.F. I couldn't understand what kind of rusty rental car they got stuck with until I found out that the Brits pronounce Hyundai much differently than Americans do. For a laugh, ask one to say that he'd like to schedule an advertisement for vitamins for his zebra in privacy on his mobile.

"We planned to rent us a Mustang
But Avis left us high and dry
So we drove up through California
In a rusty old Hyundai

Morning out on Santa Monica
She said it reminded her of a video game
I remember saying the same thing long ago
Sometimes we just seem to see some things the same
Sometimes we just seem to see some things the same

If I close my eyes I go back there with her
Wind in our hair, shoes in our hands
Threading our toes through the surf

The afternoon on Santa Barbara
Watching pelicans fly around the pier
I said as we walked around the harbor
I don't think folks worry about money around here
I don't think folks worry about money around here

If I close my eyes I go back there with her
Snaking our way upon the coastline
Looking out over Big Sur

Just for a moment I didn't worry about anything
She was my queen and I her California king

We flew out of San Francisco
Back to the driving London rain
I loved her in California
I love her anywhere just the same"

Jason Paulson Band

Cold in California

The Jason Paulson Band was formed in Minnesota in the early 2000s to play Americana, blues, country and folk music. This song is from the album "Crow River Ramble" released in 2016. It seems to me that it would be hot in the devil's bead with all that hellfire, or at least she'd have a pile of comforters under her stack of a thousand little pillows..

"The sky is cold and broken like a feeling deep within
And you lost sight of where you end and the devil begins
Used to take to the highway to free your mind
Now all you see is the dead and broken that you left behind

It is cold in California
And the night feels like death
It's cold in California
When you're lying in the devil's bed

The freedom that once was given is burning in this wind
And there's no amount of highway that can get it back again
[?] only prove there's nothing left to say
With a finger on the trigger and a foot down in the grave

And it's cold in California
And the night feels like death
It's cold in California
When you're lying in the devil's bed

Graveyard don't hold your name but it's a welcome sight
And the blood stains your hands and there's nothing left inside
Were you empty when this started before the wickedness came?
Or did you once live here before they took your fate?
You know there's no redemption for your kind of sins
But you can go out with a little of what you had coming in

And it's cold in California
And the night feels like death
It's cold in California
When you're lying in the devil's bed

And it's cold in California
When you're lying in the devil's bed"

Pavement

Two States

Pavement is a rock band formed in Stockton in 1989. They're obviously from Northern California as you can hear in this song from their first album "Slanted and Enchanted" released in 1992. Nobody in Southern California wants to split the state in two and give up all that free water. Every once in a while some lunatic actually does submit a proposal to split California. If it happens it would ruin this list of mine so for that reason alone I urge you to Vote No!

"Two states
We want two states
North and south
Two, two states

Forty million daggers
Forty million daggers
Forty million daggers
Forty million daggers

Two states
We want two states
There's no culture
There's no spies…"

Pavement

Unfair

We get a regular tour of the state in this loud dissonant wonderful 1994 Indie rocker. Stephen Malkmus is better than most at screaming about things that don't need screaming about and making them sound worth screaming about.

"Down in Santa Rosa over the bay
Across the Grapevine to L.A.
We got desert, we've got trees
We got the hills of Beverly
Let's burn the hills of Beverly
… … …
Up to the top of the Shasta gulch
And to the bottom of the Tahoe lake
Man-made deltas and concrete rivers
The south takes what the north delivers
You film hack, I don't use your fade

Lost in the foothills of my pride
... say good night
To the last psychedelic band
From Sacto, northern Cal
From Sacto, northern Cal…."

Waylon Payne

Waylon Payne is a country music singer-songrwriter and actor from Nashville & Texas whose music career came together in Los Angeles. This song is from "Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me" released in 2020. The Santa Ana winds are strong, hot, dry winds that come down from the high deserts towards the valleys and coastal plains, exaggerated by the mountain passes. They often blow during autumn when they're infamous for fanning the flames of wildfires. They're also called "devil winds" and they can make it feel like you're in Hell.

"Oh, the Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
I've been a long time gone away
The Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
'Cause I wanna see your face

If the day comes
That you leave me
I won't cry, I'm gonna smile
And when the day comes that you need me, baby
You know I'll walk every mile

And the Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
I'm been a long time gone away
The Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
'Cause I wanna see your face

Yeah, I smile when I think about you
'Cause you're always on my mind
So when you feel that old breeze blowing
You know that I'll be right behind

The Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
I'm been a long time gone away
The Santa Ana winds
They gonna carry me back to you
'Cause I wanna see your face"

Pearl Jam

Santa Cruz

Pearl Jam is a rock band formed in Seattle and active since 1990. This is a single released in 2008. Lead singer Eddie Vedder was born near Chicago but as a boy he moved to San Diego where he learned to surf. That might be the inspiration for this song, though it makes me wonder why he sings about Santa Cruz and not San Diego.

"Heading South a compass reads
Look at our speed, we're going sixty-three
Look out the window as the trees go green
I look at them and they look at me
Got Neil Young on the stereo
He comes along whenever I go
Something different as I hear him now
Heading south on a familiar route

I can feel them lifting up my blues
I can see a white horizon, new
Got the feeling I just can't lose
Rolling into Santa Cruz

I've got an old friend he remembers me
From way back when we were seventeen
We got kids and we're older now
But when I see him, we're still seventeen

I need the beach to set me free
I need the wind to make me breathe
I need the water to wash my soul
I need my loved ones to let me go

I can feel them lifting up my blues
I can see a white horizon blue
Got the feeling that I just can't lose
Rolling into Santa Cruz

Up in the Northwest, we got it good
Little soggy, but we've got it good
Can't help thinking that I wish I would
Move my ass down to Santa Cruz

I got the feeling that I just can't lose
Pulling into Santa Cruz
I got a feeling that I just can't lose
Pulling into Santa Cruz
I got a feeling I don't want to lose
Pulling into Santa Cruz
I got a feeling I just can't lose
Pulling into Santa Cruz"

Pedro the Lion

Modesto

Pedro the Lion is an indie rock band from Seattle WA fronted by David Bazan, active on and off since 1995. This song is from the album "Santa Cruz" released in 2024.

"Modesto isn’t boring like you thought it would be
Modesto it’s not bologna like you thought it would be
Modesto isn’t lonely like you thought it would be

At first I got a vacuum cleaner salesman job
For men I later recognized in Glengarry Glen Ross
I only sold one
She couldn’t afford it
She wrote out the check
And burst out sobbing

After work I hung out with my new church friends and traded stories
We decided I should quit and then we laughed and carried on til morning
Next day I got a part-time job at the local guitar store

In Modesto it isn’t boring like you thought it would be
Modesto it’s not bologna like you thought it would be
Modesto isn’t lonely like you thought it would be

I heard the perfect song at work today
Having asked if there were bands to see and spots to play
Jim said hell yeah then he handed me a tape

What I heard in my Walkman headphones
Pacing by the speakers and PAs
Was a beautiful hilarious tragic mess
That sent tears streaming down my face
Grabbed me by the lapels, stood me up, and put a 4-track in my hand and told me son
Make all the messes you can manage to make

And move back to Seattle
Be the drummer in a band
There’s a girl from there that Fridays on my lunch break
I write letters to
And I think she likes me too
And I'm gonna find out
I'm gonna go to bible college on my cousin’s dime
In my Volvo wagon
Speeding up I-5"

Paige Peel

California Crazy

Paige Peel is a country singer-songwriter active since 2013. This song was released in 2019. Songs and tourists think all of California is next to a beach in the sun but that just ain't so.

"Such a fool boy dumb boy were you mistaken
When you left I was the one thing you should have taken
But the truth is I'm way better off without you
Got a new life out here in California

Heard that you've been a sad lonely second-guesser
That's what you get when you're not man enough to pull the trigger
You see me smile in the sunny sandy pic I posted
Poor thing you can't scroll past it

You wish you were that sea salt air flowing through my hair
You wanna be that West Coast sun kissing this tan I wear
You wish you were the warmth I feel out in the summer night wind
You're just jealous of the Golden State I'm in
You're a million miles away missin' me
Going Cali-California Crazy
You're goin' Cali-California crazy

Heard our old song didn't even think about you
You can't move on but take it off repeat why dontcha?
You're dying to hear me beg you to come back baby
You must be crazy

You wish you were that sea salt air flowing through my hair
You wanna be that west coast sun kissing this tan I wear
You wish you were the warmth I feel out in the summer night wind
You're just jealous of the Golden State I'm in
You're a million miles away missin' me
Going Cali-California Crazy
You're goin' Cali-California crazy

Oo-oo-oo-oo
Oo-oo-oo mmm yeah
Oo-oo-oo-oo
Oo-oo-oo-oo

You wish you were that sea salt air flowing through my hair
You wanna be that West Coast sun kissing this tan I wear
You wish you were the warmth I feel out in the summer night wind
You're just jealous of the Golden State I'm in
You're a million miles away missin' me
Going Cali-California Crazy
You're goin' Cali-California crazy
You're goin' Cali-California crazy
You're goin' Cali-California crazy"

The Penguins

Memories of El Monte

The Penguins were a doo-wop group from Los Angeles active from 1953 to 2012, best known for their 1954 hit "Earth Angel" which is quoted in this song which was released in 1963.

"I'm all alone
Feeling so blue
Thinking about you
And the love we once knew
And each time I do
It brings back those memories
Of El Monte

Remember the dance
I held you so tight
The Satins were singing
In the still of the night
You gave me your heart
And your love undying
Now I'm alone
I'm sitting here crying

If only they had
Those dances again
I'd know where to find you
And all my old friends
The Shields would sing
'You cheated. You lied...'
And the Heartbeats
'You're a thousand miles away...'
And the Medallions with 'The Letter' and
'Sweet words of his mortality...'
Marvin and Johnny with
'Cherry Pie...'
And then, Tony Allen with
'Night owl...'
And I, Cleve Duncan, along with the Penguins will sing
'Earth angel
Earth angel
Will you be mine?'
At El Monte

If I could go back
To those days of the past
I'd show you a love
A love that would last
Oh, I remember
Those wonderful dances
In El Monte
In El Monte
'Earth angel
Earth angel
Will you be mine?'
At El Monte"

Michael Penn

Bunker Hill

Michel Penn is a singer, songwriter, producer, and film soundtrack composer from New York who comes from a family of actors, including his brothers Sean and Chris Penn. This song is from his 1992 album "Free-for-All." There are a few Bunker Hills, but this one seems to be about the Bunker Hill neighborhood in Los Angeles. The line about fires on Vermont (an avenue a few miles to the west of Bunker Hill) makes me think that this is about the 1992 Rodney King riots in L.A.

"Always thought it was a game with us
Move until enough's enough
Into a picture-perfect view
I'd like to rip it up with you
Why would anybody leave this place?
It's overdrawn
And won't erase
And if you're feeling incomplete
The line is stretching up the street

So take a look
But you might stay until
You have counted every light from Bunker Hill
Take a coat you're going to freeze

My baby sees every sentence with an underline
Never uses turpentine
Put out a fleece and build a kite
A siren's going off tonight
Lay your head down
Do you call this chance?
Found the exit
This entrance
Now's the time
(and it is still)
I'm sorry that I kept you waiting here until

Hey, Luanda
Do you want a thrill?
We can watch the lights shine up from Bunker Hill
But if it puts your heart at ease
My baby, please...

Try,
But you can't hide
Impossible. You're lit from the inside
And all I've got to do is
Keep my eyes above the ground
To see you move around

The only points of light are fires on Vermont
Somebody must suspect that all we really want
Is a tranquilizer gun to fill
It's a free-for-all on Bunker Hill
And everybody wets their knees
On the trapeze..."

People Under the Stairs

Acid Raindrops

People Under the Stairs was a hip hop duo from Los Angeles active from 1997 to 2019. This song is from their album "O.S.T." released in 2002, before Mary Jane was fully legalized in the state as a form of stress reduction.

"Let's have a Mid-City Fiesta with your West L.A. connection
Hop inside the vehicle, start crossing intersections
We learning life's lessons while we blaze this herbal essence
A man, but still a child, and I have so many questions
Struggle all my life to evade the misconceptions
To find a place to live between the negatives and positives
While trying to make money slanging synonyms and homonyms
I went to pop's house so I can visit moms and him
Cut to the mall copped a brand new pair of Timberlands
Then dipped down a one way trying to scoop up Double K
And chill with my people on this bright and sunny day
My ni**a Spliff was sippin' Beck's, I'm slappin' hands with Thes
Locate a shady spot so we can circulate the stress
Mary Jane invades my brain now I can't complain
I'm sayin' what else is there to do besides relax
Let the problems in your mind become ancient artifacts
Perhaps these raps can help you alleviate
The things that's got you trippin' you watch me demonstrate
First you ignore the nonsense and clear your conscience
Let your pen touch the paper write verbs and consonants
As the words become a sentence you start to feel indifferent
The stress is out your mind you feel like the weight was lifted
Terrific, I'm glad we had this time to discuss
I'm outro, call me if you want to blaze one up

When the stress burns my brain just like acid raindrops
Mary Jane is the only thing that makes the pain stop
I let the music take over my soul, body and mind
To kick back, relax one time, and you will find
When the stress burns my brain just like acid raindrops
Mary Jane is the only thing that makes the pain stop
Just let the music take over my soul, body and mind
And kick back, relax one time, and you will find

I try to keep it stress free take every day at a time
Make sure the families in place and let the music unwind
I got plans to take charge like major outlets
Ride around the country chillin in my L.A. express
On every street corner
The importance of having fun
Empty bottles filled with tobacco don't nobody carry guns
We keep our minds on fun and let the drums do the bangin'
On any given day like Mr. Cooper yo we hangin'
Under the blue sky, the state laced in smog
Pollute your quarter inch cables with all the sound that we brought
Can't get enough so brother pass another cold one
Feel like a dad at a ball game lampin' with his son
Chuck D yo word up we buggin' over time
From the light to the lime original star time
It's the Double Chris One
And Camel brought the ammo so we can shoot
Game like thugs on your sport channel
Take off the do-rag replace it with a thinkin' cap
If you didn't know tell the bro he should have known that
We here for one thing and that's to remain
What's the name...name...name...ni**a

When the stress burns my brain just like acid raindrops
Mary Jane is the only thing that makes my pain stop
I let the music take over my soul, body and mind
To kick back relax one time and you goin' find
When the stress burns my brain just like acid raindrops
Mary Jane is the only thing that makes my pain stop
Just let the music take over my soul, body and mind
Kick back relax one time and you will find

Yo, L.A., hit me one time, make it funky
Double down on my underground sound I'm feelin' lucky
For this jackpot I jacks pot to fill in my crates
We lay back chillin' and feelin' the music relates
We on the to the two hangin' with my crew
Bulls****in' while we sittin down drinking on some brew
And to the afternoon turns to the moonlight
Funky tracks and nickel sacks freestylin' all night
Doin' it right knowing with time music make it better
My crew banging two blocks like shots from my Beretta
Snub nose to the hoes who pose I suppose
Honey you gotta understand your man's got flows
And I'm leavin' you so by the time I get to Phoenix
Underground ground heads will fiend this musical genius
Transglobal by the books
Like Barnes with noble hooks
Armed with overlooked talented guests so God bless crooks
Who steal loops to keep this s**t alive
Something for your troops to sit around and vibe by
From Camel, Double, and Thes, to ease stress
We brought the hip hop so have fun and God bless...."

People Under the Stairs

Los Angeles Daze

People Under the Stairs was a hip-hop duo from Los Angeles, active from 1997 to 2019 comprised of Christopher Portugal (Thes One) and Michael Turner (Double K.) This is from their debut studio album "The Next Step" released in 1998.

"Check it… People Under The Stairs… Double K…
Thes One…
Putting it down… the way it should be…
For two…
The way it should’ve been…
L.A. style…
We gonna do it…
The West style…
Me and Thes…
Hip-hop…
You… Two, one…
For everybody…

[Samples]
Ask why and we’re be so while
‘Cause I’m rough and I’m tough…
In a b-boy stance… and I come from L.A. (x2… then scratched together)

[Double K]
Crescent Heights city, yeah, that’s where I’m from
A gang of wild-ass ni**as that don’t back down to run
And supposed to perpetrate on bustas that we putting it down
These so-called L.A. fools who ain’t nowhere to be found
I see you throwing up the “W,” but yo, I’m here to trouble you
Of what you listening to-1-3, and that’s 3-1-0, not 3-1-3, so get it right…
Bust it… yo, we makin’ dope like Hoover and Pico, move slow
Be polite and everything’ll be alright, despite what other ni**as say
Yo, this where it at, them other West Coast fa**ots, yo, where they at?
Word to MC Ren, I showed them people that you wack
Peace to the real crews defacing walls on backstreets
In the city of ... and swap meets
From the school of hard knocks, the generation passed down
Kaiser Permanente, yo, that’s where I was found
In the middle of the funk era, 'fros and dashikis
Pops was putting it down, chilling at the speakeasy
Now I’m posting at Unity with the b-boy stance (word!)
Take a glance and keep walking, yo, you know who it is
I’m from the motherfu**ing hardest-working group in show biz
If your s** t ain’t humping right, don’t even bring it this way
You get booed off the stage, leaving town the next day
Telling your boys, 'It is aight, better luck next time
The only thing that was cool: the weed, women, and sunshine'
Forgot to look under the stairs, yo, much more to boast about
Trying to diss and get that ass knocked out

[Thes One]
Thes, born in South America, moved to South Bay
Run with a crew from Mid-City, that’s where I stay
I’m from L.A., always have been, and always will be capitol
The sprawled up piece stands out like palm trees
Next to pine trees, blowing in the Santa Ana breeze
My DJ’s got fame, underground Rick Dees
I am MC, so bring in funk in five minutes
I jam like the 110 in the ‘84 Olympics
Keep the rhyme moving like the Unity location
Rap has been my vocation
Since before the Japanese owned the radio station
That’s why they Fired Jay Thomas
I keep it fattened like the llama, yo, I promise
Never stop, never change, like the price at Dodger Stadium
I blow up, rock free shows at the Palladium
Afterwards, the crew I’m taking ‘em to Tommy’s Burgers
Gotta be for every Los Angelino murder
A rhyme for every burglar, Thes a well-worder
It comes together in a freeway like East L.A. merger
That means you’ll get no pay, but I urge you
Keep ya eye on L.A. like Chuck Henry, word
You heard of someone better? Send ‘em our way
He get done the L.A. Way, the drive-by way…

[Samples]
‘Cause I’m rough and I’m tough…
In a b-boy stance… and I come from L.A. (all scratched together)

[Thes One]
Check it… everyone in my town think they got flows
Thes serve more wack MCs than waitresses at Roscoe’s
You know me, at the graveyard shift, gettin spliffed
We can take it downtown like Figueroa and 5th
And after that, I’m heading up to El Cholo for some dinner
Bustin’ through the inner-city underground like the red line
Thinner than the line at car wash in El Niño
That’s you son, see no time in this locale
Underground, down, talking ‘bout, “Yo, I’m keepin it real!”
I’m coming with the Walkman and tapes, not steel
Not a .22, .45, but a 9, Double O, 6
Put it on your letter to the better, lick a stamp, send it
And mail a letter to Thes, L.A. legend like Fernando Valenzuela
Yes, he never ran in a battle, yes
He be smoking bidis, watching the sun set from Sunset

[Double K]
Ay-yo, we got rappers walking around, shook like earthquakes
Blame it on San Andreas, it was a fault you had to wait
To grab the steel, how you feel? Ain’t even got skills to represent
The City of Angels, my whole team is heaven sent
Getting s**t accomplished, yo, check the way we rock this
Like the Raiders in ‘88, fool, you can’t stop us
Like gang-banging, this s**t’ll be banging for centuries
Imperial groups spreading like bank robberies
Over the Southland, we put the funk in your trunk
To bump hard, like 808s, sorry you had to wait
But we was digging in the crates, no fear, it’s here
Shady like MacArthur Park, don’t get caught after dark
Might never come back, see, sometimes it’s like that
Some ni**as carry a gat, some ni**as use their head
But the smartest of the smartest’ll still come out dead
It’s true it ain’t where you’re from, it’s where you’re at
But you’ll still get caught up wearing the wrong colored-hat
And on that note, everybody shut the f**ck up and kick it
Spliffted, whatever you do, make sure you don’t miss it
‘Cause we coming like the end, yo, it’s just about wax
So watch out, we bringing bad luck like Wilshire and Fairfax
And it’s just like that, so check it out…

[Samples]
‘Cause I’m rough and I’m tough…
In a b-boy stance… and I come from L.A. (all scratched together)
[James Brown] “Fred, where you from?”
[Fred Wesley] 'L.A.'
[James Brown & others] “Uh oh, uh oh! Uh oh! Ask him where he started from…”
California… (repeats)"

People Under the Stairs

San Franciso Knights

People Under the Stairs was a hip-hop duo from Los Angeles, active from 1997 to 2019 comprised of Christopher Portugal (Thes One) and Michael Turner (Double K.) This is from their debut studio album "The Next Step" released in 1998.

"On a warm San Franciscan night
On a warm San Franciscan night
On a warm San Franciscan night
On a warm San Franciscan night
On a warm San Franciscan...
Knight, Lord Radio, and Hale Bop on the Bay Bridge faded
Trying to find Smiley's house, thank God we made it
Yo, blunts, broads and beats, keep it low through the streets
And ni**as givin' us pounds cause of these dope-ass sounds
We run aground like ships, over these beats I flip
The bass is hittin' so hard that your CD skips
Well check it out, make sure it doesn't happen again
I got my grip on it, so turn it up to volume ten
Volume 10, word, like that brother from L.A.
Lord Radio and Hale Bop mean streakin' through the Bay
We all-city like the Mayor, you see my name
On more fresh s**t than Creed Taylor
The G for international ladies like a sailor
Like a sailor I get drunk and bust flows to the beat
Like my man J, I feel the Agony in Defeat
Cause sucka-chumps wanna test and step like we don't know
We doin', we doin' shows in San Francisco
That's right young writer, got a hit for all you biters
Time to bless another track we getting rid of the whack
We put em in the back with the other Tappan Zee s**t
Beats hit hard, make the trolly do ollie
Old folks grabs their collies and vacate the Bay
See a name in Northern Lights, There's Love and Double K
We getting wild for the night, we getting wild for the night
And it all went down, what, what

On a warm San Franciscan night
Yo, rocking shows for you and your crew
On a warm San Franciscan night
We rollin' blunts and doin' the do
On a warm San Franciscan night
We doin shows with a mic check a one two
On a warm San Franciscan night
P.U.T.S on a bad foot coming through
On a warm San Franciscan night

We was drinking, smoking, more smoking, more drinking
Didn't think about the morning hangover, just didn't want to be sober
Yo Radio, tell me how did you feel
Like I'll never catch a DUI, hit gas
Peel, make a left on Market, yo Mister Double K
Ay, ay what's up
Roll up the windows and spark it
Done deal, yo, you didn't have to ask twice
Just park on the top of the hill, so we can peep the city lights
I'm on award tour, we been on lock like Alcatraz
Doin the San Francisco show like Hubert Laws
CTI 7 thousand 71 go buy it
Bring the drums like Harvey Mason don't try it
Better luck next time, trying step to the P
You in the Bay, punk, I guess you ain't heard about L.A.
Yo Double K, tell 'em that the P's unique with the beats
P.U.T.S shows, the San Francisco treat
A San Francisco treat just like some Rice-A-Roni
Put it in your mouth and let it run down the middle just like Monie
Phony homey, you never rock a party
Your whack-ass crew gets called out
See I play the rod-roddy come on down
To the south-land punks, smell the concrete
Have you askin' questions from ya' head to your feet
You don't want none of this s**t that I'm offering
Sayin that the P can't rock your city, (what)
Fool you measure for a coffin
Very often we win, yo, very seldom we lose
Spice rockin' their mother-fu**in whole city

On a warm San Franciscan night
Yo, rollin' blunts and doin the do (the do, the do)
On a warm San Franciscan night
Chillin' with your girl and her crew (her crew, her crew)
On a warm San Franciscan night
Scaring old people, still doin' the do (we're doin' the do)

Yeah, making collect calls into another area code, we mowed
We be the P.U.T, 310, we be the main extension I be the Double K
And we crowning, downing, 40 ounces, vodka, whatever, juice, ludes
San Francisco here we come, we're coming back we gonna have a gun
Pow, pow, pow, pow
Much love to the Bay Area
P. U. T. S.
(On a warm San Francisco)
Rockin' the disco
Startin' a fight
(Warm) "

People Under the Stairs

The L.A. Song

This is another song from the album "O.S.T." released in 2002.

"Yo, a lot of people be steppin' to us like
Y'all from San Francisco right?
Nah G we show a lot of love
But in the state of California from Humboldt to Oceanside ya dig
But L.A. is where it all happens for the Dub and Thess One
All you MC's say L.A. when you on stage
And when you do spit that hot verse
We gonna make it happen man

Who wanna test?
We lickin' off shots in the west
We make believers out the best
Lay the weak to rest
In southern California ain't no place like this
Half the stuff y'all doin' we created this s**t
So don't be saggin' young buck in the presence of this
Don't even come from the city and your runnin' your lips
I'm 'bout to make a call get the news van out
Explain to Tritia Toyota on how your crew ran out
We comin' live from the trey two three area code
Mad clouds of smoke and ain't no room for snow
Sucka n***as with sucka beats
Stay in the back seat and buckle up for the ride
I'm chillin' with bad guys
And got time on my side
Cause this is my city this is where I live
And if ya bring bad vibes I got something to give
Hangin' out under the sun is an everyday thang
And gettin' crazy in the lab's the only way I bang
Don't step to me with that mean face
Buddy I'm all smiles and I'm countin' the miles
Down Crescent Heights Boulevard
Home of the stars
Get ya pulled out ya car for frontin' too hard
Just listen, you ain't down with the streets my brotha?
I can forsee in your future there's some runnin' for cover
A lot of y'all talk a good game
But ain't playin'
I learned about the hood and now feel that's where you're stayin'
Fools be givin' you the mad dog after the show
Cause we ain't feelin' them flows
Or your designer clothes
Its phony people in L.A. I counted it's a lot
And if they ain't a snitch or a bully they claimin' your block
Just get it right it's Crescent Heights all day all night
The community where I was raised
Livin' my days
Wishin' I could be the mayor I'd deport you fools
And send you back to squareland cause over here we brew
Authentic people in the town
Throw up your dub take a drag
It's Double K signin' off from the home of the bodybags

L.A.
Got a beef what a pity
L.A.
Every rapper in the house shut the f**k up
L.A.
Got a beef what a pity
L.A.
Every rapper in the house shut the f**k up

Yo about five years after they kill
Creep up the hype
Wrestlee moovahs the sleepers
Drug dealers rock beepers
T tops, jerry curls, jelly flip flops for girls
C.B.'s on the strip and a commercial for
World on Wheels I whistle to my crew up on the block
The Color soundtrack rock the Fatburger jukebox
My L.A. U.S.C. memories are every sticks who filed down clowns
Claimin' the same tricks on this turf
My roots go deep like turbo Nerf
And the cops still sweat us
I roll on all blocks like I'm sellin' paletas
And rock the bells
Home of the drive-by where they pop the shells
I eat at Charro's and La Barca, not Taco Bell
And if you're not from the city then you should probably bail
Cause a lot of cats are implants
Claimin' our labels something to say and something to prove and
At the shows with the flows and they think the crowd's groovin'
Its like the 405 at 5:30 nobody's movin'
I'm tired of non-recognition losin' the mission to proven to cats
That my soundtracks and L.A. hat
When new jacks strap New York rap on the block
With a palm tree it makes me sick
All you underground producers get off Premier's dick and just (chill)
I'm headed back to Pedro to sit up on the hill
Next to the Korean bell eatin' Busy Bee
Watchin' waves swell high visibility Catalina and sail boats
Hollywood hip hop soaps and sit-com dreams
I make morphine for beat fiends
Support L.A. teens stay trippin' with Cal Green
O.G. Jerry Dunphy when I'm on your screen
I'm friends with neighborhood crack heads
And I know then
L.A. is the place where I solve my problems
In it I'll never fear
I'll always stay here
Cause when I'm in L.A. my family's there

L.A.
Every rapper in the house shut the f**k up
L.A.
I can't stop because the city I'm from
L.A.
Got a beef what a pity
L.A.
Every rapper in the house shut the f**k up
L.A.
Californ-i-a
City of Angels, L.A, Californ-i-a
City of Angels, L.A, Californ-i-a
City of Angels, L.A, Californ-i-a
City of Angels, L.A, Hollywood!"

Pernice Brothers

PCH One

The Pernice Brothers are an indie rock band formed in 1998 in Massachusetts. This song is from the album "Live a Little" released in 2006. It's about the Pacific Coast Highway aka Highway One or PCH One and the need to go on a road trip.

"Let's leave on Saturday
Let's leave on Friday night
I can't promise
I'm not really sure we'll be all right
…

Pull the trigger, I don't care which myth I kill
Struggle through the S's, through the tunnels in the trees
through this sticky optimism hardening in me
It might do some good just to wake up by the sea
To the smell of breath and greasy hair and car seats
…

PCH One might be a catalyst, our panacea
Play the one where no one's really gone
Every answer's buried in a song
PCH One might be a mending kit
I need some mending"

Katy Perry (featuring Snoop Dogg)

California Gurls

Katy Perry is a singer-songwriter from California, Snoop Dogg is a rapper and actor from Long Beach. It was impossible to avoid this massive #1 pop hit in the summer of 2010 with its diabetic's nightmare video and Perry's whipped cream shooters. All the old California cliches are re-packaged here - greener grass, girls on the beach, palm trees and they even throw in some of Tupac's "California Love" electronic effects on the word "California." Be careful not to melt your popsicle.

"...[Katy]
I know a place
Where the grass is really greener
Warm, wet and wild
There must be something in the water
Sippin' gin and juice
Laying underneath the palm trees (undone)
The boys break their necks
Tryna creep a little sneak peek (at us)

You could travel the world
But nothing comes close
To the golden coast
Once you party with us
You'll be falling in love

California girls
We're unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin
So hot
We'll melt your popsicle

California girls
We're undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
West Coast represent
Now put your hands up

Sex on the beach
We don't mind sand in our stilettos
We freak in my Jeep
Snoop Doggy Dogg on the stereo

You could travel the world
But nothing comes close
To the golden coast
Once you party with us
You'll be falling in love

California girls
We're unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin so hot
We'll melt your popsicle

California girls
We're undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
West Coast represent
(West Coast)
Now put your hands up

[Snoop Dogg]
Toned, tan, fit and ready
Turn it up 'cause it's gettin' heavy
Wild Wild West Coast
These are the girls I love the most
I mean the ones
I mean like she's the one
Kiss her, touch her, squeeze her buns

The girl's a freak
She drive a Jeep
And live on the beach
I'm okay
I won't play
I love the bait
Just like I love L.A.
Venice Beach and Palm Springs
Summertime is everything

Homeboys
Bangin' out
All that ass hangin' out
Bikinis, zucchinis
Martinis, no weenies
Just the King and the Queeny
Katy, my lady (yeah)
Lookie here, baby (uh huh)
I'm all up on ya
'Cause you're representin' California (oh yeah)

[Katy]
California girls
We're unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin so hot
We'll melt your popsicle

California girls
We're undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
West Coast represent
(West Coast, West Coast)
Now put your hands up

[Snoop Dogg]
California girls, man
I really wish you all could all be California girls"

Katy Perry

Save as Draft

This song is from Perry's "Witness" album, released in 2017. All we get in the song regarding Cali is an SUV drive-by on Sunset Boulevard, but stop complaining, it's a good song. Congrats to the singer for having found a way to save her life as a draft to work on later, but I think I'd rather have an "undo" feature.

"I remember when you used to be my every other thought
But now my calendar's so full, it's easier to move on
Sometimes I swear I pass your SUV on Sunset Blvd
I don't f**k with change, but lately I've been flipping coins a lot

I struggle
I juggle
I could just throw a line to you
But I should let sleeping dogs lie 'cause I know better, baby
I write it
Erase it
Repeat it
But what good will it do
To reopen the wound
So I take a deep breath
And I save as draft...."

You don't have to subtweet me
My number's always been the same
But all's been said and done
Will we ever really close this case?
Yeah, I will always be here for you, but I could no longer stay
Still my body goes in shock every time I hear your name

I struggle
I juggle
I could just throw a line to you
But I should let sleeping dogs lie 'cause I know better, baby
I write it
Erase it
Repeat it
But what good will it do
To reopen the wound
So I take a deep breath
And I save as draft"

Mike Perry & Hot Shade (featuring Karlyn)

I Dig Rock and Roll Music

Mike Perry is Mikael Persson, a Swedish DJ and producer active since 2006. Hot Shade is a producer based in New York City. Karlyn is a Dutch singer. This electronic dance song was released in 2018.

"I've been going down the wrong kinda road all the time
Left my home, went looking for a place I can call mine

You're gonna see me shine underneath the city lights
So bright they're blinding
The world is at my feet, like living in a dream
Come find me

Meet me in California
Meet me in California

So amazing, I've been walking on cloud nine
I finally made it, just me, myself, and I

You're gonna see me shine underneath the city lights
So bright they're blinding
The world is at my feet, like living in a dream
Come find me

Meet me in California
In California
Meet me in California
In California"

Peter, Paul and Mary

Do they really? I'm not so sure about that. This is a catchy and witty pop song, with some good parodies of the styles of Donovan and The Beatles. Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk trio formed in New York City in 1961 who were not too thrilled with the emergence of folk rock or rock 'n' roll. They made the transition very well in this hit song from 1967, but their biggest hit was a return to their folk style in 1969 with "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

"I dig rock and roll music
And I love to get the chance to play (And sing it)
I figure it's about the happiest sound goin' down today
The message may not move me
Or mean a great deal to me
But hey! It feels so groovy to say

I dig The Mamas & The Papas at the trip Sunset Strip in L.A.
And they got a good thing goin' when the words don't get in the way
And when they're really wailing
Michelle and Cass are sailin'
Hey! They really nail me to the wall

I dig Donovan in a dream-like, tripped out way
His crystal images, hey, they tell you 'bout a brighter day
And when The Beatles tell you
They've got a word "love" to sell you
They mean exactly what they say

I dig rock and roll music
I could really get it on in that scene
I think I could say somethin' if you know what I mean
But if I really say it
The radio won't play it
Unless I lay it between the lines"

The Petersens

California Farms! (California Love Parody)

The Petersens are a bluegrass family band from Branson, Missouri, active since 2005, made up of four siblings, their parents and friends. This song is from their album "Shenandoah" released in 2017." It's such a strange song because it mentions California as a place that the singer almost went to. I like the idea of writing songs about things that never quite happened. Maybe I'll write one about the time I almost won the billion dollar lottery and almost bought my own spaceship full of supermodels. Good times... almost.

"Memories fade slowly
No please don't go, not yet
Well I was your one and only
I'm not ready to forget

All the times we shared together
All the words we never said
But I remember...

When we almost went to California
We almost fell in love in the sand
And you almost told me to be your woman
So you'll always almost be my man

I think it was late last summer
I saw the distance in your eyes
When you said that you found another
And then you told me not to cry

But I knew that's when it started
The beginning of the end
And I remembered...

When we almost went to California
We almost fell in love in the sand
And you almost told me to be your woman
So you'll always almost be my man

I guess it was late last winter
Snow falling all around
Wedding bells rang, she entered
But I left without a sound

Oh I know she'll always love you
But heaven knows that so will I
And I'll remember...

When we almost went to California
We almost fell in love in the sand
And you almost told me to be your woman
So you'll always almost be my man"

The Peterson Farm Bros

The Peterson Farm Bros are a group of farmers from Kansas who make parody songs on YouTube. This one uses the music from "California Love" by 2Pac and Dr. Dre with their own lyrics. It's a silly parody song with a bunch of goofy white guys trying to rap, which is rarely a good idea, but the message is a good one. California is a lot more than just high tech and Hollywood. California's agricultural industry is critical to the economy of the state and to the health of the country. Farming is often overlooked while the flashier entertainment, technology, and tourism industries get all the headlines, but it's just as important to the state, if not more so. You can't stream food from your iPhone. (Not yet, at least, but I'll bet some techies are working on it.) The song's lyrics "from Diego to the Bay" are a little bit misleading - there is a lot of agriculture north of the Bay Area, such as the entire Sacramento Valley and don't forget all that now-legal medicinal produce from the north coast.

"California knows how to farm it
California knows how to farm it
In the city of L.A.
In the county, aaaat the fair
In the country, farmers are charming
They keep on farming

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west
A state agricultural one of the best
400 crops coming at ya like a slug to the chest
That’s some zest, though the elements are quite the pest

We in that Golden State growing 3 times a year
Fruits, Veggies, Nuts, Milk, Meat, yes it’s clear
If you ever be… on a mission for them greens
Cali is the leanest meanest food makin’ machine, we’ve ever seen

Been in the game for 6 years making farm beats
Time to give a shout to a place that makes farm eats
#1 in the world for almonds and pistachios
#1 in the states for each and every one of those

So much food! From Diego to the Bay
Your state is the bomb if your state making hay
Throw up a glass of milk if ya feel the same way
PFB putting it down for Californ-I-A

California knows how to farm it
California knows how to farm it
In the citaaaaay of L.A.
In the countaaaay, at the fair
In the countraaaay, farmers are charming
They keep on farming
Farm it farm it baby!

It’s a drought, water’s out, California screaming
Soon as I’m reading the news, I hear people believing
“Farming is the first thing that needs to go”
“Farmers waste so much water for nothing”… but that’s not all

Only in Cali can you rally to make this kinda food
It’s bout the climate, infrastructure and latitude
Dressed in work clothes, people farming it’s what they do
Cultivating, harvesting, raising the food for you

Almonds, Grapes, Meat, Dairy
Lettuce, Walnuts, Olives, Berries
Tomatoes, Dates, Figs, Broccoli
Avacado, Garlic, Plums, Celery

Say what you say, but give me the eats from CA
We need to feed the streets of L.A.
Central Valley to Modesto
Tulare County let’s go
Cali’s where they grow your snacks bro give em love!

California we need your farming
California we need your farming
In the citaaaaay of L.A.
In the countaaaay, at the fair
In the countraaaay, farmers are charming
Please keep on farming
Farm it farm it baby!"

Petey

Petey is Peter Martin, an L.A.-based former comedian and drummer from the Chicago area who, according to a November 2021 New Yorker profile, became "...famous online for silly and sweet comedy videos." This song was released in 2019. It's a synth and drum-based song with dry flat vocals that builds into a great low-key banger that reminds me of something from Joy Division or New Order. He also does a very minimal version of the song with Miya Folick titled "California (Prius Edition)". These are some of the YouTube notes to that song: "Petey got in his Honda left for California at the ripe old age of 21 to find a better life on the west coast. To be depressed in California was the ultimate American dream. Miya on the other hand, grew up here, she’s been driving her Prius all over the state in search of true meaning and the true California state of mind."

"Left behind my home, 3000 miles down the road
In my Honda with my only mouth to feed

I don't care what town
As long as she's not hangin' around
Just get me far as hell from Nashville Tennessee

Cause I'd rather be depressed in California
Ocean's got the only blues I need
Lay me down to rest in California
Heart as cold as New Years NYC

Friends all think I'm dead
A silver bullet to my head
They've been searching in the flowers and the weeds

They don't know the truth
I'm bringing back the joy of youth
Drinkin' highlife from the bottle on the beach

Cause I'd rather be depressed in California
Ocean's got the only blues I need
Lay me down to rest in California
Heart as cold as New Years NYC

Cause I'd rather be depressed in California
Finally I can find myself some peace
Lay me down to rest in California
Maybe I'll just end up on TV

One hundred thousand cigarettes in California
Still cleaner than the air I used to breathe
Yea, I'd rather be depressed in California
Cause nothing else is good enough for me"

Kim Petras

Kim Petras is a pop singer-songwriter born in Germany and based in Los Angeles, active since 2008 when she was a teenager. This song is from her album "Future Starts Now" released in 2020. I don't know what Malibu tastes like, but from what I've learned from songs, it's probably a combination of salt water, sushi, exhaust from the PCH, and money. Lots of money.

"Tell me how do I get over you
When your eyes are so pacific view...ya
Fallin deep into Curacao blue

And all your kisses taste like
And all your kisses taste like

Malibu
And all your kisses taste like
Malibu

Tell me what am I supposed to do
When your eyes are so pacific view...ya
Fallin' deep into Curacao blue

And all your kisses taste like
And all your kisses taste like

Malibu
And all your kisses taste like
Malibu
And all your kisses taste like
Malibu
I’m melting, I’m meltin',
I’m meltin, I’m meltin into you
Malibu
I’m melting, I’m meltin',
I’m meltin, I’m meltin' into you

Oh baby you left me tinglin’
My nails soft peach and the sea salt’s sinkin in
Oh baby I don’t need anything
its all been beachy since you came crashin’ in

And all your kisses taste like
Malibu
And all your kisses taste like
Malibu (Woo, c’mon ya baby)
I’m melting, I’m meltin',
I’m meltin', I’m meltin' into you
Malibu
I’m melting, I’m meltin' ya
I’m meltin', I’m meltin' into you!

Woo-Ah!

All your kisses
Kisses taste like
And all your kisses taste like

Tell me how do I get over you
When your kisses taste like Malibu
Tell me how do I get over you
When your kisses taste like Malibu"

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty was a singer-songwriter from Florida, active from 1967 until his death in 2017. He's a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of fame and one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was formed in 1976. Petty released a solo album in 1994 titled "Wildflowers." He and the band re-released the album in 2020 titled "Wildflowers & All the Rest" which included ten extra songs including this one. It's is another California song with an apocalyptic earthquake reference.

"California's been good to me
Hope it don't fall into the sea
Sometimes you got to trust yourself
It ain't like anywhere else
It ain't like anywhere else

It's time to roll, I'm all done
It's time we better hit the road
I got work later on
It's time we better hit the road

California's been good to me
Hope it don't fall into the sea
Sometimes you got to save yourself
It ain't like anywhere else
It ain't like anywhere else

Sundown, red skies
Nobody's been around
Sundown, blue eyes
I kinda like this party town

California's treated me good
I pray to God that the hills flood
Sometimes you got to trust yourself
It ain't like anywhere else
It ain't like anywhere else
It ain't like anywhere else"

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Free Fallin'

This song is from Petty's 1989 solo debut album "Full Moon Fever" and ranks as one of his all-time best, ranking #177 on Rolling Stone's magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

It's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

All the vampires walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Blvd.
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

Free fallin', now I'm free fallin'
Now I'm,
Free fallin', now I'm free fallin'

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for awhile

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'...."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Into the Great Wide Open

This is from the album "Into the Great Wide Open" released in 1991.

"Eddie waited 'till he finished high school
He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo
He met a girl out there with a tattoo too
The future was wide open

They moved into a place they both could afford
He found a night club he could work at the door
She had a guitar and she taught him some chords
The sky was the limit

Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue

The papers said Ed always played from the heart
He got an agent and a roadie named Bart
They made a record and it went on the charts
The sky was the limit

His leather jacket had chains that would jingle
They both met movie stars, partied and mingled
Their A&R man said, "I don't hear a single."
The future was wide open

Into the great wide open,
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open,
A rebel without a clue..."

Madeileine Peyroux

California Rain

Peyroux is a jazz singer-songwriter from Georgia who grew up in New York City, southern California, and Paris.This beautiful 2006 release is slow mellow jazz with a singing style reminiscent of Billie Holliday. In a refreshing change from all those songs that praise the weather in the state, she sings about being stuck in cold and rainy California, longing to go somewhere far away where she belongs.

"California rain is fallin'
I can hear the summer callin'
Far away, far away
A song that's fadin'

Put me on a plane tomorrow
I'll try to run from all my sorrow
Far away, far away
From endless waitin'

It's so cold here without the sun
I'm so sad here far away from everyone

What a fool to be ambitious
Moving here with all of my wishes
Far away, far away
From where my heart is

Shut the phone off and pack my bags
No more boys who boast and brag
Far away, far away
Where I belong

I'm so sorry for some things I've done
I'll be lonely till I can see my only one
... ... ... ...

I'm goin' back, back where I belong
Gonna catch a train
Gotta get back where I belong
Get back."

Liz Phair

California
(Also titled "Why I Left California)

Liz Phair is a rock singer-songwriter from Chicago, active since 1990. This was originally from a 1991 self-produced 4-track "Girly Sound" cassette, and it's also on her 1995 Juvenilia EP and her 2010 Funstyle album. With a solo guitar strumming in the background Phair tells a dirty joke involving a young bull and an old bull on a hill above a pasture full of cows (the same joke Robert Duvall tells to Sean Penn in Dennis Hopper's 1988 movie "Colors.") Inbetween the joke, she sings the only line in the song several times:

"And I tried to tell you before that that's why I left California."

Liz Phair

What Makes You Happy

This song is from Liz Phair's third album "Whitechocolatespaceegg" released in 1998. I realize that it only has one brief mention of Pasadena, but I had to put it on this list because it's a great pop rock song and because her song "California" mentioned above is not great.

"But don't worry, mom. I met him in a restaurant
And all this time I've been getting to know him
He's got an ex-wife in Pasadena
And sometimes she's a mess
To deal with
But mostly we've been living here
Uninjured

There's a silence, and she says
'Listen here young lady
All that matters is what makes you happy
But you leave this house knowing my opinion
Won't make you love me if you don't care.'

I'm sending you this photograph,
I swear this one is going to last
And all those other bastards
Were only practice!

I feel the sun on my back
I smell the earth in my skin
I see the sky above me
Like a full recovery

'Listen here young lady
All that matters is what makes you happy
But you leave this house knowing my opinion
Won't make you love me if you don't care.'...."

Phantom Planet

Phantom Planet is a rock band formed in Los Angeles, active since 1994. This is probably their best known song since it was used as the theme song to a hit TV show "The O.C." and I think it's one of the best "going to California" songs. It was released as a single from their second album "The Guest" released in 2002. A softer version was later re-recorded in 2005 and titled "California 2005." Because some of the lyrics are similar to the Al Jolson song "California, Here I Come" the songwriters of that song get writing credit. Mates of State also recorded a great cover version that's a bit moodier, kind of inbetween this and the O.C. theme version.

It's another song about driving and returning to California, this time driving on Highway 101 either to see or to perform a show. If they're taking the 101 to California, then they must be driving down the Oregon coast, maybe to the Bay Area or maybe all the way south to Orange County.

"We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number 1

California, here we come
Right back where we started from

Hustlers grab your guns
Your shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101

California, here we come
Right back where we started from

California
(California)
Here we come!

On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now

California, here we come
Right back where we started from

Pedal to the floor
Thinkin' of the roar
Gotta get us to the show

California, here we come
Right back where we started from

California
(California)
Here we come!
California, California, here we come!

California, California, here we come!
California, California, here we come!
California, California, here we come!
California, California, here we come!"

John Phillips

Malibu People

John Phillips was the leader and backing singer of the Mamas & the Papas who went on to have a solo career before resurrecting the band. This song is from his 1970 solo album "John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)"

"I got a fine beach house, baby
And the waves roll in
Playing in the sand with your best friend babe
Malibu people really know how to live

A castle in the sand and a lady
And the waves roll in
Keep it in mind for some other time
Malibu people really know how to live

It took some time to find a crack in her defenses
A hole in her heart you might say
Keeping abreast of her, keeping things bandaged
All I know is that the waves roll in

Big belly woman laying waiting in the sand for her baby
And the waves they roll in
If she needs a spot to drop, you know she’s got to drop
Before the waves roll in..."

John Phillips

Topanga Canyon

This song is another song from his 1970 solo album. The references to picking up drugs and being over his head in deep waters are certainly autobiographical references to his notorious drug addictions, which caused him a drug trafficking conviction and a liver transplant later in life.

"Sometimes I drive out to Topanga
And I park my car in the sand
Watching and waiting for a pickup
From my man

And maybe down to Farmer's Market
Those people, they're working in the sun
Buy and sell it for a profit
To anyone

Oh Mary, I'm in the deep waters
And it's way, way over my head
Everyone thought I was smarter
Than to be this dead

You've heard of train wrecks in the mountains
Sometimes there's shipwrecks on the sea
Mary, you must always be careful
Can't you see?

Oh Mary, I'm in the deep waters
And it's way over my head
Everyone thought I was smarter
Than to be this dead

Someone's sick in San Fransisco
Some are down in New Orleans
Others are kept in Camarillo
Picking beans

Oh Mary, I'm in deep waters
And it's way over my head
Everyone thought I was smarter
Than to be misled"

Philly K. & Madi Rindge

Philly K. is a singer based in either Los Angeles or the east coast. (Online bios mention both.) Madi Rindge is a singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. This slow soulful duet with a rap verse was released in 2016.

Comparing lyrics found online can be very entertaining:
One site interprets a line in this song as a romantic illustration of why the narrator wants to run away to California:
"The California sun and my girl naked in the kitchen."
Another site thinks the line is about a hostage situation with the narrator threatening to blow up the girl if she doesn't make him a sandwich:
"The California sun in my grenade, get in the kitchen."

"Wish I could be in California
I bet it's hotter than Hell in Arizona
Run away, run away
Ain't nobody in my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Off to Californ-i-a
California-ah

I've been dreaming of somewhere else
A painted picture of our house
You don't have to wait anymore
But I've been standing by my front door
Run away, run away
Ain't nobody in my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Off to Californ-i-a
California-ah

Let's go, let's go
Wherever we can
I can make it feel like the weekend
I can make it feel like the weekend
Just like the weekend

Run away, run away
Ain't nobody in my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Off to Californ-i-a
California-ah

Run away, run away
Run away, run away
Run away, run away
Run away
Run away, run away
Run away, run away
California-ah

Yo, ain't no distance gon' stop me from dismissin'
The California sun and my girl naked in the kitchen
I ain't waiting no more days, it's so frustratin'
All the times sittin' here, you know that I'm wasting
Can't tell me that I'm hated
Can't tell me that I'm basic
Take you back to the place where I first saw your face in
Sunny days on Sunset
No one will replace 'em
Walking down the pier, told you baby that we made it

Wish I could be in California
Yeah, it's hotter than hell in Arizona
Run away, run away
Ain't nobody in my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Off to Californ-i-a
California-ah

Run away, run away
Run away, run away
Run away, run away
Run away
Run away, run away
Run away, run away
California-ah
California-ah
California-ah
California"

Phosphorescent

Santa Barbara / Zoutelande

Phosphorescent is the stage name of Matthew Houck, a singer-songwriter originally from Alabama, who has performed and recorded as Phosphorescent since 2001. This long slow indie folk/alt-country song is from his fifth studio album "Here's to Taking it Easy" released in 2010.

"The road is alive and everybody's all here
I'm closing my eyes till the colors appear
Oh me oh my, ain't it funny up here, to stand in the light?
Said I ain't came to Los Angeles just to die

Are you getting a lot of attention now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are you bleeding in every direction now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are they covering you up with affection now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are they giving you a lot of attention now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)

They told me my eyes would never be clearer
To hold on to mine, make good money out here
They told me those lies just a-grinnin' from ear to ear
They showed me a lie, they said, "here is our offer, ain't it fine?"

Are you getting a lot of attention now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are you bleeding in every direction now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are they covering you up with affection now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are you getting a lot of attention now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)

The road is alive with the trouble and fear
Frozen and blind, that's how they couple out here
And oh me oh my, they call me colored up here
I looked in their eyes
Said I ain't came to Los Angeles, baby, just to die

Are you getting a lot of attention now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are you bleeding in every direction, ain't you now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are they covering you up with affection, ain't they now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)
Are you getting a lot of attention, ain't you now? (ahh-ahh-ahh)"

Pink

Gone to California

Slow, soulful, moody, and atmospheric, with some sax thrown in, Pink is leaving the mean streets of Philadelphia for the promised land where the sun is always shining in this 2001 song. Haven't we seen this before? Does it ever work out?

"I'm goin' to California
To live in the summer sun
The streets are made of silver
I'm like a rabbit on the run

I'm goin' to California
To find my pot of gold
...
I'm goin' to California
I'm goin far, far, far away
...
Goin' to California, yes
To resurct my soul
The sun is always shinin', shinin'
Or at least that's what I'm told
I'm goin' to California
There's a better life for me, yes..."

Pink Skies

Santa Barbara Fireflies

Pink Skies is the psychedelic pop solo project of Arieh Beryl from Oakland, California, based in Los Angeles. This song is from the album "Summer's For Lovers" released in 2021. It sounds nice to sing about fireflies in Santa Barbara, but in reality the fireflies in California are boring because they don't flash a bright light like the fireflies east of the Rocky Mountains.

" I just wanna oooh
Boy hold on tight
Everything will be just fine
If you just take your time
I just wanna ooooh girl
Summer nights
Santa Barbara fireflies
If you just take your time

Thought I threw my past life into the Pacific Ocean
Driving down the coast with you
Yesterday was gone before I woke up this morning
Still I'm dreaming of her too

I just wanna oooh
Boy hold on tight
Everything will be just fine
If you just take your time
I just wanna ooooh girl
Summer nights
Santa Barbara fireflies
If you just take your time

Thought that I could drop into the future on a surfboard
Leaving all my broken hearts behind
But it’s clear that I can’t ride away from whatever I want
Even though I hate my state of mind.

Wish I could be here with you
But I’m stuck in past
When you’re kissing on my neck
I’m not thinking ‘bout what’s next

I’m still thinking about the way she smiled
In that summer dress
And I know I must confess
She’s who I want to impress

I just wanna oooh
Boy hold on tight
Everything will be just fine
If you just take your time
I just wanna ooooh girl
Summer nights
Santa Barbara fireflies
If you just take your time...."

Pitbull (featuring Chris Brown)

International Love

Pitbull is an American rapper from Miami. This song from his 2011 album “Planet Pit” brags about having girls all over the world including “La Mexicana” in Los Angeles.

“You can't catch me boy
I am overseas at about a hundred Gs for sure
Don't test me boy (don't test me boy) 'cause I rap with the best
Fo' sho three oh five to the death of me
Cremate my body let the ocean have what's left of me
But for now forget about that
Blow the whistle, baby you're the referee

You put it down like New York City
I never sleep
Wild like Los Angeles
My fantasy
Hotter than Miami
I feel the heat
Oh oh oh oh it's international love
Oh oh oh oh it's international love

I don't play football
But I've touched down everywhere (everywhere?) everywhere
I don't play baseball
But I've hit a home run everywhere everywhere
I've been to countries and cities I can't pronounce
And the places on the globe I didn't know existed
In Romania she pulled me to the side
And told me Pit you can have me and my sister
In Lebanon yeah the women the bomb
And in Greece you guessed it the women are sweet
Been all around the world
But I ain't gonna lie there's nothing like Miami's heat

You put it down like New York City
I never sleep
Wild like Los Angeles
My fantasy
Hotter than Miami
I feel the heat
Oh oh oh oh it's international love
Oh oh oh oh it's international love

Down in DR they're looking for visa's
I Ain't taking credit cards if you know what I mean
En Cuba la cosa esta dura
But the woman get down, if you know what I mean
En Colombia the women got everything done, but they're
Some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen
In Brazil they're freaky with big ol' boobs
And their thongs, blue yellow and green
En L.A. tengo la Mexicana,
en New York tengo la boricua
Besitos para todas las mujeres en Venezuela,
Y en Miami tengo cualquiera

You put it down like New York City
I never sleep wild like Los Angeles
My fantasy hotter than Miami I feel the heat
Oh oh oh oh it's international love
Oh oh oh oh it's international love….”

PITT

Hollywood Sign

Pitt is a singer-songwriter whose language is French, so I'd guess he's either French or Canadian. This song, in English and French, was released in 2021.
"Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head I need that light I hear that sound Every day that's like I'm working for nothing And I live like that Your hips don't lie And I make that fire And I killed that vibe And everybody finds me crazy Other's though I'm lazy All you want is sex s**t All I want is success Home is too steady I feel so ready The sunset is glowing And I need nobody Enjoying my sound Drinking your booze I just stopped sleeping 'Cause my dream comes true Yeah you know I'll fade away Yeah you know I'll never be the same Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head [Dialogue from the Bob Hope comedy movie "The Ghost Breakers" (1940): Richard Carlson: "... it's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes following orders not knowing what they do, not caring." Bob Hope: "You mean like Democrats?"]
Je me sems comme un élu Qui doit accomplir ses buts Je dois assouvir mes pulsions Soigner mes élocutions J'veux toucher vos sentiments Vos meufs veulent toucher me centimetres Mais on s'en tape on vit pour vivre nos meilleures reves Mon premier concert j'étais tellement stress J'ai fini tellement sur Que j'devais bosser sans regarder le temps qui passe A chaque phase c'est les frissons qui guident mes pas Je me demande parfois A l'heure ou les doutes frappent fort Si mes errances d'chaque soir Auront la chance d'voir l'jour Nan nan j'me vesqui pas J'ai le coeur qui parle Faut qu'j'exulte ces voix Trop lourdes dans l'encéphale C'est tout, c'est moi Et donc c'est toi in soit Dans chaque son j'sais pas pourquoi T'as b'soin d'faire ton apparition J'deviens débile comme Paris Hilt' J'radote nos vérités blessantes J'crois qu'au fond j'prends mes sons therapies	I feel like a chosen one Who must accomplish their goals I must satisfy my urges Take care of my speech I want to touch your feelings Your girls want to touch my centimeters But we don't care, we live to live our best dreams My first concert I was so stressed I ended up so over That I had to work without looking at the passing of time At each phase it is the thrills that guide my steps I sometimes wonder At a time when doubts hit hard If my wanderings every evening Will have the chance to see the day No, no, I won't leave I have a heart that speaks I must exult in these voices Too heavy in the brain That's all, it's me And so it's you in itself In each sound I don't know why You need to make your appearance I'm becoming stupid like Paris Hilt' I ramble on about our hurtful truths I think that deep down I take my therapy sounds
Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head Hollywood sign Hollywood sign Ahead Hollywood sign Hollywood sign In my head"

Pixies

Velouria

The Pixies are an alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986, fronted by Black Francis, aka Frank Black. (There are other California songs on this list under Frank Black.) Velouria is from the Pixies' third album "Bossanova" released in 1990. The song uses the theremin extensively, which adds a sense of other-worldliness to it.

Mt. Shasta is a large volcano in northern California that dominates the landscape. (It's alluded to in the lyrics "Shasta sheen"). There are stories about survivors from the sunken continent of Lemuria who live in a secret city under Mt. Shasta. The lyrics mention "lemur" skin, which might reference Lemuria, which rhymes with Velouria, who might be a mysterious Lemurian woman. Or not. You can make up your own crackpot theory about the song's meaning.

"Hold my head, we'll trampoline
Finally through the roof onto somewhere near and far in time
Velouria, her covering, traveling career
She can really move, oh, Velveteen

My Velouria, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria

Say to me, where have you been?
Finally through the roof
And how does lemur skin reflect the sea?

We will wade in the shine of the ever
We will wade in the shine of the ever
We will wade in the tides of the summer, every summer
Every my Velouria, my Velouria

Forever green, I know she's here in California
I can see the tears of Shasta sheen

My Velouria, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria"

Plain White T's

Meet Me In California

Plain White T's are a rock band from Illinois, active since 1997. This song is from their album "Big Bad World" released in 2008.

"I knew that this was wrong as I
Stood reaching for the bedroom light
But she turned me on
So I turned it off

Every man has got his flaws
His breaking point, his sacred cause
And I had mine
But I crossed that line

Now I could never ask you to
Forgive me for the things I do
But if you ever need me
You know where I'll be

Meet me in California
I'll be there waiting for your call
I'll be there waiting for you
'Cause you know in California
There's something better for us all
Meet me in California

This night was like a bible verse
With pages torn and missing words
Condemning me
And I'm on my knees

I wish that I could start again
Peel the past like sunburned skin
Right off of me
But it's not that easy

Now I could never ask you to
Forgive me for the things I do
But if you ever need me
You know where I'll be

Meet me in California
I'll be there waiting for your call
I'll be there waiting for you
'Cause you know in California
There's something better for us all
Meet me in California

I don't wanna say goodbye
And I don't wanna make you cry
I just wanna see you smile again
'Cause everything I used to be
Is waiting over there for me
This is a beginning not an end

Now I could never ask you to
Forgive me for the things I do
But if you ever need me
You know where I'll be

Meet me in California
I'll be there waiting for your call
I'll be there waiting for you
'Cause you know in California
There's something better for us all
Meet me in California
I'll be there waiting for you
'Cause you know in California
There's something better for us all
Meet me in California"

Robert Plant

29 Palms

Robert Plant is a singer-songwriter from England active since 1965, known as the lead singer for Led Zeppelin as well as for a successful solo career. This is from his album "Fate Of Nations" released in 1993. 29 Palms is a town in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park.

"A fool in love
A crazy situation
Her velvet glove
Knocks me down and down and down and down.
Her kiss of fire
A loaded invitation
Inside her smile
She takes me down and down and down and down.

Her moves look good
A touch of desperation
From where I stood
She turned my head around and round and round.

It comes kind of hard when I hear your voice on the radio
Taking me back down the road that leads back to you.
Oh-oh 29 Palms I feel the heat of your desert heart
Taking me back down the road that leads back to you.

Oh, I'm burning in love!
A strange infatuation
Why cold cold touch, mmm
What must I do, do, do, do

The heat and the dust
Increase my desolation
In God we trust
Always for you, and you, and you, and you.

It comes kinda hard when I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you.
Oh-oh-oh 29 Palms I feel the heat of your desert heart
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you.

Baby, now It comes kinda hard when I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you.
Oh, don't ya hear me baby, now
29 Palms I feel the heat of your desert heart
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you you you,
Yeah-yeah-yeah
I'm coming home, oh oh

Gonna get there, gonna get there, don't ya know babe
It comes kinda hard I said when I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to ooh ooh ooh ooh
29 Palms"

P.O.D.

Boom

P.O.D. (Payable on Death) is a Christian metal band based in San Diego, active since 1992. This anthem was released as a single from the band's fourth studio album "Satellite" released in 2002. "S. D." & "the South" refer to the band's roots in the southern California city of San Diego.

"I never knew that a kid like me
Could take his mic around the world and flash the big S.D.
And rock the masses, from Madrid to Calabasas
Tijuana, Mexico, bootleg demos in Tokyo
They know me though, 'cause I be puttin' in work
Commit my life to rebirth, well respected, 'cause that's my word
I'm sure you heard, about a new sound going around
She might have left my hood, but she was born in my town

You didn't know, thought we was new on the scene
Well, it's alright! It's alright!
I know you know, I see you smiling at me
Well, it's alright! It's alright!

Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not, here comes the boys from the South
Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not
How you like me now?

We rep. the South, so what you talking about
I'm not running off my mouth, I know this without a doubt
'Cause if you know these streets, then these streets know you
When it's time to handle business, then we know what to do
Me and my crew, we stay true, old school or new
Many were called, but the chosen are few
We rise to the top, what you want? Just in case you forgot
Rush the stage, grab my mic, show me what you got

You didn't know, thought we was new on the scene
Well, it's alright! It's alright!
I know you know, I see you smiling at me
Well, it's alright! It's alright!

Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not, here comes the boys from the South
Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not
How you like me now?
I say
Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not, here comes the boys from the South
Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not
How you like me now?

Is that all you got?
I'll take your best shot
Is that all you got?
I'll take your best shot
Is that all you got?
I'll take your best shot
Is that all you got?
I'll take your best shot...."

Pomplamoose (featuring Benny Sings)

Pomplamoose is a husband-and-wife musical duo formed in Corte Madera, California in 2008, known for their YouTube videos and covers of popular songs. Benny Sings is Tim van Berkestijn, a Dutch songwriter and producer active since 1999. This song was released in 2022. According to the YouTube page for the song: "This is actually Benny’s translation of a super popular Dutch song called Zoutelande."

"Nothing better than a rainy day with you
On Sunday and there's nothing here to do
We had nothing to spare when we started
But my parents had a condo in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara

And now we're stuck in this bungalow park
But your silly words keep me out of the dark
We're getting high on your father's whiskey
I'm so happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me
Back at this old little house at the bay
We never cared 'bout the world anyway
Nothing but gray skies from here to the city
I'm happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me

Can we wait a little longer? 'Cause I'm tired
Just wait 'til we get stronger, then we'll fly again
Some people want adventure, they let their heart out
Some people bundle up in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara

And now we're stuck in this bungalow park
But your silly words keep me out of the dark
We're getting high on your father's whiskey
I'm so happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me
Back at this old little house at the bay
We never cared 'bout the world anyway
Nothing but gray skies from here to the city
And I'm happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me

And I'm happy you're with me
I'm so happy you're with me
And I'm so happy you're with me
I'm so happy you're with me

And now we're stuck in this bungalow park
But your silly words keep me out of the dark
We're getting high on your father's whiskey
I'm so happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me
Back at this old little house at the bay
We never cared 'bout the world anyway
Nothing but gray skies from here to the city
And I'm happy you're with me, just glad that you're with me

And I'm happy you're with me
I'm so happy you're with me
And I'm so happy you're with me
I'm so happy you're with me
And I'm so happy you're with me
I'm so happy

Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara"

Pope Suburban

California Beauty

Pope Suburban is the bedroom-folk/rock project of singer-songwriter Kevin Reidy, based in Los Angeles. This is from his EP "The Native West of the Golden Girls" released in 2023.

"I can see you rise
Every time you come and greet me
Just tell me where you want to meet me
And I'll make it so

Your redwood eyes
Your golden hair there in the rear-view
Driving out to catch a clearer view
Of the summer's glow

Oh my love I know you're comin'
And I swear I'm startin' to shake

So I'll be waitin' by the side of 19th avenue to pick me up
A California cutie in a pickup truck
We talk for hours but it's not enough
No it's never enough

I could spend my life
Suspended with your hand in my hand
Rambling on down the [gang plank]
We always make it work

It's how we survive
We never stop to check our tracks
Because each other's got our backs
[?]
Oh my love I feel you comin'
And I'm certain it's no mistake

So I'll be waitin' by the side of Highway One
For you too pick me up
A California beauty in a pickup truck
We talk for hours but it's not enough

We can make it to the gold country on my guitar
We'll pick strings, forget the car
We'll even park where the poppies are

And you know we can take it easy
Cruisin' the slow lane for kicks
Have to plan where exit if need be
But we don't have to count our chicks

Oh my love I see you comin'
And this life is ours to take

So I'll be waitin' by the side of Highway One
For you to pick me up
A California beauty in a pickup truck
We talk for hours but it's not enough
We can make it to the gold country on my guitar
We'll pick strings, forget the car
We'll even park where the poppies are
Because we're [?] where we are
No"

Pop Smoke (featuring Tyga & Quavo)

West Coast S**t

Pop Smoke was a Grammy-winning rapper from Brooklyn, active from 2018-2020 when he was murdered in the Hollywood Hills. Tyga is a rapper from Compton, active since 2004. Quavo is a rapper from Georgia and the frontman of the hip-hop group Migos, active since 2008. This is from Pop Smoke's debut album "Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon" released posthumously in 2020.

"Pop Smoke, I'm on some west coast s**t (Pop Smoke)
In New York, I got a west coast b**ch (West coast)
(Huncho on that west coast s**t) (Woo)
(Left wrist, both wrists, and some bricks) (Woo)
If the opps is in the spot, red dot 'em (Rah)
Somebody call Batman, I'm robbin' (Brrt)
(I got 'em, smoke, I pop 'em)
(Put the b**ch on Prada and now she proper)

T-Raww, I'm on some west coast s**t (Business)
LaFeezy, live on the Sunset Strip (Yah, T-Raw)
Today was a good day, fly as a blimp (Aight, ah, ah)
I just booked a round trip, I don't argue with the b**ch (No)
And my Spanish b**ch talk spicy with the lips
When the car worth a M, you don't gotta touch the rim
Don't ask me the price, cost an arm, leg, and limb (Yah; Ayy)
When you in the light, n***as wanna steer you dim (Bit')
Where you get that from? N***as gotta say it's him
Wunna copied my flow, I switch this s**t again
N***as ain't put the work, they don't celebrate the win
When you was ballin' with your b**ch, I was shootin' in the gym, motherf***er, ah

Pop Smoke, I'm on some west coast s**t (Pop Smoke)
In New York, I got a west coast b**ch (West coast)
(Huncho on that west coast s**t) (Woo)
(Left wrist, both wrists, and some bricks) (Woo)
If the opps is in the spot, red dot 'em (Rah)
Somebody call Batman, I'm robbin' (Brrt)
(I got 'em, smoke, I pop 'em)
(Put the b**ch on Prada and now she proper)

Christian Louboutins like I set the pasta
But I'll still steam his ass, I'll grab him
I'm in that new Dior, Quay in that Prada
Don't get it confused, I'll drop him
Four door n***as ridin' strap, get straight hacked to the back
We don't play disrespect, real talk this not just rap
Gang ties in my tat, .22's in the shed
Shotgun in my bag, knock off a n***a dreads
Thirty-six carats on my wrist
That mean there's thirty-six carats on my b**ch (Woo)
S**t, how Virgil got me drippin'
And it's straight from the faucet in the kitchen

Pop Smoke, I'm on some west coast sh**t it (Pop Smoke)
In New York, I got a west coast b**ch (West coast)
(Huncho on that west coast s**t) (Woo)
(Left wrist, both wrists, and some bricks) (Woo)
If the opps is in the spot, red dot 'em (Rah)
Somebody call Batman, I'm robbin' (Brrt)
(I got 'em, smoke, I pop 'em)
(Put the b**ch on Prada and now she proper)
(Quavo)....)"

Jared Porter

Jared Porter is a country music singer-songwriter from California based in Australia. This song is from his album "East to West" released in 2014. He also sings a live version with his father on harmonica in Norman's Rare Guitars store in Tarzana.

"Dancing down in Hollywood
Celebrating like a good man should
Cause I spend my days down in New Orleans
I told you that I knew we would
Head on back out to California
Spend our time making all new things
And I spend my nights under neon lights
I told you its the best thing for us

Oooh oooo oooo
Oooh oooo oooo

We hit the highway out to Mississippi
Cross over into Tennessee
Where I walk the streets listen to the King
I told you its a sight to see

Oooh oooo oooo
Oooh oooo oooo

Yeah the nights I spend without you
Couldn't be more hard on me
In the days I walk alone
I wish I was home
In California

Then we head upstate to New York City
And back down to good old Philly
Where the food tastes great
And the people make steak
But it hurts without you here with me

Next stop Atlanta then Dallas
North to Denver then Flagstaff
Where it's hot and it's cold
And I really wanna hold you
Now right here with me

Yeah the nights I spend without you
Couldn't be more hard on me
In the days I walk alone
I wish I was home
I wish I was home

Yeah the nights I spend without you
Couldn't be more hard on me
In the days I walk alone
I wish I was home
I wish I was home
I wish I was home
In California
California

Oooh oooo oooo
Oooh oooo oooo

Dancing down in Hollywood
Celebrating like a good man should
'Cause for once I'm home with you in my arms
Like I told you that I knew we would"

Mike Posner

I Took A Pill In Ibiza

Mike Posner is an American singer-songwriter. He recorded an acoustic version of this song for his 2016 album At Night Alone, but the remix by Norwegian duo SeeB, released in 2015 and also included on the album, became a huge international hit.

In the song, the singer lives in L.A. and drives a sports car to impress people, but he took a pill in Ibiza to impress Swedish musician/DJ/producer Avicii. I wonder how Avicii felt about the insinuation that he thinks drugs make people cool. (Sadly, Avicii killed himself in 2018.)

"I took a pill in Ibiza
To show Avicii I was cool
And when I finally got sober, felt 10 years older
But f*** it, it was something to do.
I'm living out in L.A.
I drive a sports car just to prove
I'm a real big baller 'cause I made a million dollars
And I spend it on girls and shoes.

But you don't wanna be high like me
Never really knowing why like me
You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone
You don't wanna ride the bus like this
Never knowing who to trust like this
You don't wanna be stuck up on that stage singing
Stuck up on that stage singing
All I know are sad songs, sad songs
Darling, all I know are sad songs, sad songs.

I'm just a singer who already blew his shot
I get along with old timers
'Cause my name's a reminder of a pop song people forgot
And I can't keep a girl, no
'Cause as soon as the sun comes up
I cut 'em all loose and work's my excuse
But the truth is I can't open up...."

Post Malone (featuring Chris Stapleton)

California Sober

Post Malone is Austin Richard Post, an actor and music artist from New York and Texas, based in L.A. Chris Stapleton is an award-winning singer-songwriter-producer from Kentucky, active since 2001. This country pop song is from his album "F-1 Trillion" released 2024. It's not obvious why the song is called California Sober, but it probably refers to Post Malone's past history of substance abuse which he has talked about in public.

Several other musicians have songs with the same title, including Demi Lovato who might have been the first to use the term in her song released in 2021. Go to her entry to see a list of parody terms. (Florida sober = using meth only.)

"California sober on the Highway 1
Over on the shoulder thought I saw some fun lookin' for a ride

Trouble in some Daisy's, holdin' out her thumb
Stole some sucker's money now she's on the run
And she wanna get high
She said, 'I'll take you on a little trip, come on, give these lips a try'

She drank up all my whiskey, blew down all my smoke
I became the punchline of some cosmic joke
Damn bottle was dry
Kinda wanted to cry

She whispered, 'Pull it over,' I said, 'You're the boss'
In a southern drawl, said, 'Here's where I get off'
I've enjoyed our time
She said, 'Baby, give me one more kiss before I kiss your ass goodbye'

Needed me some diesel just to get back home
Tried to pay the man and found my money gone
Had to bum a ride
So if you see them Daisy's walkin' 'round, son, you best just pass 'em by
And if you see a wallet on the ground
Bet your ass, that s**t is mine"

Post Malone

Hollywood's Bleeding

This song is from Post Malone's third studio album, also called "Hollywood's Bleeding." It was released in 2019, debuting at number 1 and producing two number 1 singles.

"Hollywood's bleeding, vampires feedin'
Darkness turns to dust
Everyone's gone, but no one's leavin'
Nobody left but us
Tryna chase a feelin', but we'll never feel it
Ridin' on the last train home
Dyin' in our sleep, we're living out a dream
We only make it out alone

I just keep on hopin' that you call me
You say you wanna see me, but you can't right now
You never took the time to get to know me
Was scared of losin' somethin' that we never found
We're running out of reasons, but we can't let go
Yeah, Hollywood is bleeding, but we call it home

Outside, the winter sky turnin' grey
City up in smoke, it's only ash when it rains
Howl at the moon and go to sleep in the day
Love for everybody 'til the drugs fade away
In the mornin', blocking out the sun with the shades
She gotta check her pulse and tell herself that she okay
It seem like dying young is an honor
But who'd be at my funeral? I wonder
I go out, and all they eyes on me
I show out, do you like what you see?
And now they closin' in on me
Let 'em sharpen all they teeth
This is more than I can handle
Blood in my Lambo'
Wish I could go, oh, I'm losin' hoope
I light a candle, some Palo Santo
For all these demons, wish I could just go on

I just keep on hopin' that you call me
You say you wanna see me, but you can't right now
You never took the time to get to know me
Was scared of losin' somethin' that we never found
We're running out of reasons, but we can't let go
Yeah, Hollywood is bleeding, but we call it home"

Post Malone

Mourning

This song was released as a single from Malone's fifth studio album "Austin" released in 2023.
The best part of this song is the great line about having a lot to say that couldn't fit in the chorus.
Nobody ever drags me to parties in Malibu, so I had to look it up - "High Noon" is a brand of vodka-based hard seltzer, 30 of which, I'm guessing, would probably intoxicate a horse. I hope they paid him well for the product placement.

"Don't want to sober up
The sun is killing my buzz, that's why they call it mourning
Thought I was strong enough
Threw my bottle at the sky, said, 'God that's a warning'
Don't want to sober up
Try to keep it inside, but I just want to pour it
Thought I was strong enough
Got a lot of s**t to say, couldn't fit it in the chorus

I just left Wally's in a Maserati
The way I gotta flex you'd think I did pilates
I called my quote and quote friends, do you got plans?
Turns out everyone's free when the dinner is
Then they drag me to a party out in Malibu
After thirty High Noons it was pretty cool
Tried to shoot my shot, she told me that she had a shoot, bye-bye
(Damn)

Don't want to sober up
The sun is killing my buzz, that's why they call it mourning
Thought I was strong enough
Threw my bottle at the sky, said, 'God that's a warning'
Don't want to sober up
Try to keep it inside, but I just want to pour it
Thought I was strong enough
Got a lot of s**t to say, couldn't fit it in the chorus

Stumbling down a corridor, came across an open door
Throwing up is easy and who put on The Commodores?
That's a nice tile floor, wish I got to know you more
Who am I talking to? Nobody
Take me outside, I'm a little too high
Paid a little too much for the time of my life
When money ain't a problem, everyone's sliding
Even when I tell myself that I

Don't want to sober up
The sun is killing my buzz, that's why they call it mourning
Thought I was strong enough
Threw my bottle at the sky, said, 'God that's a warning'
Don't want to sober up
Try to keep it inside, but I just want to pour it
Thought I was strong enough
Got a lot of s**t to say, couldn't fit it in the chorus"

Post Malone (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)

Psycho

This hypnotic rap song is from Malone's second album Beerbongs & Bentleys, which debuted at number 1 on the charts in 2018, and produced two number 1 singles, including this one. In the song Malone brags about women, his watch, his cars, his diamonds, his clothes, the wads of cash stuffed inside his shorts, and how he's so rich, he can even afford to give drinks to the ugly girls. Ty Dolla $ign brags about all that plus getting high and luxury shopping on Rodeo Drive in L.A. and something about Pico, another L.A. street. For a hilarious and educational full translation of the lyrics, check out this page by Gee Lowery.

"Damn, my AP goin' psycho, lil' mama bad like Michael
Can't really trust nobody with all this jewelry on you
My roof look like a no-show, got diamonds by the boatload
Come with the Tony Romo for clowns and all the bozos
My AP goin' psycho, lil' mama bad like Michael
Can't really trust nobody with all this jewelry on you
My roof look like a no-show, got diamonds by the boatload
Don't act like you my friend when I'm rollin' through my ends, though

You stuck in the friend zone, I tell that four-five the fifth, ay
Hunnid bands inside my shorts, DeChino the s**t, ay
Try to stuff it all in, but it don't even fit, ay
Know that I been with the s**ts ever since a jit, ay
I made my first million, I'm like, "s**t, this is it, " ay
30 for a walkthrough, man, we had that b**ch lit, ay
Had so many bottles, gave ugly girl a sip
Out the window of the Benzo, we get seen in the rent'
And I'm like "Whoa, man, my neck so goddamn cold”
Diamonds weigh, my teeths is sore
I got homies, let it blow, oh
My money thick, won't ever fold
She said, "Can I have some to hold?"
And I can't ever tell you no

Damn, my AP goin' psycho, lil' mama bad like Michael
Can't really trust nobody with all this jewelry on you
My roof look like a no-show, got diamonds by the boatload
Come with the Tony Romo for clowns and all the bozos
My AP goin' psycho, lil' mama bad like Michael
Can't really trust nobody with all this jewelry on you
My roof look like a no-show, got diamonds by the boatload
Don't act like you my friend when I'm rollin' through my ends, though

The AP goin' psycho, my Rollie goin' brazy
I'm hittin' lil' mama, she wanna have my babies
It's fifty on the pinky, chain so stanky
You should see the whip, promise I can take yo b**ch
Dolla ridin' in an old school Chevy, it's a drop top
Boolin' with a thot-thot, she gon' give me top-top
Just one switch, I can make the ass drop (hey)
Uh, take you to the smoke shop
We gon' get high, ay, we gon' hit Rodeo
Dial up Valentino, we gon' hit Pico
Take you where I'm from, take you to the slums
This ain't happen overnight, no, these diamonds real bright
Saint Laurent jeans, still in my Vans though
All VVSs, put you in a necklace
Girl, you look beautiful tonight
Stars on the roof, they matching with the jewelry...."

Mark Pountney

California On My Mind

Mark Pountney is a singer-songwriter from Liverpool, England. This '60s inspired folk-pop song with strings and horns was released in 2020, and is also on his album "Love, Luck and Time" released in 2021.

"Well I can almost feel it
The California sun in my hair down my neck and my spine
Breaks my heart to leave it
This feeling I found I got a reason for believing this time
It's turning my emotions 'round
Lifts me up from the ground
Infuses my breathing with some kind of healing

California
California
California's on my mind

Well I can almost see it
The rhythm of the coast and the ocean as it kisses the shore
It's make believe and magic
But won't let you go
You get a feeling like you've been there before
It's turning my emotions 'round
Picks me up from the ground
Infuses my breathing with some kind of healing

California
California
California's on my mind

And in my mind
I'm turning back the pages of time
In my mind
The sweetest inspiration to fire your imagination

California
California
California's on my mind"

Aaron Powell

Aaron Powell is a Canadian singer-songwriter active since 2012 who also uses the name Fog Lake. This single was released in 2022.

"For a moment I had my fun
I guess now it's all done
Every morning it was so bright
I remember it tonight

Well is it ever gonna be that way again?
Will I play like that again

Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember Cali
Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember California

I put my heart out felt so alive
I thought you would mind my ride
I lost my trust in I let it down
Then you brought it back to life

Well is it ever gonna be that way again?
Will I play like that again

Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember Cali
Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember California

Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember Cali
Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember Cali

Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember Cali
Remember me
Remember that you are free
Always remember California
Always remember California
Always remember California"

Daniel Powter

Daniwl Powter is a singer-songwriter from Canada active since 1997 and best known for his #1 hit "Bad Day" in 2005. This song is from his seond album "Daniel Powter" released in 2005.

"Hey, this could be cool
Cause we could be together, but nothing lasts forever.
Me, I'll be your fool
Pick you up when you fall down
And move across the dance floor
Let me buy you a drink or two

And you could be my star for weekends
Do you like your Hollywood?
As far as I'm concerned, the lesson's been learned
At least that's what I understood

That's right!
Hey! Tell your daddy not to wait up
You're not comin' home, you're all mine
And that's fine, I keep you by my side
Oh!, a few of... at last
And move across the dance floor
Let me buy you a drink or two

And you could be my star for weekends
Do you like your Hollywood?
As far as I'm concerned, the lesson's been learned
At least that's what I understood

Come on!
Write him a letter that you'll not come back
These days ain't been good but then these days ain't, so bad
Sooner or later when you come around
You got these problems
Then I let you down

Let me be your star for weekends
Do you like your Hollywood?
As far as I'm concerned, the lesson's been learned
At least that's what I understood

Let me be your star for weekends
Do you like your Hollywood?
As far as I'm concerned, the lesson's been learned
At least that's what I understood"

Jessica Pratt

Jessica Pratt is a folk singer-songwriter from Redding, California, who started her music career in San Francisco in 2007 and is now based in Los Angeles. This song is from her first album "Jessica Pratt" released in 2012.

"Ooh, when you were just young
And you sang so high to the angels
And you just don't want to go home
'Cause you sang so high to Hollywood

Down where your mother used to go, so low
Oh colored marigolds, you go so low
Through the window, oh you go
Hollywood is tumblin' down

And when you sing so low, watch out or you'll
Vanish the brethren that you know
Oh, and when you sing so low
Hollywood is tumblin' down

When you were just young
And you sang so high to the angels
And you just don't want to go home
'Cause you sang so high to Hollywood

Down where your mother used to go, so low
Oh colored marigolds, you go so low
Through the window, oh you go
Hollywood is tumblin' down"

The Presidents of the United States of America

F**k California

The Presidents of the United States of America was a rock power trio formed in Seattle in 1993. This song was a single released in 1995. The narrator hates L.A., San Bernardino, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Yreka, even Weed. (How could anyone hate Weed?) He never says why he hates the state, but the lyrics describe the Seattle area very well, and he likes it cloudy, so maybe he just hates the sunny Cali weather. (He should try the North Coast. I'll bet he wouldn't hate Arcata.)

"I'm in the mountains
They're so beautiful and crystal clear
They scrape the clouds with their top
(And f**k California)

And the air's so clear
I drink it in it makes me drunk
I fall down and fall asleep
(And f**k San Francisco)

I dream of some little evil land
With twisted little cragily experiences
Down below the Oregon Border
(And f**k San Berdoo)

I'm there in my dreams
I'm there in my nightmares
And I got to sing about it all day long
(And f**k Weed)

You've been naked in the sunshine
You've been buried in the sand
You've been living on the fault line
In a chemical plant

I've been pounding up and down I-5
Highway wanders such a blast
If only I could erase L.A.
The trip wouldn'ta so fast

This city is so beautiful
The clouds come out in the fall
And I love to see them back
(And f**k California!)

Even on a cloudy day
The sun pokes through at the end of the day
To make a little sunset experience even though you're depressed
(And f**k Santa Cruz)

Ohhh I'm in Central Oregon now
Driving my little blue tin can
And I hear green onions
(And f**k Yreka)

Green onions on the little stereo
And I feel like I'm going the right way
North-way North, North, North, North, North!

(Yeah keep goin' north boys!)
(All right!)
(Yahoo!)

Sonic cookie on the outside
Pure frosting all alone
You've been f**king Winona Ryder
And she got crabs on your bone

The only good thing about California
Is the band that I saw
They held there breath to shout out Supernova
They were playing in a shopping mall"

Pretenders

Hollywood Perfume

The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in 1978 and fronted by Chrissie Hynde. This song is from the band's 1994 album "Last of the Independents."

"I went out on the balcony in the middle of the night
The hotel was dark except for just one light
Television burning in the other room
I couldn't sleep so i put on some of your
Hollywood perfume

I went out on the balcony and looked across the way
Some guy was shadow boxing, he looked like Sugar Ray
I was feeling dizzy - began to swoon
Was it his punch or was it just your
Hollywood perfume?

I feel like a fugitive escaped from my life
Seeking refuge in the sensual heat
These paper-thin walls make me party to calls
Of love wafting through the room
The night jasmine bloom
Of your Hollywood perfume

I went out on the balcony to clear my head
I was burning up in my queen-sized bed
Down on the strip beneath the billboard moon
Teenaged girls look for love in the
Neon sex and doom
Of your Hollywood perfume

I went out on the balcony with your photograph
I dropped it in the pool and that made me laugh
You like your tan but you don't like to swim
Meanwhile i feel like i'm drowning in
Neon sex and doom
The night jasmine bloom
Of your Hollywood perfume"

Tristan Prettyman

Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign

Tristan Ann Prettyman is a singer-songwriter from San Diego. This song is from her album Hello (2008). It's slow and moody, starting with acoustic guitars, then builds. This time it's the California Girl who does the singing, but she's cynical and bitter and has learned her lesson. (Still, you just know she is gonna fall for that old trick again.)

"I'll let you fall in love with me
Show you how easy it can be
California girl of your dreams
Sitting by the sea shore
Soaking up the summer breeze

Never gonna fall, I'm never gonna fall
For that old trick again
Never gonna fall, I'm never gonna fall
For that old trick again

I can't believe I even came
Don't even know your name
Boy you know that ain't my scene
But you gotta play by the rules
If you ever gonna win the game

Never gonna fall, I'm never gonna fall
For that old trick again
Never gonna fall, I'm never gonna fall
For that old trick again…."

Dory Previn

This song has some great lyrics about Hollywood dreams and disillusionment. Previn was an American singer-songwriter. After writing lyrics for film songs with her then husband Andre Previn, she became a solo singer-songwriter. This song is from her album with the same name, released in 1972, which I haven’t listened to but which Wikipedia calls “a thematic album about Hollywood misfits. The songs were intended for a musical revue that ran briefly in Los Angeles.” It was a flop in previews so it never opened. The character of Mary C. Brown is based on Peg Entwistle who jumped off the “H” in the Hollywood sign in 1932. Here's a list of other songs that mention The Hollywood Sign.

“You know the Hollywood sign
That stands in the Hollywood Hills
I don't think the Christ of the Andes
Ever blessed so many ills.
The Hollywood sign seems to smile
Like it's constantly saying "cheese"
I doubt if the Statue of Liberty
Ever welcomed more refugees.

Give me your poor
Your tired your pimps
You carhops your cowboys
Your midgets your chimps
Give me your freaks
Your whores your harlots
Your flunkies your junkies
Give me your starlets.

Mary Cecilia Brown
Rode to town on a Malibu bus.
She climbed to the top
Of the Hollywood sign
And with the smallest possible fuss
She jumped off the letter “H”
'cause she did not become a star.
She died in less than a minute and a half
She looked a bit like Hedy Lamar.

Sometimes I have this dream
When the time comes for me to go
I will climb that hill
And i'll hang myself
From the second or third letter "O".

When Mary Cecilia jumped
She finally made the grade
Her name was in the obituary column
Of both the daily trades.

I hope the Hollywood sign
Cries for the town it touches
The Lady of Lourdes in her grotto
Saw fewer cripples and crutches.

Give me your poor
Your maladjusted
Your sick and your beat
And your sad and your busted.
Give me your has-beens
Give me your twisted
Your loners your losers
Give me your black-listed.

You know the Hollywood sign
The witness to our confusion
A symbol of dreams
Turns out to be
A sign
Of disillusion.”

Billy Prewitt (featuring Jody Jones)

The Hollywood Sign

This is a hard rock song from a 7-inch single released in 1979. The YouTube video uploaded in 2015 is pure lo-fi. Somebody just put a camera in front of a turntable and turned both of them on. But somehow the sound of an ungrounded turntable here just sounds perfect for the do-it-yourself record. They lyrics shown don't match what I hear so I have fixed them as much as I can to match the recording but you can read the official lyrics on Prewitt's YouTube page. Below are some of the comments from the page. (Unfortunately, the list of lyrics about the sign has been removed from the Hollywood Sign website.)

' "This unique song was written and recorded by Billy Prewitt in 1979 about the famous"Hollywood Sign". The words and music are featured on the official hollywood sign website http://hollywoodsign.org/ on the lyrics page http://hollywoodsign.org/category/the... scrolling down to 1979. The vocalist is Jody Jones and it was produced by Dennis Johnson of "Chase" & the original "Survivor".

As far as we can tell it is the only song ever written in it's entirety about on the Hollywood Sign. Feel free to contact Billy Prewitt on Facebook if you would like to record The Hollywood Sign. ... If you are an LA area musician we would be be honored to have you record The Hollywood Sign in any style, genre, or arrangement as your signature song.. copyright Billy Prewitt 1979.

The words to the song might have even been what was going on in the mind of Peg Entwhistle when she moved to Hollywood in 1932." '

If you do record the song, let me know, too!
Here's a list of other songs that mention The Hollywood Sign.

"Well it’s time that I was California bound
Got to lose this old one horse town
Told everybody that I got to go
And then I packed up my bags and got out on the road

All my friends said I would never get half way
Well I just passed the city limits to L.A.
All the people just walkin' on by
But me I can’t believe my eyes
Here I am right at 5th & Vine
Standin’ here starin’ at the Hollywood Sign
Yeah I'm standin’ here starin’ at the Hollywood Sign
All the people ... as they walk by
And I'm standin' here starin' at the Hollywood Sign

Well Tinseltown was no mistake
I had to turn around and I made my break
The work paid off and my dream came true
Now I couldn’t lay off if I wanted to
So I bought me a little house right under that hill
When I look up to that sign I still get a thrill
I’ve come a long way from days gone past
And sometimes you know I have to laugh
When I think way back to the time
When I was standin’ here starin’ at the Hollywood Sign
Standin’ here starin’ at the Hollywood Sign
All the people ... as they walk by
And I'm standin' here starin' at the Hollywood Sign

California sunshine can’t be beat
I worship the sand right under my feet
Well there's a magic word on the mountainside
With the sunset right behind
It really makes me feel so fine
Well I'm standin’ here starin’ at the Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign
It feels so good
The Hollywood Sign"

Margot Price

All American Made

Margo Price is country music singer-songwriter from Illinois, now based in Nashville. This song is from her second studio album "All American Made" released in 2017.

"I woke up from a movie I immediately forgot
I got a heartache on the bottom and a headache on the top
The part of me that hurts the worst is the one I just can't spot
And it's all American made

Through everywhere I go, somebody puts me in the dirt
And everything I say, somebody says they said it first
But I don't need ten million, baby just give me one that works
It's all American made

I have been all over but I can't help feeling stuck
Something in my blood line or something in my gut
Says go to California in a rusted pickup truck
It's all American made

1987 and I didn't know it then
Reagan was selling weapons to the leaders of Iran
And it won't be the first time and baby, it won't be the end
They were all American made

But I was just a child unaware of the effects
Raised on sports and Jesus and all the usual suspects
So tell me, Mr. Petty, what do you think will happen next
It's all American made

And I wonder if the president gets much sleep at night
And if the folks on welfare are making it alright
I'm dreaming of that highway that stretches out of sight
And it's all American made
It's all American made
It's all, it's all American made"

Margo Price

Cocaine Cowboys

This is another song from Price's 2017 album "All American Made." It only has a reference to California in a list of places, and many songs like that I haven't taken the time to add, but since this one has a cheezy 70s wah wah guitar sound and it's about drugged up cowboys who are bad in the saddle and she rhymes "Seattle" with "Cattle," so I had to put it on the list.

"Well the boys round here ain't like the boys back home
They don't plant the fields, they won't work the farms
The boys round here well they talk too fast
When the times get hard, no they won't last

Cocaine cowboys
They're bad in the saddle
But they're coming from New York, L.A., and Seattle
They're all hat, they don't rope no cattle
They don't ride no bulls
Cocaine cowboys, they never get sleep
With their bloodshot eyes, their cigarette teeth
I wish that someone warned me
Stay away from them cocaine cowboys

Well they're riding the rails right before the show
Better call up James when the bag gets low
The crowd thins out the longer they play
You can't write a song with nothing to say

Cause the cocaine cowboys
They're bad in the saddle
But they come in from New York, L.A., and Seattle
They're all hat, they don't rope no cattle
They don't ride no bulls

Cocaine cowboys, they never get sleep
They're out in the bars and grinding their teeth
And I wish that someone warned me
Stay away from them cocaine cowboys
And I wish that someone warned me
Stay away from them cocaine cowboys"

Steve Pride & Scotty

Miss California

As far as I can determine Steve Pride aka Steven Heidrich and Scotty, aka Oliver Heller, are German music producers. This song is a 2023 electronic dance remake of the 2001 Dante Thomas and Pras song, which was also remade by DJ Serg & Simon Blaze in 2020. This version adds a couple of verses in French, but I don't have a transcription and translation of them yet.

Primal Sky

Take The Star Out Of The Window

Primal Sky is a smooth jazz band that has been featured in a number of surf movies. This song was released in 2016.

"Gloria
It's that time of year
We all come out and meet
Sleigh bells on your radio
It's all over the street
No we don't get much snow
That happens in Chicago
Granting L.A. good cheer
Wearing bikinis on the pier

It's a California Christmas
Another California Christmas
A California Christmas
Another California Christmas

I hear the sound of singing
A contagious Christmas feeling
Little eyes biting the sweets
Santa Clause they're dying to meet

It's a California Christmas
Another California Christmas
A California Christmas
Another California Christmas
(Jingle all the way)

La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Gloria

The bells are ringing
California dreaming
(Jingle bells jingle all the way)

As we gather 'round
Spending time with friends and family
Knowing Santa's in town
There's nowhere else he'd rather be

It's a California Christmas
Another California Christmas
A California Christmas
(Jingle all the way)
Another California Christmas
(Jingle all the way)
It's a California Christmas
Another California Christmas
A California Christmas
Another California Christmas
(Jingle all the way)
(Jingle all the way)"

John Prine

John Prine was an American country/folk singer and songwriter whose first album was released in 1971. This song about a Viet Nam veteran returning to his parents in California, is from his second album, Diamonds in the Rough, released in 1972.

Robert was a sailor
For the best years of his life
His captain was his mother
And the ocean was his wife
Only fresh out of the cradle
Life's one and only spring
He was sworn to do his duty
And got blood on his high school ring

And it's hello California
Hello dad and mom
Ship ahoy
Your baby boy
Is home from Vietnam
Don't you ask me any questions
About the medals on my chest
Take the star out of the window
And let my conscience take a rest

Now he sailed across the ocean
To the old Far Eastern war
And it was foreign to his body
It was foreign to his shore
So he traded in the present
For the better times he'd seen
And made an oriental waitress
His own homecoming queen

And it's hello California
Hello dad and mom
Ship ahoy
Your baby boy
Is home from Vietnam
Don't you ask me any questions
About the medals on my chest
Take the star out of the window
And let my conscience take a rest

Propellerheads

Take California

Popellerheads were an electronic music duo from England, active from 1995-2003. This is a single released in 1996 and it's on their album "Decksanddrumsandrockandroll" released in 1997. Apparently, this was the first song ever used in an iPod TV ad.

The voices we hear are samples, including recordings of Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson and an interview with Vice President Richard M. Nixon. According to speculation on the internet, the main sample "Take California" is Nixon's voice. (Early in his political career Nixon was a Senator from California.) A man asks him if they can keep a memento of Nixon's visit and Tricky Dick tells him to "Take California." I doubt that this conversation really happened. It's most likely the result of creative editing.

"[Record Scratch]
Begin to eat the dust, the dust, eat the, the dust, the dust of, dust of, the dust of, Baja California

It's a great pleasure
It's a great, great pleasure
It's a great pleasure to have all of you here today
But I thought you all might begin your tour here

Senator welcome to our microphones
Is there anything of yours that we can keep as a memento of this visit?
Take California

Take California
Take California
Take California
Take California

Take California
That's alright
That's alright
That's alright
That's alright
That's alright
That's alright
That's alright"

Chuck Prophet

Temple Beautiful (the song and the complete album)

Chuck Prophet released "Temple Beautiful," a song and an album of rocking guitar-based songs, in early 2012. The album is described on his web site as "...ultimately an open love letter to San Francisco..." There are many references to people and places in S.F. history.

Temple Beautiful was a Jewish temple in San Francisco that was converted into a punk rock club in the late '70s or maybe early '80s. It was located next to the iconic Fillmore West and the infamous Jim Jones church.

"There she stood right next to me at the
Temple Beautiful Someday, there's gonna be a revolution Till then, you need an eye on constitution
The lights came on it was a whole new world at the
Temple Beautiful
I got the kid but I lost the girl at the
Temple Beautiful

She got so excited
Manchester United
Her mind was dirty but her hands were clean at the
Temple Beautiful

Everybody doing criminal acts
Temple Beautiful
And now the future's here, but it feels like the past
Temple Beautiful
I don't remember what happened last
Temple Beautiful
Well we might've got high, we might've just left
Temple Beautiful

Someday this is all gonna be gone
Temple Beautiful"

PS1 (featuring Alex Hosking)

Fake Friends

PS1 is a New York dance music producer and Alex Hosking is an Australian singer-songwriter. This is a house dance track from 2020. People all over the world artificially enhance their smiles and bodies, but the West Coast (L.A.) always gets the blame, probably because it's associated with Hollywood actors.

"It's the middle of the night, what the f**k we gon' do?
It seems you're all talk, baby, all talk, ooh
I could smell the cigarette smoke falling from you
Got me alone, what the f**k we gon' do?

You hate those West Coast plastic, tinsel, botox, perfect smiles (umm hi)
You're a lonely wallflower, old school type of anti-style

Maybe we could be like the others, they know how to have fun
Maybe we could be like the others, they know how to have fun
Maybe we could be like the others, they know how to have fun
They know how to have fun, they know how to have fun...."

Psychedelic Forest

Lost Hills, California

This blast of psychedelia is from the EP "Water Clear As Day (But My Vision Isn't)" released in 2022. I don't know anything about the band except that when I Googled the name I saw lots of pictures of colorful trees. Lost Hills is just west of I-5 north of Buttonwillow, or so the signs say. Nobody really knows where they're hiding.

"California baby
Where'd you leave me?
Lost Hills aren't forgiving
Secret feelings are deceiving

California where'd you leave me?
Lost Hills don't believe in me

[?] is believing and
Lost Hills don't believe me
Baby don't you leave me
Baby don't you leave me

California where'd you leave me?
Lost Hills don't believe in me

Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Lost Hills don't believe me
Whoa whoa whoa...."

Public Enemy (featuing Ice Cube & Big Daddy Kane)

Public Enemy is Hip hop group from New York, active since 1985. Ice Cube is a rapper and actor from South Central L.A. active since 1986, and Big Daddy Kane is a rapper and actor from Brooklyn, active since 1987.This song is from their third studio album "Fear of a Black Planet" released in 1990.

"Burn Hollywood burn, I smell a riot
Goin' on first they're guilty now they're gone
Yeah I'll check out a movie
But it'll take a black one to move me
Get me the hell away from this TV
All this news and views are beneath me
'Cause all I hear about is shots ringin' out
So I rather kick some slang out
All right fellas let's go hand out
Hollywood or would they not
Make us all look bad like I know they had
But some things I'll never forget, yeah
So step and fetch this s**t
For all the years we looked like clowns
The joke is over smell the smoke from all around
Burn Hollywood burn

Ice Cube is down with the PE
Now every single b**ch wanna see me
Big Daddy is smooth word to mutha
Let's check out a flick that exploits the color
Roamin' thru Hollywood late at night
Red and blue lights what a common sight
Pulled to the curb gettin' played like a sucker
Don't fight the power the motherf***er
As I walk the streets of Hollywood Boulevard
Thinin' how hard it was to those that starred
In the movies portrayin' the roles
Of butlers and maids slaves and hoes
Many intelligent black men seemed to look uncivilized
When on the screen like a guess
I figure you to play some jigaboo
On the plantation, what else can a ni**er do
And black women in this profession
As for playin' a lawyer, out of the question
For what they play Aunt Jemima is the perfect term
Even if now she got a perm
So let's make our own movies like Spike Lee
'Cause the roles being offered don't strike me
There's nothing that the black man could use to earn
Burn Hollywood burn"

Charlie Puth

Attention

Charlie Puth is an American singer and songwriter from New Jersey.
Released in 2017, this song is about a woman who seems to be a bit of a stalker. The singer claims she goes around to every party in L.A. because she knows that he'll be at one of them. In a city of at least 4 million people, that's a lot of parties if you consider all the birthday parties, pool parties, house parties, cocktail parties, weddings, bar mitzvah parties, Quinceañeras, etc. etc. I'm calling Fake News on this. But it's still a very infectious pop song with a great bass line.
If you like people who make music with their mouths, check out the great a cappella version of this song by Pentatonix.

"You've been runnin' round, runnin' round, runnin' round throwin' that dirt all on my name
'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd call you up
You've been going round, going round, going round every party in LA
'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd be at one

I know that dress is karma, perfume regret
You got me thinking 'bout when you were mine
And now I'm all up on ya, what you expect
But you're not coming home with me tonight

You just want attention
You don't want my heart
Maybe you just hate the thought of me with someone new
Yeah, you just want attention
I knew from the start
You're just making sure I'm never gettin' over you

You've been runnin' round, runnin' round, runnin' round throwing that dirt all on my name
'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd call you up
Baby, now that we're, now that we're, now that we're right here standing face to face
You already know, already know, already know that you won...."

Charlie Puth

L.A. Girls

Another song about California Girls - from Puth's 2018 album Voicenotes.

"Told you I'm moving out to bigger and better things
Guess you never know how good you got it 'til it's gone
Thought I could find somebody new who could take your place
The list goes on, and on, and on

There was Nikki, Nicole, Tiffany, and Heather
But there's only room for you in my world
But you say that I changed like the east coast weather
How the hell did I get caught up?
Messin' with these L.A. girls

I miss my baby
I'm missin' my baby L.A. girls)
I miss my baby
Messin' with these L.A. girls

I miss the days we'd take a Greyhound to NYC (NYC)
Wish I could have seen that it was perfect how it was
Listen, I don't want this to be the way you remember me
'Cause I know I was wrong, wrong

There was Nikki, Nicole, Tiffany, and Heather
But there's only room for you in my world
But you say that I changed like the east coast weather
How the hell did I get caught up?
Messin' with these L.A. girls

I miss my baby
I'm missin' my baby (L.A. girls)
I miss my baby
Messin' with these L.A. girls

I miss my baby
I'm missin' my baby (L.A. girls)
I miss my baby
Messin' with these L.A. girls

1, 2, 3
Talk to me like, ooh ooh ooh
Quit messin' with my baby
Oh ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah!
Ooh, ooh, oh oh
Ooh, ooh

There was Nikki, Nicole, Tiffany, and Heather
But there's only room for you in my world
But you say that I changed like the east coast weather
How the hell did I get caught up?

Messin' with these L.A. girls
I miss my baby
I'm missin' my baby (L.A. girls)
I miss my baby
Messin' with these L.A. girls ('m missing my baby!)"

Raff Pylon (featurning Snoop Dogg)

Christmas in California

Raff Pylon is a singer-songwriter-producer. This soulful Christmas song was released in 2020 during the dark days of the pandemic, which is why Snoop Dogg celebrates "no mask on, no social distance." A Latin version was released the next year with verses in Spanish and Portuguese, which you can see below.

"Baby it’s seven in the morning
I’ve never really seen the sun so bright in December
Silver bells by the palm trees yeah
And something ‘bout the music in the air makes me wonder if we could

Put a tree in the backseat, and drive with the top down
The only Santa we’ll see here is Monica baby
Got a taste of the sun yeah, and you’ve never looked so fine
I got a feeling we were meant to be here

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Walking through the mall like we’re shopping on Rodeo
Don’t worry ‘bout the price tag, we gon’ be okay though
And I still remember days back when we used to window shop
And listen for the reindeer on the rooftop
Come on let’s

Put a tree in the backseat, and drive with the top down
The only Santa we’ll see here is Monica baby
Got a taste of the sun yeah, and you’ve never looked so fine
I got a feeling we were meant to be here

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Me and you girl
Close on Christmas, no mask on
No social distance, toast with a glass
Post the pictures, playing Secret Santa
While I grant your wishes
California love got us hugging and kissing under the mistletoe
Relax by the fire smoking medicinal
Real love since the 80s, love’s crazy
Now we’re wrapping gifts for the kids and grand-babies

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming (Yeah)

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming
California love
California dreaming"

Raff Pylon, Afro Bros & Leo Santana (featuring Snoop Dogg & DioBula)

Christmas in California (Latin Version)

This Latin version of the song with a few verses in Spanish and Portuguese was released in 2021.

"Baby it’s seven in the morning
I’ve never really seen the sun so bright in December
Silver bells by the palm trees yeah
And something ‘bout the music in the air makes me wonder if we could

Put a tree in the backseat, and drive with the top down
The only Santa we’ll see here is Monica baby
Got a taste of the sun yeah, and you’ve never looked so fine
I got a feeling we were meant to be here

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Quisiera lleva a un lado donde lo amargo lo quita el ponche
Hookah telera y romo coquito grande que vino de ponse
Tamo afuera el brindis con la banquera desde afuera
Llegan en aviones buscando de ella
Aquî la gente por mas problemas que tienen tan sonrientes
Navidad esta en aire y eso se siente evidente
Colmadones escuchando a Jhonny y conciente yah

Clima de natal no verao mai'bro noel alta estacao
I love you Brazil o mundo me adoro
Mas se me chamar
Vou pra California

Vamos brindar que
Ta bom ta bom
Tem de presente aumento o som
A felicidade nao escolhe idioma
Se juntar o mundo soma

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Me and you girl
Close on Christmas, no mask on
No social distance, toast with a glass
Post the pictures, playing Secret Santa
While I grant your wishes
California love got us hugging and kissing under the mistletoe
Relax by the fire smoking medicinal
Real love since the 80s, love’s crazy
Now we’re wrapping gifts for the kids and grand-babies

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming (Yeah)

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming

On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California
On this Christmas in California

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming

Star on top of the Christmas tree
All my love like the sand and the sea
I’m so happy you’re here with me
We’re California dreaming
California love
California dreaming"

I would like to take it to a side where the bitterness is washed away by the punch
Hookah telera and blunt large coquito that came from ponse
I toast outside with the banker from outside
They arrive in planes looking for her
Here the people for more problems that they have so smiling
Christmas is in the air and that feels evident
Colmadones listening to Jhonny and conscious yah

Christmas weather in summer mai'bro noel high season
I love you Brazil the world loves me
But if you call me
I'm going to California

Let's toast that
Okay okay
Has a present increase in sound
Happiness does not choose language
Join the sum world

Q-Feel

Dancing in Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop)

This new wave classic is the only hit from the British synthpop group from their only album also titled Q-Feel, released in 1982, but I think it's one of the best New Wave dance songs ever. The singer says he'll be the first to dance the Bossa Nova ten thousand miles above L.A., and that is close enough to California to be put on this list, which has shamefully minimal presequisites for inclusion.

"Are you ready? Here we go!

Slow, slow. Quick-quick, slow.

Countdown it's getting near to flight time
Night stars are shining in my eyes
Ma' says I'm going to be the first one
To dance the be-bop in the skies!

Dancing in heaven, I never thought
I'd ever get my feet this far (orbital be-bop)

I'll be the first to Bossa Nova
Ten thousand miles above L.A.!
Boogie my way beyond the radar
I'll bring a jive to outer space!

Hey! Here I am!
I hear the universe sing the celestial swing
I am not alone, are you receiving me clear?
There's others out here!"

Quasi

Quasi is an indie rock from Portland band. This song was released in 1998. The depressed tour guide singer of the song thinks panhandlers should be kicked.

"Life is full life is grey:
At its best it's just OK.
But I'm happy to report
Life is also short.

So I find myself back in California
I'm a coolie for the tourists
Those happy Epicureans:
Evil specters from my own
Suburban upbring.
As I reveal points of interest
I can chat so pleasantly,
But it's hard to be cheerful
When you feel so hopeless
And there's no reason for this dark mood.
It will pass; it will return, but will I ever learn?

And the children of privilege
Begging for my spare change.
Do they need my assistance
To purchase their intoxicants,
Or would they best be served a swift kick
Slowly sinking in the vast ambivalent sea
Of California."

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Fresh Air

Quicksilver Messenger Service is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. This song was their most successful single, from their fourth album "Just For Love" released in 1970. I don't think they're really singing about having a "hit" of air, since the songwriter Dino Valenti was put in prison for possession of taking too many "hits" of marijuana (yeah, they used to put you in prison for that) but I still think of this as an anthem for the great California outdoors - as long as you're out of the smog zone and it's not wildfire season....

"Wo-oh-oh, what you do to me
Oh oh, what you do to me, little girl
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit of sweet air (in the morning)
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit

I want to know where you going
I want to know, sweet mama, where you gonna go, yeah?
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit of fresh air
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit

Oh, baby, what you gonna do?
I what to know, honey, what you gonna do, sweet thing?
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit of sweet love (in the morning)
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit

I love you, yes I do, babe
I love you, God knows I do, sweet thing
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit of sweet California sunshine
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit

Oo-oo-oo, Oo-oo-oo

Take me home, take me home
Take me home with you
Take me home
I wanna go home with you, little girl
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit of fresh air
Oo-oo-oo-oo, have another hit"

RAC

405

RAC is the remix collective solo project of Portuguese-American musician and producer Andre Anjos, active since 2013 and based in Portland, Oregon. This light electro-pop dance track is from RAC's 2014 debut album "Strangers" and features vocals by Portland Claire L. Evans from the Portland-based dance pop band YACHT. The 405 is a freeway near the coast in Los Angeles in Orange Counties.

"Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride
Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride

Let's drive out to the west side you and me
It's a long trip but the crest rides into the sea
The city it seems meaningless and vague
But I'm giddy and I'm feeling it just like a wave

Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride
Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride

The GPS will tell us we've arrived
But all I want to do today is drive, drive, drive
Down Beverly, down Sunset to the end
Down Venice, down Sepulveda, down Mulholland

They say the smog makes the sunsets look the way they do
Like the sun is getting undressed right before the moon
(I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn about the 405)
They say the smog makes the sunsets look the way they do
(I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn about the 405)
Like the sun is getting undressed right before the moon

(I don't give a damn) do do-do-do
(I don't give a damn) do do-do-do
(I don't give a damn about the)
405
(I don't give a damn) do do-do-do
(I don't give a damn) do do-do-do
(I don't give a damn about the)
405

This town is like an animal curled up at our feet
It's full of intangibles and friends I've yet to meet
From up here on the canyon, all the cars
On the freeway through the city flow like veins of stars

Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride
Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride

They say the smog makes the sunsets look the way they do
Like the sun is getting undressed right before the moon
(I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn about the 405)
They say the smog makes the sunsets look the way they do
(I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn, I don't give a damn about the 405)
Like the sun is getting undressed right before the moon

I don't give a damn
I don't give a damn
I don't give a damn about the 405
I don't give a damn
I don't give a damn
I don't give a damn about the 405

Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride
Do do-do-do
Do do-do-do
Let's go for a ride"

RADA

Payme

This short bouncy electronic dance track was released in early 2024, but I don't know much about RADA. Music publication The Fader put this song at number ten in their 50 best songs of 2024 list, describing RADA as a "London-based "Swag&B" singer..." saying that she put the track together quickly with producer Endeavour, who also made a remix of it.

"If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
Better pay me for it, better pay me for it

If you got sumn’ for me, better be more money
Got no time for a broke bi**h, you can't get nun’ from me
Meet me down in L.A., my new ni**ga's from L.A.
If you want that new s**t, (totally) play me

If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(If you wanna, if you wanna)
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(Better pay me for it)
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(If you wanna, if you wanna)
Better pay me for it, better pay me for it
(Better pay me for it)

If you want that new s**t
(Every time I walk in the room)
If you want that new s**t
(Tell me they're all lookin' at you)
If you want that new s**t
(Everytime I walk in the room)
Better pay me for it, better pay me for it

Baby, come closer
Baby, come closer

Oh s**t, I'm poppin
They play my music 'cause I'm it
Go get your shawty she's tweakin'
You know we like to get geeky
Yeah, over here we get freaky
I'm on the table I’m leanin’
We poppin' bottles I feel sick
Pop-poppin' bottles I feel sick

If you got sumn’ for me, better be more money
Got no time for a broke bi**h, you can't get nun’ from me
Meet me down in L.A., my new ni**a's from L.A.
If you want that new s**t, (totally) play me

If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(If you wanna, if you wanna)
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(Better pay me for it)
If you want that new s**t, better pay me for it
(If you wanna, if you wanna)
Better pay me for it, better pay me for it
(Better pay me for it)"

The Radiators

Nancy Can't Dance

The Radiators are a pub rock band from Australia, formed in 1978. This song is from their debut album "Feel the Heat" released in 1980, when disco was still a big deal, despite the racist and homophobic "disco sucks" movement which led to Disco Demolition Night at Major League Baseball's Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1979 where theyt blew up a crate of disco records and destroyed the playing field.

"...There sits Nancy drinking in the corner
Sitting this one out because the music bores her
She can hardly wait for the band to stop playin'
When the DJs on and her hips are swayin'

She's looking really cool, Nancy knows every step
It comes so naturally, for one of the jet set
She don't like Rock 'n' Roll, cos Rock 'n' Roll ain't hip
She too much into that music trip

Nancy can't dance if the beat ain't disco
Learned all the steps in San Francisco
Nancy can't dance if the music ain't disco

Every record she owns has a techno beat
Always hanging round where the techno crowd meets
Boyfriend's rich and his name is Mike
He's a John Travolta look-alike (Spew)

Nancy can't dance if the beat ain't disco
Learned all the steps in San Francisco
Nancy can't dance if the music ain't disco
Ain't disco. It's a discord (Aww s**t)...."

Radical Something

Marriage Made in Hollywood

Radical Something is a trio formed in 2011. Two members met at UC Berkeley. This upbeat reggae indie pop song is from their debut album "We Are Nothing" released in 2011.

"How do I get out of here
Back to where I belong
California, California
Baby I'm coming home

I need some fun vibes and a couple drops of sunshine
Good enough to pick and choose the always over sometimes
Pour a little out we like to live a lot
And I make better decisions when I'm hot
We are chasing dreams for my scenes at my hangout spot
No plan for tonight
But we all stay locked
Writin' nice grin, uh uhhh
No thunder or lightning
Just a view of the ocean
And the sexy ass light skin girl
I'm going back
I'm going back
And I'm headed for my paradise
My paradise where I can sit and write songs
Eat a little food and we can share our lives
California got me thinking I should really take it easy
Out back with my crew and some girls if you need me
So when I say welcome home
You ask what do I mean
I mean you visit and you never wanna leave
Come find me

How do I get out of here
Back to where I belong
California, California
Baby I'm coming home

It's so sweet so sweet Californ-i-a
Where the fruits all fall from my family tree
I need my skateboard a drink and a long stretch of pavement
Pickin' up my pace and I'm back to the basics
Yeah, and travel well of my element
Gone for a second and every time I leave
You know I'm always second guessing it
Thinking I'll regret it
But you know I'm coming back in the end
And I've accepted it
Yeah I'm feelin' feelin' all feelin' all feelin' all feelin' all golden
We're skatin' on the sidewalk
And you can hear us all hear us all hear us all hear us all rollin'
It's so damn hot outside and missed flights are the only thing that's stoppin' me from tryin' to kick it tropically
Cuz out here we don't just own the sun, us California kids got a monopoly
Let’s go come on

How do I get out of here
Back to where I belong
California, California
Baby I'm coming home

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Cause I've been gone for way too long
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Cause I've been gone for way too long
And these Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls
Are all just so damn fine
And these Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls
Running through my mi-ind
And these Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls
Are all just so damn fine
And these Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls Cali girls
Running through my mi-i-i-ind yea"

Radical Something

California Pt. 2

This song is from the album "Summer of Rad 2.0" released in 2015

"Catch my wave
Feel it vibrate
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
Now turn up the bass
Drink ya' drink drink
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
California
California
Where I belong

Mendocino eating Pecorino
Sippin’ vino with Dan Marino
In my speedo with a Desert Eagle
Holla like where did he go, where did he go
Got love for Los Angeles
Even though the people so scandalous
Hood mansion tip Richard Branson slick
California kings

Catch my wave
Feel it vibrate
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
Now turn up the bass
Drink ya' drink drink
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
California
California
Where I belong

Ayo that’s where I’m from
I pop the VHS and watch Top Gun
All day everyday you know I got love
I fly no lie Runyon I run
In the Valley I can hold you down
Hit The Peasant then I got the rounds
Get down with Dustin cause he got the Crown
Live so deep cause I don’t wanna be found, oh yeah

Catch my wave
Feel it vibrate
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
Now turn up the bass
Drink ya' drink drink
I’ma lay you down with my boom box babe
California
California
Where I belong

Energized rabbit
Creature of calm habit
Any given day just relaxin’
Eyeballs wrapped in plastic lifestyle nautical
Bathtub full of bikinis and sand particles
Sip a drink that just hit the gym
So its stronger than you think it is
A song like this you could put it in a time capsule
Millenniums later it’d still be radical...."

Radical Something

Cali Get Down

This song is a single released in 2014.

"Cali get down like this
Come and get down like that
Cali

We’re crawling up the streets
And rollin’ through your town, its electric
Bending every corner but I’m feelin’ disconnected
Because I’m young, dumb, and loaded like a shot gun
She coastin’ up on a Santa Cruz long one
Rollin’ it up and smokin’ it all
She turned around and goes
'Where you from?'

Left coast, best coast, did I stutter?
West coast that’s my bread and butter
Rad Fam hot damn on the come-up
Everybody be like 'What up motherf**ker!?”'

She looks like she’s from California
She dance with two left feet and do the hipster polka
Funny lookin’ shake a leg, bunny hoppin’
Maybe we look stupid but it's fine
She looks like she’s from California
Cali get down like this
Cali get down like this

Nah she ain’t done yet, she slappin’ down Sunset
She so cold like Frisco, she OG like disco
She rock them Vans ‘til the day that she die
I’m In'N'Out we gettin saucy got that Animal Style

So where you from?
Yeah, where tropical is typical
We’ll put you on!
To some gnarly individuals
Yo, you don’t know what you’re missin’ one flight from good living
Quit your job or call in sick and you can take a visit to the

Left coast, best coast, did I stutter?
West coast that’s my bread and butter
Rad Fam hot damn on the come-up
Everybody be like .What up motherfu**ker!?.

She looks like she’s from California
She dance with two left feet and do the hipster polka
Funny lookin’ shake a leg, bunny hoppin’
Maybe we look stupid but it's fine
She looks like she’s from California
Cali get down like this
(Cali get down)
Cali get down like this
(Cali get down)

Cali get down like this
Cali get down like that
(Hop a flight I’ll bring you home)
Cali get down like this
Cali get down like that
Cali get down like this...."

Radiohead

Palo Alto

Radiohead is the award-winning Hall of Fame English rock band that killed upbeat '90s Britpop and made us all listen to sad, atmospheric, dystopian British rock with the release of their 1997 masterpiece "OK Computer." Not that that was a bad thing. This is from the band's 1998 EP "Airbag/How Am I Driving?"

"In a city of the future
It is difficult to concentrate
Meet the boss, meet the wife
Everybody's happy
Everyone is made for life

In a city of the future
It is difficult to find a space
I'm too busy to see you
You're too busy to wait

But I'm okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
But I'm okay, how are you?
I hope you're okay too

Give me one of those days
When the sky's California blue
With a beautiful bombshell
I throw myself into my work
I'm too lazy, I've been kidding myself for so long

I'm okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
But I'm okay, how are you?
I hope you're okay too."

Rage Against the Machine

Down Rodeo

Rage Against the Machine is a rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1991, known for their political songs, including this one about race and class in L.A. not long after the Rodney King riots of 1992. The song is from their second album "Evil Empire" released in 1996. "Rodeo" is Rodeo Drive, the famous street in the upscale shopping district in Beverly Hills, where, due to the color of his skin, the singer felt he needed to defend himself with a shotgun as he drives down Rodeo.

"Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

Bangin' this bolo tight on this solo flight can't fight alone
F**k tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone
The pen devils set that stage for tha war at home
Locked wit out a wage ya standin' in tha drop zone
The clockers born starin' at an empty plate
Momma's torn hands cover her sunken face
We hungry but them belly full
The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull
In tha ruins there's a network for tha toxic rock
School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block
Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor
The remains left chained to the powder war

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first
Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yes I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic
They ain't gonna send us campin' like they did my man Fred Hampton
Still we lampin' still clockin' dirt for our sweat
A ballots dead so a bullet's what I get
A thousand years they had tha tools
We should be takin' 'em
F**k tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin' em
Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to
Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn

... ... ... ...

The rungs torn from the ladder can't reach the tumor
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer

Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we'll never have
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don't have"

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt is a multiple-Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitar hero born in California and raised in New York who has been in the business since 1971. This song probably shouldn't be on this list, because the "Hollywood" in the lyrics refers to the entertainment industry and not the city, but I'm glad to have something of hers on this list. It's from her 2012 album "Slipstream."

"Jimmy's not a high concept guy
But he's front page news, let me tell you why
He's on the cover of the New York Post
Every network, coast to coast
All he needed was a hot night in June
'Cause he had the needle and he had the spoon
When he spiked it bit, and man, he flew
Into America's living room

We all love tragedy and it loves us too
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
All you need to be a star is to die in open view
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
Between greed and you
Between greed and you

Loved by women, admired by men
He walked down Broadway with his best friend
His brain was wired like a light in a socket
With his old friend in his back pocket
That horse could kick, that horse could scream
Ride you outta here into a different scene
Unrequited love and that makes it fair
But who keeps score when you're in mid-air?

We all love tragedy, it loves us too
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
All you need to be a star is to die in open view
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
Between greed and you
Between greed and you

Like a free-fall chute that didn't open
He looked down to see his dream was broken
He stared back up at a hot grey sky
Reran his life and then he died
Well if you jump off a building, brother beware!
'Cause my friend Jimmy woke up mid-air
No time to smile, no time to wave
They buried him in a media grave

We all love tragedy, it loves us too
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
And all you need to be a star is to die in open view
It's a marriage made in Hollywood
Between greed and you
Between greed and you
Between greed and you"

Ramones

Journey to the End of the East Bay

The Ramones was a punk rock band formed in 1974 in New York City that is considered the first band to define the punk rock sound. It's hard to imagine how radical they sounded in the mid 70s because their sound is so commonplace today. Many established rock music fans back then hated them because they couldn't play more than 3 chords but the Ramones also inspired thousands of others to pick up instruments and start a band, in the do-it-yourself spirit the punk movement inspired. It took many years, but eventually they have become considered one of the greatest bands of all time. This song is a great cover of the 1964 Rivieras classic described below, from Ramones second album "Leave Home" released in 1977.

Ramones

Judy is a Punk

This is from Ramones first album "Ramones" released in 1976. The SLA was the "Symbionese Liberation Army," a radical California group that committed bank robberies and murders, and is best known for kidnapping Patricia Hearst in Berkeley in 1974.

"Jackie is a punk
Judy is a runt
They both went down to Berlin, joined the Ice Capades
And oh, I don't know why
Oh, I don't know why
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
... ... ...
Jackie is a punk
Judy is a runt
They both went down to Frisco, joined the SLA
And oh, I don't know why
Oh, I don't know why
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah"

Rancid

Brad Logan

Rancid is a punk band from Berkeley, California, formed in 1991. This is from the "Chef Aid: The South Park Album" released in 1998.

"California sun has sunk
Behind the Anaheim Hills, here comes tonight
I was high on junk
And the warm winds of Santa Ana feel alright

Will every crimin hood making bargain with the world
She's all obsessive when you shot through the curb
I spend my day in blackness
At night I get my vision
Dodging cars, paranoid indecision

'Cause it's wild
Well it's wild
Wild, wild, wild

California sun has sunk
Behind the Anaheim Hills, here comes tonight
I was high on junk
And the warm winds of Santa Ana feel alright

I get disgruntled, outside opinions
I'm no longer respected in this new transition
I put into a fact, my long time standard
Disastrous living, disastrous living!

'Cause it's wild
'Cause it's wild
Wild, wild, wild

California sun has sunk
Behind the Anaheim Hills, here comes tonight
I was high on junk
And the warm winds of Santa Ana feel alright...."

Rancid

This is from the album "...And Out Come the Wolves" released in 1995.

"Reconcile to the relief
Consumed in sacred ground for me
There wasn't always a place to go
But there was always an urgent need to belong

All these bands and
All these people
All these friends and
We were equals but
What you gonna do
When everybody goes on without you?

To the end to the end I'll journey to the end

Started in '87 ended in '89
Got a garage or an amp we'll play anytime
It was just the four of us, yeah man the core of us
Too much attention unavoidably destroyed us
Four kids on tour, 3000 miles in a four-door car not knowing what was goin' on
We got a million years
Touring out like this hell
No, no premonition could've seen this

Matty came from far away
From New Orleans into the East Bay
He said this is a mecca
I said this ain't no mecca man, this place's f**ked
Three months go by, he had no home he had no food, he's all alone
Matty said fool me once shame on you, didn't fool me twice
He went back to New Orleans"

Rancid

Telegraph Avenue

This song is from Rancid's ninth studio album "Trouble Maker" released in 2017. Telegraph Avenue stretches several miles from the main entrance to the U.C. Berkeley campus south into Oakland. It has been the center of many protests, including the Free Speech protest in 1964, led my Mario Savio, as well as the People's Park riots in 1969, when Ronald Reagan was governor of the state.

"I was there in the rain
Man, even if them skies were blue
You can find me on the corner of Durant
And Telegraph Avenue

When I was only 17
I knew what I had to do
So I grabbed my left handed guitar
And I headed out to Telegraph Avenue

Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Oh yeah

Mario Savio gave a speech
It was him against The Machine
For that he spent 3 months in jail
But he said he'd do it again

Governor Reagan had enough
So the National Guard they pushed on through
Tear gas and riot police
On Telegraph Avenue

Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Oh yeah

The ones who stand for freedom of speech
Well this one goes out to you
Well I can still hear your voice
On Telegraph Avenue

Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Na na na na na, na na na na na na, na na
Oh yeah"

Rappin' 4-Tay

Playaz Club

Rappin' 4-Tay is Anthony H. Forté, a rapper from San Francisco's Fillmore District, active since 1988. This smooth G-funk/West Coast Hip-hop track is from his second album "Don't Fight the Feelin'" released in 1994. It's a classic West Coast hip-hop song that has been featured on several compilations. It's full of mentions of places in San Francisco, but it also name checks a few other places in the Golden State.

"Me and my homies, we're tighter than a glove
We chop a lot of game, that's how we do it at the Playaz Club
So jump the pool, or kick it in the tub
'Cause we keep much ass at the Playaz Club

I got a ho named Reel-To-Reel
She got a buddy named SP-12, now you know the deal
We gets freaky in the studio late-night
That's why the beats that you hear are comin' real tight
Something to roll to, something to stroll to
If you's a player in the game this'll hold you
More money, more money for the bank roll
Stick to the script, don't slip in the '94
A lot of fools put the salt in the game
To where these women get the notion that they runnin' the game
Huh, I run my own, and I'm my own self-person
No respect make the situation worsen
Fillmore, H.P., and Sunnydale
There's a Playaz Club everywhere you dwell
Lakeview, P.H., and Army Street
A different part of town, a different kind of freak
I just wiggle my toes on a mink rug
And press play on remote at the Playaz Club

Me and my homies, we're tighter than a glove
We chop a lot of game, that's how we do it at the Playaz Club
So jump the pool, or kick it in the tub
'Cause we keep much ass at the Playaz Club
(More champagne, Mr. 4-Tay?)

From day one I had to get my money right
Me, Fly, and Frankie J, we took an airplane flight
Huh, they wanted to hear a rap, I said 'Alright, bet'
We dropped a beat, I grabbed the mic, and then they wrote a check
A few G's for the pocket, no hesitation
Took a flight back to the Golden State, and
Shops made orders from a whole new capital
The word was gettin' out, 4-Tay's out-rappable
Don't need a Glock, but I bought one just in case
A sucka try to stop me from pursuing my paper chase
Know the chase is on, because it don't stop
I got the beat and got the rap, you make the Glock pop
So treacherous suckas couldn't sweat this on a bad day
By the way, just in case you never heard of Rappin' 4-Tay
I'm on the smooth tip
Never trippin' on them suckas poppin' off at the lip
I pop the top off the drank and we can roll some dank, bro
Leave the gat at the house, bring some dominoes
Kick off your shoes, relax, and get a body rub
And shoot your mackin' at these women at the Playaz Club

Me and my homies, we're tighter than a glove
We chop a lot of game, that's how we do it at the Playaz Club
So jump the pool, or kick it in the tub
'Cause we keep much ass at the Playaz Club

You can't resist it, but don't get it twisted
VIP, that means the number's not listed
Membership is based on clout
And how you carry yourself; now homie, what you all about?
I stack paper and kick it with the O.G.'s
Some got a nine-to-five, some jook a lot of keys
You can learn a whole lot from a playa
A lot of these playas make a damn good rhyme-sayer
A lot of people get a misconception
And start drifting in the wrong direction
Miss Goody Two-Shoe, I'll see you later
I ain't got time, you ain't nothing but a playa-hater
I'd rather kick it with the crew in Arizona
They chop game like we do in California
Another show, another flow, a new bank account
But cash money comes in large amounts
So get your membership, but never slip to lameness fast
Or else Fly will have to tap that ass
And drop you to the ground, and make your knees scrub
It's just an everyday thang at the Playaz Club

Me and my homies, we're tighter than a glove
We chop a lot of game, that's how we do it in the Playaz Club
So jump the pool, or kick it in the tub
'Cause we keep much ass at the Playaz Club
Me and my homies, we're tighter than a glove
We chop a lot of game, that's how we do it at the Playaz Club
So jump the pool, or kick it in the tub
'Cause we keep much ass at the Sucka-free Club

Yeah, I'd like to send this shout out
To all the Playaz Clubs throughout the world
I know they got a Playaz Club in Chicago
Huh, what about that one they got in Philly, Fo'?
You know they got one out there in Atlanta
The way they be choppin' it
You understand, s**t; Detroit, New York, Texas
Yeah, but we gonna move on down to these Playaz Clubs
Closer to home, like Seattle, L.A., Bakersfield, San Diego
P.A., V-Town, Richmond, Sacramento
Yeah, but a special shout goes out to the Playaz Club
Right across the water in the Biggity-Biggity-O
Yeah, and last but definitely not least, yeah
Them Playa Clubs they got right there in the
San Francisco mothaf***kin' bay, yeah
Where your Playaz Club at 4?
My Playaz Club right in the heart of Fillmo'e
Uh, I feel you boy
Where yours at Fly?
Man, on the corner of Third and Newcomb, right in the heart of HP
Hahahah, Huh
This is for all you playaz out there mayne
We out, at the Playaz Club"

Rarin

California Flexin'

Rarin is a musician from New York. This pop-rap song is from the album of the same name which was released in 2020. I'll spare you from looking up VVS like I had to - it's a very high quality diamond.

"California flexin’ got me chilling with the famous hoes
Right up in hillies, raining billies yeah I set the tone
Got a chain on my neck, yeah I’m flexed up
Living hot, like the flu, you don’t want smoke
Yeah and I’m back with the gang yuh
Skrt skrt in a foreign, shawty tanned up
I got white VVS on my hand yuh
Life’s a dream, hit the gas, live it faster

Aye, Ima do what I wish
This is my life, jump in pools with the click
Shawty scream my name on the roof of the whip
Rockstar living I’m a fool with this s**t
Ex call my phone I decline with it
My cup’s empty, pour the wine in it
Shawty throw it back, yeah she fine with it
Counting up my bands, Ima die with it
Now I gotta go and flex with my money now
Shawty eating all my checks, I ain’t running out
Got a ring on my thumb and my pinky now
Shawty likes Louis belts, yeah she checks it out

California flexin’ got me chilling with the famous hoes
Right up in hillies, raining billies, yeah I set the tone
Got a chain on my neck, yeah I’m flexed up
Living hot, like the flu, you don’t want smoke
Yeah and I’m back with gang yuh
Skrt skrt in a foreign, shawty tanned up
I got white VVS on my hand yuh
Life’s a dream, hit the gas, live it faster

California flexing flexing chilling with the famous hoes
Right up right up hillies, raining billies billies set the tone
Got a chain on my neck, yeah I’m flexed up
Living hot, like the flu, you don’t want smoke
Yeah and I’m back with the gang yuh
Skrt skrt in a foreign, shawty tanned up
I got white VVS on my hand yuh
Life’s a dream, hit the gas, live it faster"

Rascall Flats

She'd Be California

Rascall Flats is a country band from Ohio. This song, released in 2009, has a tanned blonde in a red convertible who embodies they stereotypical California girl even though she's not.

"She got the long blonde hair
Got the red sports car
And you know she's got the
Top laid back
She got the movie star smile
Got the sun-kissed tan
Santa Barbara in summer
Yeah, she feels like that

Hey she's like a canyon drive
In a midnight sky
Those eyes are deep enough
To get lost
Her legs are palm tree tall
The way she walks
Like the heat on a runway
When the cameras go off

She's small town from the country
She ain't big time but she could be

Hey, Hollywood never looked this good
Bright as the big screen burns
Hey, I bet drivin' down Sunset
They're lookin' for a face like hers
Yeah, I've been all around this world
And she'd be California
If California was a girl"

Eddy Raven

Who Do You Know in California

Eddy Raven is the professional name of Edward Garvin Futch, a country music singer-songwriter from Louisiana, active since 1962. This was a hit single from his 1981 album "Desperate Dreams."

"Living with me isn't always easy
Bless her heart she tries
I put her through some crazy times
She always let it slide
But early this morning I could hear her
Banging on the pots and pans
Something had finally gotten to her
She's taken all that she could stand

She said, 'Who do you know in California'?
What's she doing calling here?
Some people got a lot of nerve
Some people just don't care
I don't understand what makes a man do
Some of the things you do
Who do you know in California?
What does she want with you?'

Hiding behind the morning paper
Hanging on to every word
Trying to find a real good answer
One that wasn't too absurd
To look in her eyes and tell her a lie
I don't know if I can
She knows just enough to know too much
Now it's about to hit the fan

She said, 'Who do you know in California?
What's she doing calling here?
Some people got a lot of nerve
Some people just don't care
I don't understand what makes a man do
Some of the things you do
Who do you know in California?
What does she want with you?'

'Tell me, who do you know in California?
What's she doing calling here?
Some people got a lot of nerve
Some people just don't care
I don't understand what makes a man do
Some of the things you do...' "

The Raveonettes

Ode to L.A.

The Raveonetts is a duo from Denmark. This 2005 release has a Phil Specter-ish girl group sound with the heartbeat drums, the wo ho ho's, and an almost mono mix. And as usual, the theme is let's go to L.A. for the fun and sunshine.

"Come on let's go to where it's fun
I want a slice of L.A. sun
Whoa ho ho ho
... ... ... ... ...
So come along and pay the price
This ain't New York this tasty slice
Whoa ho ho ho

Take a minute listen to this town
Don't you ever feel you have to come
Take a minute she won't let you down

See you excited in her arms
L.A. and all her crazy charms
Whoa ho ho oh"

Susan Raye

L.A. International Airport

This song was written by Leanne Scott and first recorded by David Frizzell in 1970. Susan Raye sang country music in Bakersfield with Buck Owens. Her version of this song became an international crossover pop hit in 1971.

"Standing in that silent hall waitin' for that final call
Says he doesn't love me anymore
Shaking hands I pack a bag, trembling voice I call a cab
Slowly I start walking to the door

Cab arrives he blows his horn, I stumble out in the early morn
Tell him of the place I've got to go
Hit a hundred signal lights, Peterbilts in a traffic fight
Gettin' through these doors has been so slow

L.A. International Airport
Where the big jet engines roar
L.A. International Airport
I won't see him anymore

A stewardess in a miniskirt, hippie in a leather shirt
Starlet on the way to Naples, Rome
While I'm wondering where it's at I see a Paris diplomat
College kids are trying to get back home

Baggage car goes quickly by, I see my case and I start to cry
Stumble to the lounge to be alone
While I'm trying to get some rest, bite my lips and try my best
To fight the pain that's making me leave home

L.A. International Airport
Where the big jet engines roar
L.A. International Airport
I won't see him anymore...."

Razorlight

Los Angeles Waltz

Razorlight is an English indie rock band active since 2002. This is from their second studio album "Razorlight" released in 2006. You could probably waltz to this, but you better have very fast feet.

"I've been sitting here patiently
I've been talking too myself
Trying to shake that sinking feeling
Wishing I was somebody else
And I know it's not easy
When you don't get what you deserve
You can say that you love me
But that's not what I've heard

Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Well it's got to be that way
Tonight in L.A.

Maybe I'll get right out of here
Go all the way back to Turnpike Lane
Find me a girl that can calm me right down
It's been such a fu**ed up year
But I know it's not easy
When you don't get what you deserve
You can say that you love me
But that's not what I've heard

Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Well it's got to be that way
Tonight in L.A.

Maybe I'll get myself together
Or fall to pieces and run back home
Get me a ticket for an airplane
I'm tired of been alone
I was on Mulholland Drive
With the radio on
They played Augustus Pablo
And the Kings of Leon
We say, we know it's not easy
When you don't get what you deserve
You can say that you love me
But that's not what I've heard

Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Well it's got to be that way
Tonight in L.A.

I think of you now we own each other
I think of you yeah we own each other
Own each other

Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.
Tonight in L.A.

Mars and the USA
[? Will fall on] the Milky Way
It's got to be that way
[? Kiss is] on Broadway
Home a million miles away, away, away

You met your match
Stars catch your eyes
You cried I bet
You've met your match
You burn like fire
Our higher love
You trust your man
You burn like fire
I steal I lie
I try to thrill
You built your love
You steal you lie
And love to steal
Like me you try
You cried I bet
You met your match"

Eddi Reader

Eddi Reader is a singer-songwriter from Scotland, active since 1984. This upbeat folk rock song with slide guitar is from her fourth studio album "Angels & Electricity" released in 1998.

"Billy doesn't love me but he keeps good company
He only comes here when there's no one else to see
I don't mind if he comes around
I know the winter gets him down
Billy doesn't love me but he keeps good company

We can't afford a ticket but we can always dream
It looks so good you could almost kiss the screen
We've seen the blue, we've seen the smiles
We can get a map and count the miles
It looks so good you could almost kiss the screen

And when we get there
What will we find?

All the way to California
We'll go
All the way to California
Why don't you come with me
And I'll get you through January
In California
California

Why don't you come and lie down next to me
If you're feeling like a river lost in the deep blue sea
Under covers you're a child
We'll be there in a little while
Why don't you come and lie down next to me

And when we get there
What will we find?
Will we find something
We left behind?

All the way to California
We'll go
All the way to California
Why don't you come with me
And I'll get you through January
In California
California
California...."

The Rebelution

Santa Barbara

The Rebelution is a reggae rock band from the Isla Vista, home of U.C. Santa Barbara, active since 2004. This song is from their sixth studio album "Falling into Place" released in 2016.

"Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara
I can see, I can see where it all began
When the night was done, closed me eyes, then she left me with the sun
Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara
While she steps through the world, I just can't follow her
Even though I'm so low, so lonely here
'Cause all my maps are wrong, in the tide where she left me with a song
Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara

And I still dream about her
And I still dream about her

Every star in the sky in Santa Barbara
Tells the tale of a love that never ends
And I'll still wait for you, in the city where my every dream comes true
Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara

Oh, where'd she go?
Run away, my runaway lover
Oh, where'd she go?
Run away, my runaway lover
No, carry on
Carry on, but I wish that you'd come home
To Santa Barbara

And I still dream about her
And I still dream about her

Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara
I can see, I can see where it all began
When the night was done, closed my eyes, then she left me with the sun
Met a wild-eyed girl in Santa Barbara"

The Red Clay Strays

Wondering Why

According to their website, the Red Clay Strays are a band "Hailing from the red dirt clay of Mobile, Alabama." This slow-paced Americana love song is from their album "Moment of Truth" released in 2023. It only has one mention of California, but it's a good one.

"She comes from silver spoon, golden rule, private school, never miss Sunday Church
And I come from blue-collar, low-dollar, out here where concrete meets old red dirt
And I don't know what happened, but it sure don't add up on paper
But when I close my eyes late at night, you can bet I thank my maker

She keeps on loving me, loves me the way I am
She's not just along for the ride, she's my biggest fan
Lord, it's a little piece of Heaven when we lay down at night
She keeps on loving me and I keep on wondering why

She's got a wicked smile, angel eyes, every guy wanting to hold her close
She's as pretty as sin like the sun sinking down on the California coast

She keeps on loving me, loves me the way I am
She's not just along for the ride, she's my biggest fan
Lord, it's a little piece of Heaven when we lay down at night
She keeps on loving me and I keep on wondering why

And I don't know what happened, but it sure don't add up on paper
And as long as she lets me, I'll take her wherever she wants me to take her

She keeps on loving me, loves me the way I am
She's not just along for the ride, she's my biggest fan
And it's a little piece of Heaven when we lay down at night
She keeps on loving me and I keep on wondering why
She keeps on loving me and I keep on wondering why"

Brandon Redd

True Men Don't Kill Coyotes

Brandon Redd is a musical artist from Miami. This song was released in 2022.

"Speeding through San Diego in an M4
This type of high's the s**t that I live for
If we die tonight at least we had a good one, ha
Oh yeah we had a good one
On my way to Ocean Beach for some hot fun
Talking 'bout party favors and more shots
Hands on her waist 'cause I can't help her touch
I just can't get enough
... ... ...
Booked a flight to Cali from the 3-0-5
Six hours later and I finally arrived
Bad little mommy meet me there with a smile
The vibe always better when it's been little while
The tequila hit harder when you want to get wild
... ... ...
Views like this from cliffs in La Jolla
Sunset slow my heart beatin' for ya
Half past five I feel so alive
Praise most high my soul match my mind
... ... ...
Speeding through San Diego in an M4
This type of high's the s**t that I live for
If we die tonight at least we had a good one, ha
Oh yeah we had a good one
On my way to Ocean Beach for some hot fun
Talking 'bout party favors and more shots
Hands on her waist 'cause I can't help her touch
I just can't get enough...."

Red Elvises

Girl From Malibu

Red Elvises is a multi-genre band from Los Angeles, formed in 1995 by two Russian musicians. This song is from the album "Shake Your Pelvis" released in 2000. (There's also a song on the album titled "City of Angels" but it's not about Los Angeles, it's about Bangkok, which is also called the City of Angels.) The California girl may be from Malibu, but the song takes place in Santa Monica and Venice.

"I was sitting at the coffee house
Looking at the sunset
I saw her coming from a distance
She had a perfect silhouette

She came inside for just some salsa
She sat right next to me
I was a long way from Tulsa
I needed company

Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna wake up in the sun
On Ocean Avenue
Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna walk along the beach
And make sweet love to you

We ate at sushi place in Venice
We danced a salsa beat
We had a lot of Margaritas
The evening was complete

I took the plane back to Tulsa
In the morning sun
I heard the same beat of salsa
Malibu was fun

Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna wake up in the sun
On Ocean Avenue
Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna walk along the beach
And make sweet love to you

Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna wake up in the sun
On Ocean Avenue
Girl from Malibu
I wanna be with you
I wanna walk along the beach
And make sweet love to you"

Red Elvises

Venice, U.S.A.

This upbeat song with horns and a Eurofolk music feel is from their album "Lunatics & Poets" released in 2004.

"Sweat is dripping off my face, dreams are melting in the sun
I'm rolling down on PCH, Hare Krishna, here I come

Ocean looks like silver screen, you smile like fashion magazine
Showing off your pretty skin, full of lotion and sunscreen
Surfers look a little stoned, all dressed up in silicone
Talking bulls**t on their phones

She tells me that she tried it all, ménage à trois and fancy drugs
She is waiting tables all night long, she knows the friends of movie stars

Ocean looks like silver screen, you smile like fashion magazine
Showing off your pretty skin, full of lotion and sunscreen
Surfers look a little stoned, all dressed up in silicone
Talking bulls**it on their phones...."

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Around the World

Red Hot Chili Peppers is a rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982. This song is from the band's seventh studio album "Californication" released in 1999. It's Anthony Kiedis' celebration of the beauty of the world and its women, with a nod to The Beach Boys' "California Girls." The lyric sites on the web show that he sings "You say 'Hello' and then I say 'I do." but I think it's more likely that he's singing "I say 'Adieu' the French word for goodbye (which he pronounces like "ado" instead of "adyou.") If he is saying "I do" that means he's getting married, and I just don't see that happening to this traveling rock star. I could be wrong. The "ding dang dong" words at the end might sound like he's making fun of a foreign language, but he's known for using nonsense lyrics so I don't think so. Also, I read on Reddit, and I believe absolutely everything I read there :) that the ding dongs were filler for lyrics that weren't yet written. When they added the real lyrics to the recording, Flea's daughter missed the nonsense words so they put them back in.

"...All around the world, we could make time
Rompin' and a-stompin' 'cause I'm in my prime
Born in the north and sworn to entertain ya
'Cause I'm down for the state of Pennsylvania
I try not to whine, but I must warn ya
'Bout the motherf**kin' girls from California
Alabama baby said 'Hallelujah'
Good God, girl, I wish I knew ya

I know, I know for sure
That life is beautiful around the world
I know, I know it's you
You say 'Hello' and then I say 'Adieu'

Come back, baby, 'cause I'd like to say
I've been around the world, back from Bombay
Fox hole love, pie in your face
Living in and out of a big fat suitcase
Bonafide ride, step aside, Mike Johnson
Yes, I could, in the woods of Wisconsin
Wake up the cake, it's a lake she's kissin' me
As they do when they do in Sicily

I know, I know for sure
That life is beautiful around the world
I know, I know it's you
You say 'Hello' and then I say 'Adieu'

Where you want to go? Who you want to be?
What you want to do? Just come with me
Oh, I saw God and I saw the fountains
You and me, girl, sittin' in the Swiss mountains
Me, oh my, oh, me and guy o
Freer than a bird 'cause we're rocking Ohio
Around the world, I feel dutiful
Take a wife 'cause life is beautiful

I know, I know for sure
Ding, dang, dong, dong, deng, deng, dong, dong, ding, dang
I know, I know it's you
Ding, dang, dong, dong, deng, deng, dong, dong, ding, dang
Mother Russia, do not suffer, I know you're bold enough
I've been around the world and I have seen your love
I know, I know it's you
You say 'Hello' and then I say 'Adieu' "

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Californication

This is the title song from the album "Californication" released in 1999.

According to Wikipedia the word "Californication" first appeared in Time Magazine in 1966. It referred to the unchecked development of land in Southern California triggered by an influx of people from other states. Then the Californicated became the Californicators when the word became a xenophobic term referring to Californians moving to and ruining neighboring states. It was often seen in the 1970s on bumper stickers in Oregon and other western states on cars owned by people who didn't want their communities turned into sprawling overpriced California suburbs. But they lost that fight as the sprawl and the sky-high cost of housing eventually spread everywhere. (Sorry, Seattle.) "Californication" also became the obvious title of a comedy TV series about a California man who enjoys fornication. California xenophobia is still common and exhibited in various ways on cars owned by people who need to blame someone else for their own problems, including "Don't California My Arizona", "No Cal!", "Oregon is Full, Go Home!" and with lots of messages that use an image of the state inside the general prohibition sign of a red circle with a backlash through it. I also saw signs in Austin Texas that read: "We don't care how they do it in California!"

The J. Geils Band used the word fifteen years earlier in their 1984 song "Californicatin'" which is the first use in music I have found so far. In this song the word refers to a California cultural imperialism that is exported largely (back before the ascendance of social media) by the Hollywood entertainment industry, which somehow involves using plastic surgery to fight off aging, Chinese spies, Star Wars, earthquakes, war, pornography, fame, Curt Cobain, and unicorns. (Unicorns?) Who cares if the lyrics don't always make sense when the music's this good? And, of course, Californication can also be spread through songs about California, as this one demonstrates.

"Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams, it's Californication

It's the edge of the world and all of Western civilization
The sun may rise in the East, at least it settled in a final location
It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication

Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin: is this your chin or is that war you're waging?

First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn

Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication

Marry me, girl, be my fairy to the world, be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication

Space may be the final frontier but it's made in a Hollywood basement
And Cobain, can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station to Station?
And Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication

Born and raised by those who praise control of population
Well, everybody's been there, and I don't mean no vacation

First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn

Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication

Destruction leads to a very rough road but it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar, they're just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn't save the world from Californication

Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest, there is no test, but this is what you're craving

First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn

Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication"

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Dani California

This 2006 song isn't really about the state. It's about a poor southern girl named Dani California who robs banks and gets herself killed in North Dakota. But she's got a good name, and it's a good song, and that's good enough for this list. You can find a lot of covers of this song. There's a list of a few of them below the lyrics.

"Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi
Poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippie
In Alabama she was swinging hammer
Price you gotta pay when you break the panorama
She never knew that there was anything more than poor
What in the world does your company take me for?

Black bandana, sweet Louisiana
Robbin' on a bank in the state of Indiana
She's a runner, rebel and a stunner
On her merry way saying baby what you gonna
Lookin' down the barrel of a hot metal .45
Just another way to survive

California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess, I'm your priest
Yeah, yeah

She's a lover, baby, and a fighter
Should've seen it coming when I got a little brighter
With a name like Dani California
Day was gonna come when I was gonna mourn ya
A little loaded, she was stealing another breath
I love my baby to death

California, rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California, show your teeth
She's my priestess
I'm your priest
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Who knew the other side of you?
Who knew that others died to prove?
Too true to say goodbye to you
Too true to say, say, say
Pushed the fader, gifted animator
One for the now, and eleven for the later

Never made it up to Minnesota
North Dakota man
Wasn't gunnin' for the quota
Down in the Badlands she was saving the best for last
It only hurts when I laugh
Gone too fast

California, rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California, show your teeth
She's my priestess
I'm your priest
Yeah, yeah, yeah...."

Various artists

Cover versions of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Dani California."

Most of these are home-made live recordings. I haven't yet found an official studio recorded cover version yet. If you know of one, let me know.

A live cover by INGA from Belarus.

A cover by Insane Cherry that uses the sounds of cats, dogs, monkeys, a frog, a fox, a rooster, and goats. No, I did not make that up. They make other cover songs with animals, also.

A solo piano instrumental cover played by David Gogi.

A live acoustic cover by Melle.

Ten Second Songs does a heavy metal cover in the style of "Disturbed."

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Out in L.A.

This is from the band's debut studio album "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" released in 1984.

"We're all a bunch of brothers livin' in a cool way
Along with six million others in this place called L.A.

L.A. is the place, sets my mind ablaze
For me, it's a race through a cotton pickin' maze

The town makes me jump, it's got a bunch of bad chicks
Well sure, it's got some chumps but I still get my kicks
My body loves to scrump when I lick the ripe pick
Like a come on a thumb
Poppin' hump, hump, hump, pop out

The action never stops, I'm as wild as can be
'Cos I'm shooting for the top and my best friend is Flea
Oom Chucka Willy knew the balls to pop
But he never met the Tree so he never be-bopped out hop!

Antwon the Swan, from the pretty fish pond
Was a bad mother jumper, you could tell he was strong
He war a cold paisley jacket and a hellified hat
And between his legs was a sweet young lass

He threw a hundred women up against the wall
And he swore to fear that he'd love 'em all
By the time he got to ninety nine, he had to stop
Because that's when he thought that he heard a phone

Last night and the night before, I heard a
Fop outside, then I came in doors
Freak out!

Now that I told you a little something about the Flea
A little something about the Tree, a little something about me
I can't leave you hangin' but my man Shermzy, he swings the yang, he bangs the yang
And now, it's time to hear him do his playin', you better be burning Sherman!

We're all a bunch of brothers livin' in a cool way
Along with six million others in this place called L.A.

Step out!"

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Road Trippin'

This acoustic ballad about a road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway (the One) is from the band's seventh studio album "Californication" released in 1999.

"Road trippin' with my two favorite allies
Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies
It's time to leave this town, it's time to steal away
Let's go get lost anywhere in the U.S.A.
Let's go get lost, let's go get lost

Blue, you sit so pretty west of the One
Sparkle light with yellow icing, just a mirror for the sun

Just a mirror for the sun
Just a mirror for the sun
These smiling eyes are just a mirror for

So much has come before those battles lost and won
This life is shining more forever in the sun
Now let us check our heads and let us check the surf
Staying high and dry's more trouble than it's worth in the sun

Just a mirror for the sun
Just a mirror for the sun
These smiling eyes are just a mirror for

In Big Sur we take some time to linger on
We three hunky dory's got our snake finger on
Now let us drink the stars, it's time to steal away
Let's go get lost right here in the U.S.A.
Let's go get lost, let's go get lost

Blue, you sit so pretty west of the One
Sparkle light with yellow icing, just a mirror for the sun

Just a mirror for the sun
Just a mirror for the sun
These smiling eyes are just a mirror for
These smiling eyes are just a mirror for
Your smiling eyes are just a mirror for"

Red Hot Chili Peppers

This is from the band's first album "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" released in 1984.

"Hoo, lord!

I'm gonna ride a sabertooth horse
Through the Hollywood Hills
The farther west, the farther out
Yeah, that's the way I feel
Well, I dig the dirt and I dig the dust
I barbecue my meals
Riding wild on a paisley dragon
Through the Hollywood Hills, yeah
Huh, Hollywood Hills

I'm gonna ride a sabertooth horse
Through the Hollywood Hills
Just don't tell me anything
'Cause that's the way I feel
Well, I dig the dirt and I dig the dust
I barbecue my meals
Riding wild on a paisley dragon
Through the Hollywood Hills, yeah
Huh, Hollywood Hills

Passion drippin' from the coyote's eyes
He can taste his blood and blood never lies, pale face die

True men don't kill coyotes
True men don't kill coyotes

I'm gonna ride a sabertooth horse
Through the Hollywood Hills
The farther west, the farther out
Yeah, that's the way I feel
Well, I dig the dirt and I dig the dust
I barbecue my meals
Riding wild on a paisley dragon
Through the Hollywood hills, yeah
Huh, Hollywood Hills

Passion drippin' from the coyote's eyes
He can taste his blood
And blood never lies, pale face die

True men don't kill coyotes
True men don't...."

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Under the Bridge

Anthony Kiedis sings about the city of L.A. being his only companion and of using drugs under a bridge downtown. (Kiedis refuses to say which bridge it was, though one writer claims it was one in MacArthur Park, the same park where someone left a cake out in the rain.) A slow and emotional ballad about loneliness and drug use from the band's 1992 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik that came as a pleasant surprise from the super animated butt-flopping hard rocking band. It went on to be a huge radio hit and, with the help of a video directed by Gus Van Sant, helped the band break through to a huge new audience.

"Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, the city of angels
Lonely as I am, together we cry

I drive on her streets cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy
I never worry, now that is a lie.

I don't ever want to feel like I did that day
Take me to the place I love, take me all the way
I don't ever want to feel like I did that day
Take me to the place I love, take me all the way, yeah, yeah, yeah
……………

Under the bridge downtown
is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
forgot about my love)
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away"

Red House Painters

Cruiser

Red House Painters were a rock band formed in San Francisco, active from 1988-2001. This long slowcore song is from the band's final studio album "Old Ramon" released in 2001.

"My biggest smile from Tokyo
You came out here five years ago
Her life song is a sad one
Her mom fell off when she was young
Her mom died off when she was young

Purple nights and yellow days
Neon signs and silver lakes
L.A. took a part of me
L.A. gave this gift to me

So, drive me down Sunset Boulevard
I'm feeling nice in your white car
Playing Hanoi Rocks and Social D
My sweetest angel set me free
My sweetest savior rescued me

Won't you whisper in my ear?
You look so good against my mirror
And you're my baby full of joy
You're my erotic brown-eyed toy
You're my exotic black-haired toy

Slipping letters under the door
Leave candy wrappers round my floor
And take me out of here round the canyons
Where the pavement meets the sand
Where the boardwalk creatures stand

So, drive me down Beverly Drive
Where my room's lit up all night
I've been so lonely in this bed
It's good to sleep with you instead
It's good to talk all night instead

Morning pours the ocean deep
Into the hollow of my sleep
But the ocean can't be mine
Your perfection can't be mine

So, drive me down the 405
Where my airplane leaves tonight
I'm tipping up and touching down
Leave L.A. sparkling on the ground

L.A. glitters on the ground
L.A. sparkles on the ground
L.A. glitters on the ground
L.A. sparkles on the ground"

Red House Painters

Grace Cathedral Park

This song is from the album "Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)" released in 1993. Grace Cathedral is a church on Nob Hill in San Francisco with a park in front of it called Huntington Park which is probably the park referred to in the song.

"A rare and blistering sun shines down on Grace Cathedral Park
There with you I fear the time, when air gets dark
You know I don't spend days like this
Caught up in lost times of youth that I miss

Can almost hear roller coasters, see sailboats in the sea
Hear noise and screaming
Weaving in and out of happy music box sounds
But here on the ground we're so far away from that
Time turned older now

We walked down the hill, I feel the coming on of the fading sun
And I know for sure that you'll never be the one
It's the forbidden moment that we live that fires our sad escape
And holds passion more than words can say

Tell me why are you like this? Are you the same with anyone?
Save me from my sickness and tell me why do you treat me like this?
Tell me why are you like this? Are you the same with anyone?
Save me from my sickness and tell me why are you like this?
Why are you like this?"

Otis Redding

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

This is one of the great R&B classics of the 1960's. Otis Redding was a Georgia born soul singer-songwriter who died in a plane crash in 1967 at the age of 26 shortly after recording this song. It became a posthumous number one record and has been covered by many other artists. Redding started writing the song when he was literally in a dock on the bay - living on a houseboat in Sausalito. It was finished in Memphis with guitarist Steve Cropper (of the Stax house band, Booker T. & the M. G.'s, and later of the Blues Brothers band).

"Sittin' in the morning sun
I'll be sittin' when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
Then I watch them roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh
I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
Cuz I've had nothing to live for
And look like nothing's gonna come my way

So, I'm just gon' sit on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

Looks like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, listen

Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone, listen
Two thousand miles I roam
Just to make this dock my home, now

I'm just gon' sit at the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time"

Craig Reever (featuring Nadja Alsen)

Take Me Out To California

Craig Reever is a songwriter-producer working out of Sweden, but I don't know anything about the singer Nadja Alsén. This pop song was released in 2017. The streets are paved with gold, no one ever gets old, happy faces, flowing wine, and hopes and dreams are always fulfilled - she's seen it all on the silver screen. I must be watching the wrong movies because I don't recognize that place.

"Take me out to California
Take me out to California

I feel the day is coming to an end
And my eyes are drawn to southern skies
And all the while I was trying to pretend
The promised land was there beyond the great divide
But I'll be coming, coming home soon
Yeah I'll be coming, coming home soon

So take me out to California
Where the sun is always high
Where the streets are paved with gold
And no one ever gets old
I'll be longing for that day to come
Take me home California
California here I come

I've seen it all upon a silver screen
The happy faces and a sign upon a hill
The wine is flowing and the fields forever green
And all your hopes and dreams will always be fulfilled

So I'll be coming, coming real soon
Yeah I'll be coming, coming real soon

So take me out to California
Where the sun is always high
Where the streets are paved with gold
And no one ever gets old
I'll be longing for that day to come
Take me home California
California here I come

Californ-i-a
Californ-i-a

Take me out
Take me out

Take me out to California
Where the sun is always high
Where the streets are paved with gold
And no one ever gets old
I'll be longing for that day to come
Take me home California
California here I come"

The Reeves Brothers

It Gets Cold at Night in California

The Reeves Brothers are a band formed by brothers Matt and Cole who grew up in Pahrump, Nevada. This country bar song is from the album "The Last Honky-Tonk" released in 2020.

"The sun is shining bright down on Sunset
Stars light up the city night ...
Santa Ana winds blow through the palm trees
And a chill comes over me when daylight starts to fade

It gets so cold at night in California
Your memory makes me stop and wonder why
It gets so cold at night in California
Without you here to hold, my dear, I'll never sleep tonight

You can always find me drinking in the barroom
I can't help but love the taste of smooth red wine
It helps me not to think about your leaving
And warms me up when winter comes and you're still on my mind

It gets so cold at night in California
Your memory makes me stop and wonder why
It gets so cold at night in California
Without you here to hold, my dear, I'll never sleep tonight
Without you here to hold, my dear, I'll never sleep tonight
It gets so cold at night in California"

Regen

Regen is a band from Ljubljana, Slovenia. The band is fronted by singer-songwriter Gaja Kuscer. Their music is likened to "midnight drives on an empty highway or rainy-day nostalgia." This song was released as a single in 2021.

"Please kiss me goodbye like that night
I’d have died in your arms
Had you have never had to move

Please tell me to stay
Can you read on my face that I’m waiting?
Falling into you

Kissing in the back seat
Told me that he loved me
Left me way too early
Easy, honey

Dancing in the streets
The weekend on repeat
Doing it like they do in

California, I adore ya
Only move my body for ya
‘Cause it’s tales like these on silver screens
My dancing fever, type machines

In California, should have warned ya
I’m a good-for-nothing traitor
Saw ya linger for a bit too long
The road goes on and on in California

I bet that you taste like regret
I don’t care if it’s bad
I wanna see it through

Fast drives, midnight
You’re right, I shouldn’t
But there’s nothing I can do

My mind’s in California
I adore ya
Only move my body for ya
‘Cause it’s tales like these on silver screens
My dancing fever, type machines

In California, should have warned ya
I’m a good-for-nothing player
Showed my cards a bit too long, oh God
The list goes on and on in California

In California
In California
In California

In California, I adore ya
Only move my body for ya
‘Cause it’s tales like these on silver screens
My dancing fever, type machines

In California, should have warned ya
I’m a good-for-nothing player
Showed my cards a bit too long, oh God
The list goes on and on in California

(Oh, God)
In California
(Oh, God)
In California"

The Regrettes

California Friends

The Regrettes is a pop punk rock band formed in 2015 in Los Angeles and led by Lydia Night.
This song is from the band's album "How Do You Love?" released in 2019. I give the song extra credit for offering to make a playlist of the songs of a band from California.

"Will you come a little closer?
I've got something to show ya
Look at my friend in California
She really likes the freckles on my face

Won't you come and hold my hand now?
I think that you might wanna
Do you ever listen to Madonna?
Yeah, I really like the freckle on her face

If I think that you might like me
I might start getting lonely
When I think about how you can't hold me
Do you like the freckles on my face?

And if I take you to a movie
Things might get groovy
Oh, but don't start thinking you can fool me
Yeah, I know you like the freckles on my face

I think I love you but then I think, "No way!"
I gotta go but I wanna stay, just stay!
I guess I'll save it for another day, well okay?

I think I love you but then I think, "No way!"
I gotta go but I wanna stay, just stay!
I guess I'll save it for another day, well okay?

Will you come a little closer?
I've got something to show ya
Check out this band from California
I can make you a playlist of their songs

Won't you come and hold me close now?
I think that you might wanna
But don't tell anyone, don't need no drama
And then we can move it right along...."

The Regrettes

Monday

This is a single released in 2021 by the L.A. punk band.

"Open my door, I step between my clothes
Can't find the floor, yeah it's been like this before
Still washing stains but I know they won't fade
These growing pains, they push me 'till I break

I'm pulling down my eyelids two at a time
I swear it's just my sinuses, I'll be fine
An existential crisis and it's only a Monday
Tell me I'm alive
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah

Gotta get the f**k out of L.A. (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
Run from the sun before it burns my brain (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
I'll cut the breaks
Hey, I'm still alive (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)

No sympathy, don't look at me that way
'Cause physically, well I'm falling into space
And typically, yeah, I'd wrap it in a bow
But honestly, the cracks, they start to show

I'm pulling down my eyelids two at a time
I swear it's just my sinuses, I'll be fine
An existential crisis and it's only a Monday
Tell me I'm alive
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah

Gotta get the f**k out of L.A. (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
Run from the sun before it burns my brain (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
I'll cut the breaks
Hey, I'm still alive (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)...."

James Reid

California Lovin'

James Reid is a Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter active since 2010. This is a single that was released in 2022.

It was a quick first romance, whirlwind of a night
You came in smokin' red hot right off of the flight
And when I saw her, took my breath away
Oh, what a beautiful sight, it's been way too much time

Got me thinkin', hate the thought, though I know you'll be leavin'
Just got here, though we're already deep in
I don't want to waste the minutes thinkin' too much 'bout the distance
Rather have your kisses for now

It's a California lovin' type of situation, type of situation
(Ooh woah)
We'll be California coastin' like we're on vacation, with no inspiration (Ooh woah)
Singin' lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala
It's a California lovin' type of situation

We had the most fun doing nothin'
Talking my talk, I got you blushin'
It's gotta say I might be crushin', crushin' (Oh yeah)
Well I got you here, we movin', shakin'
Just tell your friends we not gon' make it
Chemistry, no you can't escape it, baby

Got me thinkin', hate the thought, though I know you'll be leavin'
Just got here, though we're already deep in
I don't want to waste the minutes thinkin' too much 'bout the distance
Rather have your kisses for now

It's a California lovin' type of situation, type of situation
(Ooh woah)
We'll be California coastin' like we're on vacation, with no inspiration

Singin' lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala
It's a California lovin' type of situation
Singin' lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala, lala, woah
Lala, lala
It's a California lovin' type of situation"

Rejoice!

Golden Gate Park

Rejoice! is a psychedelic folk group formed in southern California in the mid 1960s and then relocated to San Francisco. This song about the popular San Francisco park is from the album "Rejoice!" released in 1969.

"Sunday morning in Golden Gate Park
People walking, scent of flowers everywhere
I could stay here from dawn until dark
Haven't got a care

Sunday morning and no place to be
I'm as free as clouds that float across the sky
Sunday morning is magic to me
I won't ask why

Who cares where the wind may blow me
I'm not afraid to see
Who cares what cities know me
My mind is flying free

Got no money and no place to be
I'm as free as clouds that float across the sky
Sunday morning is magic to me
I won't ask why

Who cares where the wind may blow me
I'm not afraid to see
Who cares what cities know me
My mind is flying free

Sunday morning in Golden Gate Park
People walking, scent of flowers everywhere
I could stay here from dawn until dark
Haven't got a care

Sunday morning in Golden Gate Park
People walking, scent of flowers everywhere
I could stay here from dawn until dark
Haven't got a care"

Rejoice!

Sausalito Sunrise

The band's relocation to San Francisco seems to be the subject of this song - an all-night drive up the 101 leaving L.A. for Sausalito. With a psychedelic banjo, strings, and horns, the song is from their album "Rejoice!" which was released in 1969. I wonder if the singer ever found his mind....

"The City of Angels is dark
No laughter is heard in the park
Your angels are picking my bones
Asking for more than I own
Or care to part with

Your freeways are spanning my mind
My ghost walks at Sunset and Vine
City of Angels I cry
You're flinging your lights at the sky
To hide the moon

And I'm rollin' up that ragged California highway
Headin' for the San Francisco Bay
I'm gonna find my mind
L.A. is far behind
And I'll make it just in time
For the Sausalito sunrise today

The City of Angels is dark
No laughter is heard in the park
Your angels are picking my bones
Asking for more than I own
Or care to part with

And I'm rollin' up that ragged California highway
Headin' for the San Francisco Bay
I'm gonna find my mind
L.A. is far behind
And I'll make it just in time
For the Sausalito sunrise today...."

Release the Sunbird

Always Like the Son

Release The Sunbird is a side/solo project of Zach Schwartz (a.k.a. Zach Rogue) of the Indie Rock band Rogue Wave from Oakland. This song is a very nice mix of acoustic instruments and harmonies with some background electronic effects. I don't know what it's about because I can't fully understand the lyrics and I can't find any online.

"From the time that we were born
(?) California sons
When you wanted to be everyone
In the hour of your demise
You asked if you'd be fine
When you never would know (... ?)

Well you're always like the son
Always like the son
Well you're always like the son
(That I) never was"

R. E. M.

Electrolite

R.E.M. is a rock band from Athens Georgia, formed in 1980, recognized as one of the pioneers of Alternative Rock, or College Rock, or Jangle Pop, whatever you want to call it. This is a ballad about looking down at the electric lights of L.A. from Mulholland Drive in the hills above Hollywood, thinking about movie star masculinity and the end of the 20th century. It's from the band's 1996 album "New Adventures in Hi-Fi." (It's not about the chemicals they put in all the sports drinks so you'll pay a fortune for sweetened dyed water.) Radiohead has covered it, also.

"Your eyes are burning holes through me
I'm gasoline
I'm burnin' clean

Twentieth century, go to sleep
You're Pleistocene
That is obscene
That is obscene

You are the star tonight
Your sun electric, outta sight
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight
Electrolite
You're outta sight

If I ever want to fly
Mulholland Drive
I am alive

Hollywood is under me
I'm Martin Sheen
I'm Steve McQueen
I'm Jimmy Dean

You are the star tonight
Your sun electric, outta sight
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight
Electrolite
You're outta sight

If you ever want to fly
Mulholland Drive
Up in the sky
Stand on a cliff and look down there
Don't be scared, you are alive
You are…"

R. E. M.

I Remember California

This is a slow and moody song from the band's 1988 album "Green."

"I remember redwood trees, bumper cars and wolverines
The ocean's Trident submarines
Lemons, limes and tangerines
I remember this

I remember traffic jams
Motor boys and girls with tans
Nearly was and almost rans
I remember this
History is made
History is made to seem unfair"

The Rentals

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

The Rentals is a rock band formed in Santa Monica in 1994 fronted by Matt Sharp, one of the founders of the band Weezer. This song is from their album "Excellent Stocking Stuffer" released in 1995.

" I need your huggin'
I'm here my fears close guarded
You must be last on the next flight
You love the beautiful West Side
The beach and gorgeous sunrise
Surf's up the waves are rising high
I'm all alone I need you here in Santa Monica

California
California
California
California
California

From here to Bel Air
The blue bus will take us everywhere
Everyone's happy every where till now
From Lomita to El Cerrito
Seven years I been down at the West Coast
Surf's up the waves are rising high
I'm all alone I need you here in Santa Monica
I'm all alone why don't you come to Santa Monica

California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California
California"

The Replacements

Left of the Dial

The Replacements were an alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis in 1979. In America, the left end of the radio dial is usually where you find alternative and public radio stations, and that's where you had to go to hear the Replacements in the '80s.

"Read about your band in some local page
Didn't mention your name, didn't mention your name
Sweet Georgia breezes, safe, cool and warm
I headed up north, you headed north

On and on and on and on
What side are you on?
On and on and on and on
What side are you on?

Weary voice that's laughin', on the radio once
We sounded drunk, never made it on
Passin' through and it's late, the station started to fade
Picked another one up in the very next state

On and on and on and on
What side are you on?
On and on and on and on and...

Pretty girl keep growin' up, playin' make-up, wearin' guitar
Growin' old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar
Headed out to San Francisco, definitely not L.A.
Didn't mention your name, didn't mention your name

And if I don't see ya, in a long, long while
I'll try to find you
Left of the dial"

The Residents

Death in Barstow

According to the myth, the Residents are an anonymous collective who formed in Louisiana then went west in 1966 to become hippies in San Francisco but ended up in San Mateo when their truck broke down. I think everybody should find their home that way. It's hard to describe or categorize their weird and experimental music but this example might help: Back in the day, when I needed to get rid of unwanted visitors, all I had to do was put the Residents album "Duck Stab!" on the turntable. This song was recorded for their 1977 album "FIngerprince" but ended up on their 1979 album "Babyfingers." If you don't know, Barstow is a city in the California Mojave Desert the most people just pass through on their way from L.A. to Vegas.

"Once I went to Barstow
Then I went to bed
First my friend was with me
Then my friend was dead

All his clothes were burned up
And his thighs were red
After all we've been through
What more can be said?...."

The Residents

This is from the 1979 album "Eskimo" by the Bay Area collective. No, it's not a cover of the Tony Bennett classic, it's more like an attack on that song.

"I know that soon I will be gone
I know that soon I will be gone
I know that soon I will be gone
I know that soon I will be gone

Left his heart in San Francisco
I know that soon I will be gone

Left his heart in San Francisco
I know that soon I will be gone

Left his heart in San Francisco
I know that soon I will be gone

Left his heart in San Francisco
I know that soon I will be gone...."

Malvina Reynolds

Little Boxes

Malvina Reynolds was a folk singer/songwriter and activist from San Francisco. She wrote this satirical song in 1962. It was recorded and released by Pete Seeger in 1963, who made it a hit song and there have been many other covers of it since. The version linked to here is from her album
"Malvina Reynolds...Sings the Truth" released in 1967, but there is a different version of the song which you can listen to here, which was used for a few years as the theme song to the hit TV show "Weeds" beginning in 2005, when it was originally set in a California suburb.

According to her daughter, Reynolds got the idea for the song when driving through Daly City and started writing it in the car. Though it does not mention the state, or Daly City, it's still a well-known song about California.

"Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same"

Thomas Rhett

Country Again

Thomas Rhett is a country music singer-songwriter from Georgia, active since 2010. This song is from his album "Country Again: Side A" released in 2021.

"I quit hunting with my daddy, guess I didn't make the time
And it's been a year since I've seen a deer
And a small mouth on the line
The other day I hooked a monster and as I reeled him in
I thought 'man it feels good to be country again'

I spent way less time in Nashville and more time in L.A.
My back home buddies, they quit calling
Thought I had too much on my plate
But last night we cracked some cold beers
And cranked Eric Church to ten
Thought man it feels good to be country again

Yeah, I love me some California, but it sure ain't Tennessee
And my roots down there in Georgia, yeah they start missing me
And I wouldn't trade the things I've done or the places that I've been
Man it feels good to be country again

I traded in my Silverado, I didn't need no 4 by 4
I tucked my boots in the back of the closet
They didn't feel like me no more
But I dug 'em out and slipped 'em on
They've been on my feet since then
Man it feels good to be country again

Woooh

Yeah, I love me some California, but it sure ain't Tennessee
And my roots down there in Georgia, yeah they start missing me
And I wouldn't trade the things I've done or the places that I've been
Man it feels good to be country again...."

Thomas Rhett

Country For California

This is from Rhett's seventh studio album "About a Woman" released in 2024. It's another good song about someone moving to L.A. to find fame and fortune, while someone love-struck waits for them to return. As always, L.A. represents all of California, which is not fair. There's no way she would be too country for Bakersfield. There are a few other songs with similar themes on this list, which makes me wonder if there are a lot of songs about someone moving to New York, or any big city, too. Maybe there will be some soon, because I keep reading that work in Hollywood is disappearing. What I'd like to hear is a song about an L.A. woman who moved to the country but realized she was too California for country.

"Girl, I get it
Some dreams are just too big to stay in a small town
And right now, you gotta go chase 'em
So spread them wings out wide
Leave me and these two lanes behind

I hope you find what you’re tryna find
But baby, keep in mind

If you get tired of that sunshine and 72
Ocean blue waves and those Hollywood stars
If waitin' tables on the boulevard just ain't workin’ out for ya, oh
And if those Beverly Hills get to bringin' you down
Put that smile on the jet plane and when the wheels hit the ground
I'll be sittin' right here at this bar with a drink, waitin' on ya, oh
If you find out, you're too country for California

Saw your momma
She said your boots are still sittin' there by the back door
I wonder if you're makin’ heads turn
Like you used to do ’round here
Oh, but you ain't here

So if you get tired of that sunshine and 72
Ocean blue waves and those Hollywood stars
If waitin’ tables on the boulevard just ain't workin' out for ya, oh
And if those Beverly Hills get to bringin' you down
Put that smile on the jet plane and when the wheels hit the ground
I’ll be sittin' right here at this bar with a drink, waitin' on ya, oh
If you find out you're too country for California
For California

I hope you find what you're tryna find
And it's right back here in these arms of mine

If you get tired of that sunshine and 72
Ocean blue waves and those Hollywood stars
If waitin' tables on the boulevard just ain't workin' out for ya, oh
And if those Beverly Hills get to bringin' you down
Put that smile on the jet plane and when the wheels hit the ground
I'll be sittin' right here at this bar with a drink, waitin' on ya, oh
If you find out you're too country for California"

Thomas Rhett

Die a Happy Man

This slow-burning love song is from Rhett's second studio album "Tangled Up," released in 2015. Besides being a number one hit for many weeks, it won a lot of awards, including Single of the Year for both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Driving a sportscar up the coast of California is definitely worthy of inclusion on the singer's bucket list.

"Baby, last night was hands down
One of the best nights
That I've had no doubt
Between the bottle of wine
And the look in your eyes and the Marvin Gaye
Then we danced in the dark under September stars in the pourin' rain

And I know that I can't ever tell you enough
That all I need in this life is your crazy love

If I never get to see the Northern lights
Or if I never get to see the Eiffel Tower at night
Oh, if all I got is your hand in my hand
Baby, I could die a happy man

Happy man, baby
Mmm

Baby, that red dress brings me to my knees
Oh, but that black dress makes it hard to breathe
You're a saint, you're a Goddess,
The cutest, the hottest,
A masterpiece
It's too good to be true,
Nothing better than you
In my wildest dreams

And I know that I can't ever tell you enough
That all I need in this life is your crazy love

If I never get to see the Northern lights
Or if I never get to see the Eiffel Tower at night
Oh, if all I got is your hand in my hand
Baby, I could die a happy man, yeah

I don't need no vacation,
No fancy destination
Baby, you're my great escape
We could stay at home,
Listen to the radio
Or dance around the fireplace

And if I never get to build my mansion in Georgia
Or drive a sports car up the coast of California
Oh, if all I got is your hand in my hand
Baby, I could die a happy man

Baby, I could die a happy man
Oh, I could die a happy man
You know I could girl
I could die, I could die a happy man"

Dani Ribba & Jesse Baez

Dani Ribba is a singer and songwriter from Argentina. Jesse Baez is a singer and songwriter born in Chicago and raised in Guatemala. This song was released in May, 2024.

"Veintitrés, todo vintage oversize
Rococo Chanel, todo es superfly
10 de 10, porque como tú no hay
10 de 10, como tú no hay

Sueño en California despertarte
Muchos besos, mucho cash
Una vida, te quise encontrar
Es que a mí me pone hasta mirarte
Y no puedo ni soltarte
Una vida, te quise encontrar

Una vida, hasta que te encontré
Y ahora sos lo último que me gustaría perder
Desde esa vez que te vi, supe que eras para mí
Y yo para ti también

Por ti le di la vuelta entera al mundo y volví
A las fichas Messi no me pesan, siempre en Ole
Tu forma de pensar me pone horny
Dejemos la vergüenza y las maletas en el lobby

Vamos por ahí, recorramos la ciudad
Donde no sepan de mí, donde todo nos da igual
Donde una vez en la vida pueda ser alguien normal
Soñé tanto estar aquí, no me creo que sea verdad

Sueño en California despertarte
Muchos besos, mucho cash
Una vida, te quise encontrar
Es que a mí me pone hasta mirarte
Y no puedo ni soltarte
Una vida, te quise encontrar

Nunca fui afectivo, pero es distinto contigo
Quiero estar pa' verte cumplir todos tus objetivos
La luz de tus ojos me alumbran si estoy perdido
Todo cobra sentido cuando estás al lado mío

Cuando al lado mío estás, nada puede salir mal
Con vos me siento en el aire como si no hay gravedad
Sé que la fama te da igual
Y que no estás conmigo por lo material

Tus ojos los veo
Todos los disgustos que otros bobos te dieron
Porque no supieron ponerte primero
Te hablo claro, no soy fan del dinero
Pero por verte feliz te bajaría hasta el cielo

Sueño en California despertarte
Muchos besos, mucho cash
Una vida, te quise encontrar
Es que a mí me pone hasta mirarte
Y no puedo ni soltarte
Una vida, te quise encontrar"

"Twenty three, all vintage oversize
Rococo Chanel, everything is superfly
10 out of 10, because there is no one like you
10 out of 10, there is no one like you

I dream of California waking you up
Lots of kisses, lots of cash
One life, I wanted to find you
It makes me even look at you
And I can't even let go of you
One life, I wanted to find you

One life, until I found you
And now you are the last thing I would like to lose
From that time I saw you, I knew you were for me
And I for you too

For you I went around the world and came back
The Messi chips don't weigh me down, always in Ole
Your way of thinking makes me horny
Let's leave the shame and the suitcases in the lobby

Let's go there, let's tour the city
Where they don't know about me, where everything doesn't matter to us
Where once in a lifetime I can be someone normal
I dreamed of being here so much, I don't believe it's true

I dream of California waking you up
Lots of kisses, lots of cash
One life, I wanted to find you
It makes me even look at you
And I can't even let go of you
One life, I wanted to find you

I was never affectionate, but it's different with you
I want to be there to see you achieve all your goals
The light of your eyes illuminates me if I am lost
Everything makes sense when you're next to me

When you are next to me, nothing can go wrong
With you I feel in the air as if there is no gravity
I know that fame doesn't matter to you
And that you are not with me for the material

I see your eyes
All the troubles that other fools gave you
Because they didn't know how to put you first
I'm telling you clearly, I'm not a fan of money.
But to see you happy I would take you down to heaven

I dream of California waking you up
Lots of kisses, lots of cash
One life, I wanted to find you
It makes me even look at you
And I can't even let go of you"

Tyler Rich

California Grown

Tyler Rich is a country music singer from Yuba City, California, active since 2014. This song is from his EP "Valerie" released in 2015. Here's a list of other songs that mention The Hollywood Sign.

"Friday night, strings tuned just right
On a stage under some cheap neon lights
35 of my best friends in the crowd
At that Town Pump where I was playing when
I was just 19 and my friends couldn't get in
But, you sure as hell know we were
Sneakin' through the back door

I've played 46 out of the 50 states
For the last 10 years just trying to find my way
But every time I leave I just wanna come back home
I'm California Grown

Yeah we spend our
Weekdays with dirt on our hands
Weekends our toes in the sand
Shootin' whiskey on a Friday night
But Saturday we're sippin' Margaritas in the daylight
Sunday when the service ends
Hop in the truck, throw the boat on a hitch
Pullin' Tracy over 6ft wakes
Spending every summer out there on Clear Lake
Just me and the boys, doin' all we know
Yeah there's nothing quite like this place that I call home
I'm California Grown
Yeah we're California Grown

You might think you know about this place, and say
'There ain't nothin country 'bout the Golden State, it's just
Palm trees, beaches and celebrities.'
Well have you ever heard about that Bakersfield Sound?
Owens and Haggard used to run that town
You go 2 hours north of the Hollywood Sign you'll find
Farm lands, miles wide

Weekdays with dirt on our hands
Weekends our toes in the sand
Shootin' whiskey on a Friday night
But Saturday we're sippin' Margaritas in the daylight
Sunday when the service ends
Hop in the truck, throw the boat on a hitch
Pullin' Tracy over 6ft wakes
Spending every summer out there on Clear Lake
Just me and the boys, doin' all we know
Yeah there's nothing quite like this place that I call home
I'm California Grown
Yeah we're California Grown

From Santa Rosa all the way to L.A.
From San Diego to the San Fran Bay
Well you can find me in the Sacramento Valley
Probably shootin' s**t with Mr. Jon Pardi

Weekdays with dirt on our hands
Weekends our toes in the sand
Shootin' whiskey on a Friday night
But Saturday we're sippin' Margaritas in the daylight
Sunday when the service ends
Hop in the truck, throw the boat on a hitch
Pullin' Tracy over 6ft wakes
Spending every summer out there on Clear Lake
Just me and the boys, doin' all we know
Yeah there's nothing quite like this place that I call home
I'm California Grown
California Grown
California Grown"

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

California Desert Party

Richman was a trailblazer of minimalist rock and one of the progenitors of punk rock. Born in Massachusetts, he moved to California in 1975, where he obviously spent some time in the deserts. This song, with its upbeat rhythm, handclaps, raunchy saxophone mixed in with a few doo wop background vocals, always makes me want to go sleep in the sand with the lizards and the cactus, but I'd bring more to drink than just carrot juice... (Palms of Twenty-nine = the desert city of Twentynine Palms.)

"Everybody's dancin’ 'round, in the cactus garden
Yucca trees are on the ground
Cholla, too, look out
Guacamole's there for you
(Ooh)
Carrot juice and naturals, too
(Ooh)
It’s a California desert party, yeah

Landers, Lone Pine, Palms of Twenty-Nine
California desert party
Yeah, pack rats, and kit fox, and petroglyphs, and sleepin' bags
It's a California desert party

They brought the harp and lyre
(Ooh-ah-ooh)
They turned the hot tub higher
(Ow!)
Yeah, chaparral, and sagebrush, and look out, there, their sleepin' bags
California desert party

They brought the harp and the lyre
(Ooh-ah-ooh)
They turned the hot tub higher, yeah
(Ooh)
Landers, Lone Pine, Palms of Twenty-Nine
California desert party
Yeah backpacks, and petroglyphs, and kit fox, and pack rats
It's a California desert party, yeah"

Right Said Fred

Obvious

Right Said Fred is a dance-pop band based in London formed in 1989. This song is from their album "For Sale" released in 2006.

"You could be someone walking down my street
And you could be a friend of a friend I might meet
Baby you could be anyone walk by
Down the Kings Road on a high
But it's obvious
Yes it's obvious

It'll be summer on your lawn
It'll be all my favourite songs
It'll be obvious
You're the one
It'll be Christmas every day
It'll be hip hip hip hurray
It'll be obvious
You're the one

You could be someone I knew in school
And if we didn't see eye to eye, well hey that's cool
Baby you can be in San Francisco
Around a corner in a disco
'Cause it's obvious
Yes it's obvious...."

Rihanna

California King Bed

Rihanna is a singer, songwriter, and actress, originally from Barbados, who has become one of the best selling musical artists of all time. This power ballad is from her 2010 album "Loud." If you don't know (I didn't) a California king bed is a longer and narrower version of a king-size bed.

"Chest to chest (Chest to chest)
Nose to nose (Nose to nose)
Palm to palm
We were always just that close (Just that close)
Wrist to wrist (Wrist to wrist)
Toe to toe (Toe to toe)
Lips that felt just like the inside of a rose

So how come when I reach out my finger
It feels like more than distance between us?

In this California king bed
We're ten thousand miles apart
I've been California wishing on these stars
For your heart, for me
My California king

Eye to eye (Eye to eye)
Cheek to cheek (Cheek to cheek)
Side by side
You were sleeping next to me (Oh, next to me)
Arm in arm
Dusk to dawn
With the curtains drawn
And a little last night on these sheets

So how come when I reach out my fingers
It seems like more than distance between us?

In this California king bed
We're ten thousand miles apart
I've been California wishing on these stars
For your heart, for me
My California king

Just when I felt like giving up on us
You turned around and gave me one last touch
That made everything feel better
And even then, my eyes got wetter
So confused, wanna ask you if you love me
But I don't wanna seem so weak
Maybe I've been California dreaming
Hey, hey, hey, hey

In this California king bed
We're ten thousand miles apart
Been California wishing on these stars
For your heart, for me
My California king

My California king

In this California king bed
We're ten thousand miles apart
I've been California wishing on these stars
For your heart, for me
My California king"

Rilo Kiley

Glendora

Rilo Kiley was an indie rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1998, fronted by Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett, both of whom were child actors, and both have solo careers in music. This song is from their first record "Rilo Kiley" released in 1999. (The record was later released as "The Initial Friend EP" without the song.) I lived in Glendora "The Pride of the Foothills" for a while when I was a teenager, so I understand why the narrator feels she's the only living person there. Most teenagers probably feel that way no matter where they live, So "Go Tartans!" That's right, the Glendora high school mascot is plaid cloth. They were almost named "The Oranges" which is not a lot better.

"It's New Year's Eve, I'm in Glendora
I'm the only living person in Glendora
Heading east on the freeway
I left my prom dress on the bus-stop in Duarte
I switch the rules, you take advantage
You know I always like to play the victim
And would you f**k me? 'cause I'd f**k me
Am I your wet nap?
Freestyle walking

I cry, cry, cry, then I complain
Come back for more, do it again
I cry, cry, cry, then I complain
Come back for more, do it again

I'm on my way, I want to see you
You're in your bedroom with some dancers underneath you
I come inside, I hear the door slam
You tell me if I really loved you I'd get with them
They make me sick, you make me sicker
But I want to please you so I go and I get with her
I close my eyes, I think about me
I'm just your wet nap
Freestyle walking...."

Rilo Kiley

Let Me Back In

This ode to going home again is from the "Rkives" compilation released in 2013. It's a rare song that uses the sounds of tap dancing in the background.

"Let it be printed, let it be known
I'm leaving you, I'm going home
And all you can do is just watch me go

I've put you down, talked you up, defended your honor
And then packed it in and picked it up
And all you can do is watch me go

From the Eastern seaboard, the landlocked Midwest
The Keys, the Alps, the Black Hills and Budapest
With my heart in a sling, tail between my legs a-swinging
I'm sorry for leaving

But when the palm trees bow their heads
No matter how wrong I've been
L.A., you always let me back in

And you can bury me when my body breaks
In the earth that created me, in the Golden State
By my mama and her brother and their mama too

'Cause I had a dream I was carried on backs
Of a thousand green birds
And they carried me to a place without words
And there was nothing, but there was everything

And it sounded like this

But when the palm trees bow their heads
No matter how cruel I've been
L.A., you always let me back in

And when the palm trees bow their heads,
No matter how cruel I've been,
L.A., you always let me back in, in

Oh back in, in
Oh back in, in"

Rina (featuring Sin Boy)

CALI

Rina is Rina Balaj, is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper and singer, active since 2017. Sin Boy is a Greek-Albanian rapper. This song is from her album "Balerina" released in 2021. She sings parts of the song in Albanian and I found the Albanian lyrics online which are included here along with the English translations that were put on the YouTube page for the song.

[Sin Boy]
"Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna
California, California, California, California

[Rina]
Cali California
Cali California
Un zemren ty ta mora
You know just what I wanna, yeah

Sa here te shoh e sho gabimin qe kom bo
Mi mshel syt e ca kem bo mi kthy ne koh
Po von
Po te shoh ty me to
Po si un ajo ti e din
Nuk o nuk o

Goosebumps
When I see you dancing in the club
I get goosebumps
`till I see you dancing with her
Goosebumps

Mkujtohet koha kur me mu ke dal n club
Ftoft ftoft
Zemra shum e ftoft pa ty o

Ooo oh-oh, ooo oh-oh, ooo oh-oh-oh

[Sin Boy]
Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna
California, California, California, California

[Rina]
Cali California
Cali California
Un zemren ty ta mora
You know just what I wanna, yeah

Mos u bo kishe sem shef
Mos u bo qe ke harru
Planin e kem pas
N'California bashk me shku
Shpresat mi ke jep
Hala jon gjall sikur dru
Sa shum e du at vend po pa nuk muj me shku
L.A., L.A. Ti pse sje knejiiii
L.A., L.A. Tdu sa te urrejj
... ... ...

Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna"

[Sin Boy]
"Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna
California, California, California, California

[Rina]
Cali California
Cali California
I took your heart
You know just what I wanna, yeah

Everytime I see you, I see the mistakes I made
I wanna time-travel, and what we did to bring back in time, but It’s too late
I see you with her,
But she is not like me
You know I’m better

Goosebumps
When I see you dancing in the club
I get goosebumps
`till I see you dancing with her
Goosebumps

I remember the time when we used to dance in the club
Cold, cold M he
My heart is so cold without you in it

Ooo oh-oh, ooo oh-oh, ooo oh-oh-oh

[Sin Boy]
Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna
California, California, California, California

[Rina]
Cali California
Cali California
I took your heart
You know just what I wanna, yeah

Don’t act like you don’t see me
Don’t act like you forgot
Our plans were t o go
To go to California together
The hopes that you gave me
They are still alive
I love that place so much, but I can’t go without you
L.A., L.A., why are you not around
L.A., L.A., I love you till I hate you
... ... ...

Cali California
Cali California
You ain't good but I want ya
You know just what I wanna"

Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter is a singer-songwriter from Idaho. This is another song about going to California to warm up. (A space heater might be cheaper.) The singer knows it's been done a hundred thousand times but needs to do it himself. It's also probably been sung about that many times, too.

"Going out to California
gonna let the water warm my clothes.
I’m alone but I’m not lonely
gonna trade the weather for the Western coast.
No don’t cry
I’ll be back and I’ll
bring the sun to shine
in your eyes
on your shoulders.
Sunset Boulevard will strip for money.
Mulholland is a long drag for the lonely hearts.
Down along the Imperial Valley
runs a river of homelessness and cinema stars.
Don’t say
the trip’s been done
a hundred thousand times
cause this one
is mine.
So I will work at what work finds me
and I will take what comfort I can get
I’ll be back when I’m good and ready
California doesn’t seem to think I’m ready yet…."

Johnny Rivers

Going Back to Big Sur

Johnny Rivers is a singer-songwriter-producer born in New York City and raised in Louisiana. His career started in 1956 and he is best known for several songs he recorded between 1964 and 1968, including "Secret Agent Man" and "Poor Side of Town." This song is from his album "Reinvention Highway" released in 2004.

"It's a cold and rainy Friday night
City life's got me all uptight
My mind keeps wandering far away
Somethin' tell me it's time to leave L.A.

Going back to Big Sur
Wish I could leave today
I want to walk beneath those Redwood trees
Just south of Monterey

A little cabin, quiet and alone
No television, no telephone
Water trickling down this little stream
Makes you wonder, is it all just a dream?

Going back to Big Sur
This time, I might just stay
Going back and straighten out my head
Just south of Monterey

Gentle people all around
Never try to put you down
Makes you feel like someone new
They don't care who you are or what you do

Guess I'll drive up Highway One
Watch the ocean, kiss the setting sun
Stars dancing across the sky
It sort of puts you on a natural high

Going back to Big Sur
This time, I might just stay
Going back and straighten out my head
Just south of Monterey

And that girl..."

Rivieras

The Rivieras was a rock band from Indiana, part of the early 60's "frat rock" sound that was overtaken by the British Invasion shortly thereafter. This song was a big hit for them in 1964 though they had never even been to California. But they weren't the first group to record it. It was written by Henry Glover and it was first recorded by R&B singer Joe Jones in 1961, but with slightly different lyrics. After the Rivieras' hit, the song was then recorded by many other artists.

"Well, I'm goin' out west where I belong
Where the days are short and the nights are long
Where they walk and I'll walk
They twist and I'll twist
They shimmy and I'll shimmy
They fly and I'll fly
Well they're out there a'havin' fun
In that warm California sun.

Well, I'm goin' out west out on the coast
Where the California girls are really the most
Where they walk and I'll walk
They twist and I'll twist
They shimmy and I'll shimmy
They fly and I'll fly
Well they're out there a'havin' fun
In that warm California sun.

Well the girls are frisky in old 'Frisco
A pretty little chick wherever you go
And they'll walk and I'll walk
They twist and I'll twist
They'll shimmy and I'll shimmy
They'll fly and I'll fly
Well they're out there a 'havin' fun
In that warm California sun
Yeah, they're out there havin' fun
In that warm California sun."

RL Grime (featuring 24 Hrs)

UCLA

I'm filing this under "R" because even though the name RL Grime is a tribute to children's author R.L. Stine, it is stylized without periods and Grime refers to a music genre, not a name, so I am considering RL Grime to be all one artist name, like a band name with more than one word. The man behind the confusing name is Henry Alfred Steinway, an American music producer from L.A. who specializes in trap, grime, and bass music and also uses the stage name Clockwork to further confuse everybody. This is a hip-hop/dance song from the second RL Grime album "Nova" released in 2018. The featured rapper, 24 Hrs, is from Atlanta.

"She just moved to L.A.
Go to UCLA
And she drive a Maserati
Damn she got a body
She be tryna party
She be tryna party

She just moved to L.A.
Go to UCLA
And she drive a Maserati
Damn she got a body
She be tryna party
She be tryna party

Surfboard shorty, she just caught the wave
24 big and getting paid
Diamonds in the watch no s**ts
All these lights on the train and okay
Pop one pill
Pop two pills
Roll, roll, roll, now she going downhill
And she was born in Texas
So you know she flexing
Shorty got style I can tell how she dressing

She just moved to L.A.
She be tryna party
She be tryna party
She just moved to L.A.
She be tryna party
She be tryna party

She ain't used to the weather
She been rocking old clothes
F**ked up last night, today she a no-show
She don't like to go to class
Rather get a party
Study that s...rly
Papa got money
Red Maserati
She just met new friends
They just wanna stay up
Till the sun come up
They just wanna party
Tell 'em something came up
She just wanna party
She don't wanna change up

She just moved to L.A.
Go to UCLA
And she drive a Maserati
Damn she got a body
She be tryna party
She be tryna party...."

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise

This is a good blues song from an American band formed in 1994 in Detroit featuring vocalist Robert Bradley. It's from the band's eponymous recording released in 2011.

"Well, I'll never forget the day
I motored into big L.A.
I remember seeing the Dodgers play some ball
Well I'll never forget the sound of all the
Greyhound bound, takin me home, to see my momma

And I never y'all, seen the stars shine in California
but I remember seeing the rain a comin' down, Lord
And I never no, seen the stars shine in California
but I remember seeing the rain comin' down

Well I'll never forget the time
That I toasted California wine
I remember strolling along Wilshire Boulevard
But I never forget the lights, the lights of Hollywood
and I remember a ridin' down the Harbor Freeway

And I never y'all, seen the stars shine in California
but I remember seeing the rain a comin' down, Lord
And I never no, seen the stars shine in California
but I remember seeing the rain comin' down

Well I never forget the warmth
of that San Diego sun
And I remember going across the Golden Gate Bridge
But I never forget the day
that I motored into the big L.A.
I remember seeing the Dodgers play the ball, y'all

And I never y'all, a little star shine in California
but I remember, seeing the rain a coming down, Lord

Turn on the light
and let it shine on me
Turn on the light
and let it shine on me
The Big L.A.
The Big L.A.
The Hollywood lights
Its gonna make them ride
Well I never seen the stars shine in California
But I remember, seeing the rain comin' down"

Chris Robinson & The New Earth Mud

...If You See California

Chris Robinson is a musician from Georgia, one of the founders of The Black Crowes. New Earth Mud is his solo project. This song is from his second solo album "This Magnificent Distance" released in 2004.

"I'll give you my heart if you want me to
Give you my soul and my mind
Give you this song if you want it too
Just don't leave me far behind

I've traveled this road that has led to you
Tasted the fruit off your vine
Traveled through time to be next to you
Please say that you will be mine

If you see California, you're almost home
If you see California say hello, say hello
There is a place that is close to me
A place made of mountain and sea
Some people call it the Golden State
I simply call it the key

If you see California, you're almost home
If you see California, then say hello
If you stop and look inside your mind the beauty there that you will find
If you see California say hello, say hello
Think of me when your lost in your day dream day
Think of me and I'll be there when you are awake"

Hannah Roby

Blue Yodel No. 4 (California Blues)

Hannah Roby is a singer-songwriter from San Diego. This Christmas song with a country feel was released in 2020.

"Wake up in the morning and I feel that winter breeze
The I realize it's just the A/C
Open my curtains and I see raindrops
Look outside and it's the sprinklers going off
Going outside without a jacket on
Wearing long sleeves, shorts and flip flops, you can't go wrong
All the cold and snow that I won't miss
It's a California Christmas

People that Santa rides on a sleigh
Well I just saw him surfing the other day
Are those reindeer up high in the air
Whoops! They're just seagulls soaring everywhere

Going outside without a jacket on
Wearing long sleeves, shorts and flip flops, you can't go wrong
All the cold and snow that I won't miss
It's a California Christmas

There won't be chestnuts on an open fire
But the heat wave will keep you warm
And you can build Frosty out of sand
While you're sledding at the beach on your boogie board

Going outside without a jacket on
Wearing long sleeves, shorts and flip flops, you can't go wrong
All the cold and snow that I won't miss
All the cold and snow that I won't miss
It's a California Christmas
California Christmas"

Tamara Rodriguez

My San Diego

Tamara Rodriguez is a singer-songwriter-actor-dancer living in California who was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, where she got her start on television shows as a teenager. She sings with a jazz combo in this song that was released in 2016.

"Rise and shine what's on your mind
We leave to day let's catch a ride
To the town where [waves are high]
Forever

So much to do so much to see
It would be nice to make believe
That we can live next to the sea
Together

San Diego, my San Diego
San Diego, you are my love
San Diego, my San Diego
San Diego, you're in my heart

San Diego, my San Diego
San Diego, you're in my heart

Nothing but blue across the sky
Can't wait to dive into the night
Where we can fall beneath the moon
Forever

Can I forget the times I spent
Wrapped up in your eternal grace
Of colorful dreams that turn to breeze
Together

San Diego, my San Diego
San Diego, you are my love
San Diego, my San Diego
San Diego, you're in my heart"

Jimmy Rodgers

Jimmie Rodgers was a country and blues singer-songwriter from Mississippi, active from 1910-1933. Regarded as "the Father of Country Music" he was influential in both country music and the blues. This song, written by Rodgers and recorded in 1928, is an interesting mix of country blues, country yodeling, and Dixieland jazz. These days there are still a lot of people sleeping out every night in California, but most of them don't do it by choice.

Other musicians have covered this song in blues, rock, and country genres, including:
Alejandro Escovedo
Merle Haggard
Doc Watson
Randy Travis
Redwing
John Fogerty
The Seldom Scene
Marty Stuart

"I'm goin' to California
Where they sleep out every night
I'm goin' to California
Where they sleep out every night
I'm leaving you, mama
'Cause you know you don't treat me right

O-de-layee-ay-ee-olay-ee

Listen to me mama
While I sing you this song
Listen to your daddy
Sing you this lonesome song
You've got me worried no
But I won't be worried long

O-de-layee-ay-ee-olay-ee

Let me tell you something
Mama, that you don't know
Let me tell you something
Good gal, that you don't know
I'm a do right papa
And got a home everywhere I go

O-de-layee-ay-ee-olay-ee

Got the California blues and I'm
Sure gonna leave you here
Lord, Lord
Got the California blues and I'm
Sure gonna leave you here
I may ride the blind
I ain't got no railroad fare

O-de-layee-aee-olay-ee

I don't understand
What makes you treat me like you do
I can't understand
How come you treat me like you do doodle do
Now if you don't want me mama
It's a cinch I don't want you.

O-de-layee-ay-ee-olay-ee"

Olivia Rodrigo

Deja Vu

Olivia Rodrigo is a singer and actress from Temecula. She had a huge hit with her song "Driver's License" in early 2021 then she started her next hit single remembering car rides to Malibu to get strawberry ice cream.

"Car rides to Malibu
Strawberry ice cream
One spoon for two
And trading jackets
Laughing 'bout how small it looks on you
(Ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha)
Watching reruns of Glee
Being annoying
Singing in harmony
I bet she's bragging
To all her friends, saying you're so unique, hmm

So when you gonna tell her
That we did that too?
She thinks it's special
But it's all reused
That was our place, I found it first
I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you

Do you get deja vu when she's with you?
Do you get deja vu? (Ah), hmm
Do you get deja vu, huh?

Do you call her
Almost say my name?
'Cause let's be honest
We kinda do sound the same
Another actress
I hate to think that I was just your type

I'll bet that she knows Billy Joel
'Cause you played her Uptown Girl
You're singing it together
Now I bet you even tell her
How you love her
In between the chorus and the verse (ooh) (I love you)

So when you gonna tell her
That we did that too?
She thinks it's special
But it's all reused
That was the show we talked about
Played you the song she's singing now when she's with you

Do you get deja vu when she's with you?
Do you get deja vu? Oh
Do you get deja vu?

Strawberry ice cream in Malibu
Don't act like we didn't do that s**t too
You're trading jackets like we used to do
(Yeah, everything is all reused)
Play her piano, but she doesn't know (oh, oh)
That I was the one who taught you Billy Joel (oh)
A different girl now, but there's nothing new
(I know you get déjà vu)

I know you get deja vu
I know you get deja vu"

Destiny Rogers (featuring Kalan.FrFr)

West Like

Destiny Rogers is an R&B singer from Lodi, California, active since 2018. Kalan.FrFr is a rapper from southern California, active since 2016. This song was released in 2021.

"Whatchu doin’ on this side
Do you know where you at
Let me give you some advice
Before you get too attached baby
Don’t get caught up in the lights
‘Cause you will never make it back
‘Cause this city, this town
Is so much more than that

Baby do you feel like surfin’ on a wave
(ooh baby)
Now we can freak it from Hollywood up to the Bay
(Ooh yeah)

Let me show you what that west like alright
Baby won’t you come and ride with me
I’ll show you what that west like alright
California girls know what I mean
On the Westside

Baby let me show you what my side like (ohh)
Don’t get caught up in the limelight
All this water on my wrist can’t get the time right
I see you in hindsight I see you as my wife
I see you with me in a 6-3
Hair blowing in the breeze
It’s your California dream (yeah)
Tell me something I wanna believe
Tell me that you need me the way I need you on my team
If I see you in the spring I will fall if you leave
Audemars and AP’s
Yeah I ball in HD
From the Westside with love
Like I’m diamond 13
Got me in real life
Gotta say it for real twice
I’m from Southern California where the weather real nice
And the honeys not nice
You’re in the spotlight
I ain’t even caught a vibe
And if you wanna ride I’ll show you what the west like
(Show you what the west likeeeee…….)

Let me show you what that west like alright
Baby won’t you come and ride with me
I’ll show you what that west like alright
California girls know what I mean
On the Westside

We got what you want
We got what you like
Sunny days and palm trees
They’ll get you high
Just like that
When you leave you’ll be coming right back
‘Cause you can’t get enough of this California love

Let me show you what that west like alright
Baby won’t you come and ride with me
I’ll show you what that west like alright
California girls know what I mean
On the Westside

Come on let me take you on a ride
(ohh wee)
Westside yeah

Let me take you on a ride
Westside
Take you on a ride let me show you what the west like"

Ron Rogers

God Came Down to Hollywood

Ron Rogers is a singer/songwriter/producer from New York City. He sounds like he's from the southwest but he's from the South Bronx. This song is from his album "La La Land" released in 2000.

"Well God came down to Hollywood
And hung his head in shame
It never was my desire he said
For this misery and pain

I look around and what I see
Causes my heart to break
Of all my famous handiwork
This is my worst mistake

Well God came down to Hollywood
And kindly brought some rain
Some of what I've witnessed here
In Heaven has no name...."

Ron Rogers

La La Land

This is another song about Hollywood from Rogers' album "La La Land" released in 2000.

"I looked up at the neon sky
I looked down at a bum passin' by
I couldn't help but look in his eye
But I turned away when he asked for a dime

I wandered down the sidewalk of the stars
I drank all night in alternative bars
Everybody had their hair dyed black
And some kind of weird tattoo on their back

Here I am, here I am
I'm in the middle of La La Land
Yeah, here I am, here I am
I'm in the middle of La La Land

This is the place they all warned me about
You'll be back, just another burnout
I must admit the fascination is strong
I wonder how long 'till the glamour is gone

I finally found a group of my peers
To celebrate I pierced my ears
Out here you know it's kind of expected
But it hurt like hell when it got infected

Here I am, here I am
I'm in the middle of La La Land
Yeah, here I am, here I am
I'm in the middle of La La Land

They had a shopping cart convention
Man they had everybody's attention
They're out on Highland just walkin' the line
And it was mad dog mad dog out of their mind
You know that mad dog mad dog got 'em out of their mind

La la la la la la la la la la la land
La la la la la la la la la la la land
La la la la la la la la la la la land
Ooh la la land

Car alarms and cops in the sky
Gridlock out on the 405
Sometimes it seems just like a battle zone
But I'm makin' triple what I did back home..."

Stan Rogers

Stan Rogers was a folk singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, active from 1970-1983. This song is from his album "Northwest Passage" released in 1981. A lot of Canadian musicians have moved to America to make it big, but it's not just for warmer weather. The U.S. is simply a much bigger market. California alone has more residents than all of Canada, which means more people to pay to hear their music.

"Now it's gettin' so I'm mad when someone says your name
'Cause I've had to say good-bye to friends who couldn't stay away
And sometimes it felt so wrong to never want to lean on you
You may stand tall, but I've got two feet too

Now we talked of you in bars around a quiet beer
Tell their tales of mine-gone stones when no one else can hear
And later on outside, they say they're gettin' on a plane
To fly away, to live in you again

California, my friends all call you home
And if you take away another, I'll be that much more alone
Is it my fault that my kind are always drawn toward the sun
Like a child to home whenever darkness comes?

Now in a few more years, I won't remember what it was to play
The music of old friends who need to live so far away
But can I once taste more than waters, then forsake them for the south
To feel California's ashes in my mouth

California, my friends all call you home
And if you take away another, I'll be that much more alone
Is it my fault that my kind are always drawn toward the sun
Like a child to home whenever darkness comes?

Oh, California, my friends all call you home
And if you take away another, I'll be that much more alone
Is it my fault that my kind are always drawn toward the sun
Like a child to home whenever darkness comes?
Like a child going home whenever darkness comes"

Rogue Wave

The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man

Rogue Wave is a band from Oakland, California, active since 2002. This warm and fuzzy California-cursing acoustic guitar song is from the group's second studio album "Descended Like Vultures" released in 2005.

"Screw California
Friends that are never there
Places that they ought to
Pretend that they even care

From her false family
She could light you up
Like a holiday tree
In a summer month

So lead us there

So screw California
And ice that will never melt
From hearts of
The modern children of Cicero

From her false family
She could light you up
Like a holiday tree
In a summer month

So lead us there
So lead us there...."

The Rolling Crew

Home on Alcatraz

The Rolling Crew is a band with various members that was put together by Johnny Otis, a bandleader, producer, singer, and DJ who recorded many blues artists in the '40s and '50s. This jump blues number is from a single released in 1955. It was written and sung by Cleo Page who was the featured vocalist for The Rolling Crew. The song begins with a man's voice saying "Johnny Jones, you're here to stay" which seems to indicate that the singer is named Johnny Jones, but that must be a fictional character. Unfortunately, I can't understand the lyrics that might explain why he was sent to prison. 99 years is a long time, so it's probably for murder.

"San Francisco, California
Alcatraz Island, U.S.A.
Johnny Jones
You're here to stay

Home on Alcatraz
In Frisco Bay
Home on Alcatraz
In bed in jail
There's sharks in the water
Can't get away

Had a little girl
Liked the best of everything
Had a little girl
Liked the best of everything
Twenty dollar bills
Caught her [?]

The law caught me
And now I got to pay
The law caught me
And now I got to pay
On Alcatraz Island
In the Frisco Bay
(Goin' away)

See the light in Oakland
And the big Bay Bridge
See the light in Oakland
And the big Bay Bridge
Think about my baby
And all the things we did

Every day I see
The mighty Golden Gate
Every day I see
The mighty Golden Gate
I'm pulling 99 years
In the Frisco Bay"

The Rolling Stones

Far Away Eyes

From from the band's "Some Girls" album released in 1978, this is another great Jagger/Richards composition in the Bakersfield Country style. It's hard to imagine that there is much of an audience in Bakersfield for black gospel music, but Jagger said the country stations there played it on Sunday mornings and evenings when he drove through. It's also hard to imagine Mick Jagger driving through Bakersfield. Where was he coming from and where was he going? I want to hear that song.

“I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield
Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station
And the preacher said, 'You know you always have the
Lord by your side'
And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
Twenty red lights in his honor
Thank you Jesus, thank you lord
I had an arrangement to meet a girl, and I was kind of late
And I thought by the time I got there she'd be off
She'd be off with the nearest truck driver she could find
Much to my surprise, there she was sittin' in the corner
A little bleary, worse for wear and tear
Was a girl with far away eyes
So if you're down on your luck
And you can't harmonize
Find a girl with far away
And if you're downright disgusted
And life ain't worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes
Well the preacher kept right on saying that all I had to do was send
Ten dollars to the church of the sacred bleeding heart of Jesus
Located somewhere in Los Angeles, California
And next week they'd say my prayer on the radio
And all my dreams would come true
So I did, the next week, I got a prayer with a girl
Well, you know what kind of eyes she got
So if you're down on your luck
I know you all sympathize
Find a girl with far away eyes
And if you're downright disgusted
And life ain't worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes”

The Rolling Stones

Route 66

An early Stones cover of the Nat King Cole original from their debut album "The Rolling Stones" released in 1964.

The Rolling Stones

Some Girls

This is from the "Some Girls" album released in 1978 back when rock stars were expected to be sexist and racist when singing about their groupies. Zuma Beach is a beach in Malibu, California.

"Some girls give me money
Some girls buy me clothes
Some girls give me jewelry
That I never thought I'd own

Some girls give me diamonds
Some girls, heart attacks
Some girls I give all my bread to
I don't ever want it back

Some girls give me jewelry
Others buy me clothes
Some girls give me children
I never asked them for

So give me all your money
Give me all your gold
I'll buy you a house back in Zuma Beach
And give you half of what I own

Some girls take my money
Some girls take my clothes
Some girls get the shirt off my back
And leave me with a lethal dose

French girls they want Cartier
Italian girls want cars
American girls want everything in the world
You can possibly imagine

English girls they're so prissy
I can't stand them on the telephone
Sometimes I take the receiver off the hook
I don't want them to ever call at all

White girls they're pretty funny
Sometimes they drive me mad
Black girls just wanna get f**ked all night
I just don't have that much jam

Chinese girls are so gentle
They're really such a tease
You never know quite what they're cookin'
Inside those silky sleeves

Give me all your money
Give me all your gold
I'll buy you a house back in Zuma Beach
And give you half of what I own

Some girls they're so pure
Some girls so corrupt
Some girls give me children
I only made love to her once

Give me half your money
Give me half your car
Give me half of everything
I'll make you world's biggest star by half

So gimme all your money
Give me all your gold
Let's go back to Zuma Beach
I'll give you half of everything I own"

The Rolling Stones

Star Star

This is the infamous banned Rolling Stones 1973 single with the original title of starf***er. Notorious for its explicit lyrics as well as mentions of celebrities and allusions to Mick Jagger's affair with Carly Simon, who had just moved out to Hollywood, like the groupie in the song.

Joan Jett also recorded the song in 1983, titled "Star Star" but with uncensored lyrics. She snuck it onto a cassette as a hidden track, but when that was discovered, and her cassette was banned, it was re-released without the song.

"Baby, baby, I've been so sad since you've been gone
Way back to New York City
Where you do belong
Honey, I missed your two-tone kisses
Legs wrapped around me tight
If I ever get back to Fun City, girl
I'm gonna make you scream all night

Honey, honey, call me on the telephone
I know you're movin' out to Hollywood
With your can of tasty foam
All those beat up friends of mine
Got to get you in their books
Lead guitars and movie stars
Get their tongues beneath your hood

Yeah! You a starf**ker, starf**ker, starf**ker, starf**ker...."

The Rolling Stones

Sweet Virginia

This is from "Exile On Main Street" released in 1972.
Mick Jagger thanks California for its wine, fruit, and... illegal drugs?

"Wading through the waste, stormy winter
And there's not a friend to help you through
Trying to stop the waves behind your eyeballs
Drop your reds, drop your greens and blues

Thank you for your wine, California
Thank you for your sweet and bitter fruits
Yes I've got the desert in my toenail
And I hid the speed inside my shoe

But come on, come on down, sweet Virginia
Come on, honey child, I beg of you
Come on, come on down, you've got it in ya
Got to scrape that s**t right off your shoes

I want you to come on and sing it with me one time
All right

Yes, I want you to come on, come on down, sweet Virginia
I said I want you to come on, honey child, I beg of you
I, I want you come on, honey child you've got it in you, uh huh
Got to scrape that s**t right off your shoes

One more time
Hey

But come on, come on down sweet Virginia
Come on, come on down, I beg of you
Come on, come on down, you've got it in ya, uh huh
Got to scrape that s**t right off your shoes"

The Rolling Stones

In this song from the 1965 album "Out of Our Heads," the Stones skewer the music industry with a song about someone working in one of its lower levels who thinks he's sharp and claims to have a sports car, but then why is he taking a bus in L.A. and why doesn't he even have bus fare? (Wait, bus fare was only a dime in 1965!)

"Well I'm waiting at the bus stop in downtown L.A.
Well I'm waiting at the bus stop in downtown L.A.
But I'd much rather be on a boardwalk on Broadway

Well I'm sitting here thinkin' just how sharp I am
Well I'm sitting here thinkin' just how sharp I am
I'm an under assistant west coast promo man, yeah, yeah

Well I promo groups when they come into town
Well I promo groups when they come into town
Well they laugh at my toupee, they're sure to put me down

Well I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
Yeah I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
I'm a necessary talent behind every rock and roll band

Yeah, I'm sharp, I'm really, really sharp
I sure do earn my pay, sitting on the beach every day
Yeah, I'm real real sharp, yes I am
I got a Corvette and a seersucker suit, yes I have

Here comes the bus, uh oh
I though I had a dime, where's my dime
I know I have a dime somewhere
I'm pretty sure"

Linda Ronstadt

Adios

Linda Ronstadt is a singer originally from Tucson, Arizona. She was the most successful female rock singer of the 1970s based on sales, Billboard charts, and all of the awards she won. And she kept on singing into the 21st century. She has worked in several genres including rock, country, and Latin. This sad and nostalgic song is from Ronstadt's 1989 album "Cry Like A Rainstorm - HowI Like The Wind."

"Ran away from home when I was seventeen
To be with you
On the California coast

Drinking margaritas all night in the old cantina
Out on the California coast

Don't think that I'm ungrateful
And don't look so morose
Adios
Adios

We never really made it baby
But we came pretty close
Adios adios

Going up north where the hills are winter green
I have to leave you
On the California coast

Going where the water's clear and the air is cleaner
Than the California coast

Our dreams of endless summer
Were just too grandiose
Adios
Adios

And I miss the blood red sunset
But I miss you the most
Adios adios
Adios
Adios
Adios adios"

Linda Ronstadt

Poor Poor Pitiful Me

This is from Ronstadt's album "Simple Dreams" released in 1977. It's a cover of a song written by Warren Zevon that he released in 1976. The gender is changed along with some of the lyrics and some of the action is moved from Hollywood to Yokohama. Zevon also sings the Yokohama lines in some recordings as do most of the other cover versions I've heard.

"Well I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don't run by here no more
Poor poor pitiful me

Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor pitiful me
Oh these boys won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe woe is me

Well I met a man out in Hollywood
Now I ain't naming names
Well he really worked me over good
Just like Jesse James
Yes he really worked me over good
He was a credit to his gender
Put me through some changes Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor pitiful me
Oh these boys won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe woe is me

Well I met a boy in the Vieux Carres
Down in Yokohama
He picked me up and he threw me down
He said 'Please don't hurt me Mama'

Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor pitiful me
Oh these boys won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe woe is me

Poor poor poor me
Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor poor me
Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor poor me
Poor poor pitiful me"

Linda Ronstadt

Talk to Me of Mendocino

This is a cover of a song originally by Kate and Anna McGarrigle, from Ronstadt's 1982 album "Get Closer." You can see the lyrics above.

Linda Ronstadt

Willin'

This song, a cover of a Little Feat song, is from Ronstadt's 1974 album "Heart Like a Wheel." I prefer her version to the Little Feat version even though it doesn't make me happy to think of Linda Ronstadt (or anyone) as a drunk and dirty trucker popping pills and throwing trucker bombs out the window. But I guess any human driver would be more attractive than a driverless truck, which makes me wonder - will computers one day write country songs for robots to sing about self-driving trucks?

"I been warped by the rain
Driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know
And I'm still... willin'

And I was out on the road late at night
I seen my pretty Alice in every headlight
Alice, Dallas Alice

I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads
So I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin'... to be movin'

Well, I've been kicked by the wind
Robbed by the sleet
Had my head stoved in
But I'm still on my feet
And I'm still... willin'

I smuggled some smokes
And folks from Mexico
Baked by the sun
Every time I go to Mexico
And I'm still...

And I been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads
So I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin'... to be movin'"

Hunter Root

California Sober

Hunter Root is a musical artist from Pennsylvania. This bluesy song is from his album "Arkansas" released in 2023.
There's also a live version on YouTube.

"Lord I'm high as a kite, despite how low I feel like I am
Tell me a lie, turn around and do it again
I tried so hard to please her
Didn't try enough to appease her
I'd feel better off dead than alive

Wishin' you goodbye
Always got to make your stand
Got my head held high
While you got your head in the sand

She's California sober
Spent a decade or two hung over
I've been down that road one or two times

Lord I got to find another way
I promise I will sign my soul away
And riding on the vine is gettin' old
Catch the blues 'round here like a common cold
Walk on by

Hey everybody trying to be different
It makes them all the same
Anybody trying to sell you
Will tell you anything
Take it with a grain of salt
Most good things they can't be bought
And we all got time hangin' on the line

Think before you speak
Hell, I'm having trouble speaking at all
Trippin' over my feet
Soon I'm gonna start having to crawl

I hope and pray for closure
Wake me up and I'll do it all over
Stayin' up all night praying for a ray of light

Lord I got to find another way
I promise I will sign my soul away
And riding on the vine is gettin' old
Catch the blues 'round here like a common cold
That's all right
That's all right
Walk on by"

The Roots (featuring Blu, Phonte & Patty Crash)

The Day

The Roots is a hip hop band formed in Philadelphia in 1987 that's been the house band for Jimmy Fallon, currently host of The Tonight Show, since 2009. Blu is a rapper and producer from Los Angeles active since 2002, which explains why his verse mentions L.A. Phonte is a rapper from North Carolina, active since 1998.
Patty Crash is a singer from Iceland who emigrated to the U.S.A. This is from the Roots' 2010 album "How I Got Over."

"[Patty Crash]
When I wake up, I look into the mirror
I can see a clearer, vision, I should start living today
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day

[Blu]
Yeah, it's like everyday I wake up, I stare into space and don't say much
Peer in the mirror, feeling dead from the face up
Coffee pots, cigarettes, morning J's, Baileys
Slowing down my day before it picks up the pace
Beats playing since the night before, thinking about writing songs
Feeling exhausted from times we toured constant
And plus the toxins I sip got me tall
Still tipsy, staring at the city from the spot we call Los Angeles
Every day is like a blank canvas
Carving my initials in the planet like I brand it
Hand picked to live this life we take for granted
Like a child with an upright bass, we can't stand it
Smiling through the trouble we face, tryna manage
My way without pumping my brakes and staying stagnant
Cause I can sit on my ass or just imagine
The madness I did on my path and paint the canvas

[Patty Crash]
When I wake up, I look into the mirror
I can see a clearer, vision, I should start living today
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day

[Black Thought]
Before I rise and shine like a neon sign
I need the girl of my dreams to give me Einstein
And burn the marijuan' like Buju Banton
It's my only bonafide break from these confines
I need a change of scenery like a montage
These kids bringing me the noise like the Bomb Squad
And everybody coming at me from the blindside
I'm tired, it's hard to open up my eyes wide
I listen to some theme music on the iPod
And walk around the crib doing little odd jobs
Checking my breath, take a view from this high rise
Feeling like I'm checking out a game from the sideline
I got to try different things in these trying times
2010 is different than it was in '9-5
It's come alive time, I picked a fine time
For getting open off life like a fine wine

[Patty Crash]
When I wake up, I look into the mirror
I can see a clearer, vision, I should start living today
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day

[Phonte]
Uh, yeah, Sunday morning, plan my day out
Whole new blueprint, brand new layout
Deep down still don't know if it'll play out
But for the first time, feel like I done found a way out
Skin getting clearer and it feel like I lost weight
Stop and say a prayer for the times I lost faith
Troubles of the world had me in a cross-face
Chicken-wing, sickening, living so off-base
But now it's like I'm in the last lap of the car chase
And I finally understand my right to choose
My preacher man told me it could always be worse
Even the three-legged dog still got three good legs to lose
So you can stop and refresh the rules
Breathe in, breathe out, let it heal all your exit wounds
Something inside said that's the move
And maybe today I'll restart fresh and new

[Patty Crash]
When I wake up, I look into the mirror
I can see a clearer, vision, I should start living today
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Cause today is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Is gonna be the day, is gonna be the day
Is gonna be the day"

Kona Rose (featuring Jean Placide)

Fall in California

Kona Rose is a singer from New York and Tokyo. Jean Placide, a musician from Pasadena, California. This song was released in 2019. I can barely understand the lyrics, but the chorus is about leaves not falling in California. I've transcribe the few bits I can understand below.

The lack of fall colors in California is another persistent myth about the state. Fall might not be as dramatic as it is on the East Coast, but there are still lots of places in California where you can go to see the leaves change color if you know where to go.

"How am I supposed to learn to let go
If the leaves don't fall in California"
... ... ...
... the leaves don't fall in California
... the leaves don't fall in California
How am I supposed to learn to let go
... the leaves don't fall in California"
... ... ...
"Mr. L.A. spring time petal peeler
Love me or you love me not girl
Ain't no better feelin'
Lost in La La Land
Where some will do the most
But you got tired of the seasons so you hit The Coast
Girl my finger's broke and I'm throwin' up that West Side
Usually I keep my worries by my bedside
But lately I've been learning lots of ways of letting go
Tryin' to break these walls strong as those of Jericho
Turn up the stereo we usually cruisin' with the wind blowin' strong
Eighty-eights on the interstate ...
Hey shorty I can do it hit this liquor or the Dutch..."
... ... ...
"Leaves don't fall
Cali where the
Leaves don't fall
Leaves don't fall
Cali where the
Leaves don't fall
On me
On me"

The Rose

The Rose is a pop band from South Korea active since 2017. This song is from their album "RED" released in 2019. I love their vision of happiness - "Sleeping all day, eating all night." I'll take me some of that.

"Driving through the clouds
Swimming like a hummingbird
I don't wanna say goodbye
I just wanna stay all night

Inside the crashing waves
Sleeping like grizzly bear
I don't wanna take it slow
I just wanna dance all night

Take me back in time
When I listened to Sublime
Missing everything
I'm coming home

To California
Our worries make no sense
Colors are sky blue
Singing in my view
Young and wild

To California
Where people make freedom
Colors are sky blue
Singing in my view
Young and wild

Peaceful melody
Take it in as destiny yeah
Maybe we won't make it far
So enjoy it while we last

Living in the moment
Life is more than
Small little things
You know
Starting bonfires on the beach
With the sun going down
Chilling with the friends
That always got my back

To California
Our worries make no sense
Colors are sky blue
Singing in my view
Young and wild

To California
Where people make no fence
Colors are sky blue
Singing in my view
Young and wild

You know
Happiness is easy to achieve
Sleeping all day
Eating all night
Oh love is something
Good for us to share
Oh yes the joy it brings

To California
Our worries make no sense
Colors are sky blue
Singing of my view
Young and wild

To California
Where people make no fence
Colors are sky blue
Singing in my view
Young and wild"

Tim Rose

Blow Me Back Santa Ana

Tim Rose was a folk/rock singer-songwriter from New York who later relocated to England, active on and off from the early 1960s, when he was in the folk trio The Big 3 with pre-the Mamas and Papas Cass Elliott, to his death in 2002. A melody he wrote for "The Banjo Song" was later appropriated by the Dutch band Shocking Blue for their #1 hit "Venus." This song is from "The Gambler" which according to Discogs was recorded in 1976 but not released until 1991. It's a country music truck driving song with banjo and steel guitar about the Santa Ana winds. The Santa Anas are strongest in the mountain passes so if he was driving north of L.A. on I-5 and the winds were blowing hard from the desert through the Soledad Pass, it could feel like they were trying to blow him south back to L.A.

"I was out on a highway and right out of luck
Runnin' away from you
My eyes were red like the morning sun
My tears felt like morning dew

I was tryin' to get as many miles in between
Seein' how far I could drive
But somethin' kept on callin' me back
Back along Highway 5

Blow me back Santa Ana
Back to the one I need
Help me to turn that wheel
Give me just a little more speed
Blow me back Santa Ana
Help me to get back home
'Cause I don't wanna spend my life
Travelin' on my own

Well I pulled off the highway to stop for a while
Then I saw that child standin' there
Her eyes were brown like the mornin' sun
She smiled as she threw back her hair

Blow me back Santa Ana
Back to the one I need
Help me to turn that wheel
Give me just a little more speed
Blow me back Santa Ana
Back to the one I need
Help me to turn that wheel
Give me just a little more speed
Blow me back Santa Ana
Back to the one I need
Help me to turn that wheel
Give me just a little more speed
Blow me back Santa Ana
Help me to get back home
'Cause I don't wanna spend my life
Travelin' on my own

Blow me back
Blow me back
Blow me back...."

Claire Rosinkranz

BeVerly Hills BoYfRiEnd

Claire Rosinkranz is a singer-songwriter and social media personality born in southern California in 2004. This song was released in 2020, when she was 16. You can tell she's very young because she hasn't yet learned how to use the caps lock key on her keyboard yet. (Or maybe that just tells you how old I am...)

"She's a wacky crazy lady
He's a rich rich man
She moved to the state of California
With two kids in hand

She's a super star making money
And she found a boy to call honey
Sunny dummy funny boy
Used him as her little toy

She's got her Beverly Hills boyfriend
Spending all of his money
It's OK he's got a lot
Spent a portion on my mom

Beverly Hills boyfriend
He's gone for the weekend
Doesn't care about his bills
Guess that's what life's like in the Hills

(La da da da da da...)

She's got funky little quirks
He is always gone at work now
She's living in royalty
Is she living in loyalty
Now champagne is popping on Sundays
He's away and sipping on Bombay
Wasting bucks on beauty queens
Far away and can't be seen

She's got her Beverly Hills boyfriend
Spending all of his money
It's OK he's got a lot
Spent a portion on my mom

Beverly Hills boyfriend
He's gone for the weekend
Doesn't care about his bills
Guess that's what life's like in the Hills

(La da da da da da...)

She's a superstar making money
And she found a boy to call honey"

David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth is a rock singer born in Indiana, active since 1972 and best known for being the original lead vocalist for the band Van Halen from 1972-1985 and again from 2006-2020. This song is from his album "Crazy From The Heat" released in 1985. It's basically a copy of the Beach Boys' classic but it was such a big hit single (as big as the original) that it's worth a mention here. I get the feeling that Roth recorded the song just so he could make the video, which, with its parade of women in bikinis and high heels, certainly contributed to the song's popularity. You can see the lyrics under The Beach Boys.

Rot The Chair

California Song

They only started their YouTube channel two days before this song was put online August 30, 2024 and there's no information online yet about Rot the Chair, though it seems from the lyrics that there is a connection with Cleveland.

"All my friends wanna tell me
That the winter's gonna change
The ice will melt and folks will smile
And life won't seem so strange

But California calling my name
California, again
California, I'm so tired of being ashamed
California, again

Spent the winter up in Cleveland
The bricks are cold and hard and square
And the wind comes whipping through the buildings
I'd rather been most anywhere but there

And California calling my name
California, again
California, I'm so tired of being ashamed
California, oh when?

Got into some trouble up in Cleveland
Had mouths to feed and did not care
And so they threw me in the County
Sure not much to do in there

And California calling my name
California, I swear
California, I'm so tired of being ashamed
They don't care about things like this out there

County doc says my body can't take the drinking
And somehow that just don't seem fair
Quit 'bout every substance known to mankind
Now a couple Stroh's will kill me, they swear

And California calling my name
I'm young and strong and healthy there
California, I'm so tired of being ashamed
Sure would like to get back there

Don't think I'll make it to California
Too tired and sick to leave my chair
But I can almost see Orange County from my window
Replace the snow I see 'round here

And California calling my name
California, my friend
California, I'm so tired of being ashamed
California, the end"

RoyalLive

California Gardens

According to his YouTube profile:

"Ibraham Aka RoyalLive es un talento venezolano radicado en la ciudad de Dallas donde compone y produce su propia música para llevarla al mundo. Ritmos urbanos atmosféricos que incluyen sabor caribeño."

"Ibraham Aka RoyalLive is a Venezuelan talent based in the city of Dallas where he composes and produces his own music to take it to the world. Atmospheric urban rhythms that include Caribbean flavor."

This trippy Spanish rap song was released in May, 2023. I don't have the lyrics yet but one line sounds like this:
"Estamos fumando a California Gardens" or "We're smoking California Gardens."

Rozzi

Joshua Tree

Rosalind Elizabeth "Rozzi" Crane is a singer-songwriter from San Francisco, California, active since 2012. This indie pop vocal song is from her album "Bad Together released in 2018. Joshua Tree in summer can be extremely hot, so it's no wonder there was no one in sight.

"I'm selfish
I always made your problems 'bout me
I can't help it
I wish I had a little empathy for ya

But that night that you told me that I don't work hard enough
Told me I cracked too much ripped me to pieces and then called it love
Oh and I never handled it like I wanted to what was I supposed to do?
Knowing that both of us had enough

But when you think of me
I hope you think of Joshua Tree
That summer, where the road went on forever
No one in sight for us
When you think of me
I hope you think of the letters that I sent ya
From across town, just cause I missed ya
When the worst was yet to come

'Cause you know I do, when I think of you
Yeah you know I do, when I think of you

You're careless
Always saying things you didn't mean
Took me for granted
Expecting me to find the in-between
But that night that I told you that I wouldn't marry you
Swear I could feel from the floor to the ceiling
Your walls came up
So then I pulled you closer, and you pushed me further
And nothing would matter
We kept getting sadder and called it love

But when you think of me
I hope you think of Joshua Tree
That summer, where the road went on forever
No one in sight for us
When you think of me
I hope you think of the letters that I sent ya
From across town, just 'cause I missed ya
When the worst was yet to come
'Cause you know I do, when I think of you
Yeah you know I do, when I think of you

I think of New Year's in San Francisco
Drunk on my roof looking at you
Wrapped up in your coat
So tell me, my dear
What do you think of?
Don't you remember why we fell in love

Oh, and when you think of me
I hope you think of Joshua Tree
That summer, where the road went on forever
No one in sight for us
When you think of me
I hope you think of the letters that I sent ya
From across town, just 'cause I missed ya
When the worst was yet to come
'Cause you know I do, when I think of you
Oh baby
Yeah you know I do, when I think of you
I think of you, I think of you, baby
Are you thinking about me, baby?
I'm thinking about you"

The Runaways

California Paradise

The Runaways were a rock band active from 1975-1999, one of the few all-female bands of that time, known mostly for the song "Cherry Bomb" and for their founder who went on to bigger fame - Joan Jett. This song is from their album "Queens of Noise" released in 1977. Kristin Stewart starred in an interesting biopic about them in 2010 called "The Runaways" and I'd also like to see a biopic about the wild producer who put the band together, Kim Fowley.

"Turn up that radio
Hear the rock and roll
Malibu shines like summer gold
Wild beaches
In the salty wind
California summer never ends

California - it's so nice
California - you're paradise

The kids are ripping up the streets
In their super cars
All night parties and loud guitars
Hot hot neighborhoods
Its the silver sound
Wicked Hollywood goes round and round

California - you're so nice
California - you're paradise

California - you're so nice
California - you're paradise"

The Runaways

This is one of their better known songs from the band's 1977 album "Queens of Noise."

"Each night alone I dream
That I'm a rebel roller queen
I'll be a star that shines
I can make the whole world mine
Hollywood it feels so good
Hollywood it feels so good
Each day at home I scheme
For the fame and fortune dream
Gonna be a superstar
With my fancy clothes and cars
Hollywood it feels so good
Hollywood it feels so good
I can make it, make it, make it, make it
'Cause I can take it, take it, take it,take it
Each time the radio plays
It tells of the golden days
Living fast on the go
Lets get on with the show yeah
Hollywood it feels so good
Hollywood it feels so good"

Chris Rupp (featuring Ali Spagnola)

Christmas in California

Chris Rupp is a singer from Minnesota who formed the acappella group Home Free in 2001 before starting a solo career. Ali Spagnoa is a musician and social media celebrity from Pennsylvania. This song was released in 2021. It's another song about Christmas in Southern California.

"Looking around, at Tinseltown
It doesn't have the right vibe
How can it be Christmas when it's 74 outside

I miss the glow, the falling snow
Lights on every street
The crisp bite of the air, and the crunch beneath my feet

I might be so far away and feeling all alone
But its time to make some new traditions
'Cause I can't make it home

We'll have a California Christmas
Surf instead of sleigh
It may not be what we're used to
And maybe that's OK
Palm trees swaying, children playing
In Beverly Hills L.A.
In California, Christmas is still with us anyway

Chasing dreams, starlet scenes
Making a name for myself
All my Yuletide memories, in an old frame on the shelf

I didn't know, 5 below
And the frost upon the glass
How much those things meant to me, memories from the past

I might be so far away and feeling all alone
But its time to make some new traditions
Cuz I can't make it home

We'll have a California Christmas
Sun instead of ice
It may not be what we're used to
But maybe that'd be nice
Palm trees swaying, children playing
In Beverly Hills L.A.
In California, Christmas is still with us anyway

We'll have a California Christmas
Our favorite season in the sand
The first thing on our wish list
To have the merriest we can
With palm trees swaying, children playing
In Beverly Hills L.A.
California Christmas
California Christmas
California, Christmas
Is still with us anyway"

Russ & G-Eazy

Five Little Miles From San Berdoo

Russ is a rapper and producer from New Jersey and Atlanta, active since 2007. G-Eazy is Gerald Gillum, a rapper and producer from Oakland and Berkeley, active since 2006. This song was released in 2023. There are no lyrics online yet. G-Eazy does the chorus on it, but Russ raps so fast I couldn't keep up. Here's the chorus and a little bit of Russ's rap.

"I been waitin' all week, take me anywhere you wanna
Tell me where to go 'cause I'm new to California
I can bring a pack, since you don't know how to roll up
Talk about your culture, I'm tryin' to get to know ya

Come on, pull off to the side and we can walk, walk, walk
Emptyin' a bottle while we talk, talk, talk
Now I got you open speakin' soft, soft, soft
What took you so long?

Ok, ok, ok, I'm back now on a new trip
For a new person in California
With some good girls and bad b**ches
In Los Angeles but I can't afford 'em
Goin' upstate with my old car
Dark Side of the Moon playin'
Got pink shades to help see clear...
... ... ...
City of Angels, city of god
... and Kendrick Lamar
She took me to see ... in the dark
Griffith Park right above the stars...."

Jane Russell

Jane Russell is singing this tune in a cantina in Nogales, Mexico, when Robert Mitchum first lays eyes on her in the 1951 Howard Hughes produced movie "His Kind of Woman." She sings a shortened version in the movie and a longer more fully-orchestrated version on LP.

"Ten little miles
Nine little miles
Eight little
Seven little
Six little miles

Five little miles from San Berdoo
I woke this mornin' and thought of you
Looked out the window
What a view
Five little miles from San Berdoo

Four little miles from San Berdoo
The porter shouted, "We're almost through!"
I saw familiar sights we knew
Four little miles from San Berdoo

Three little miles from San Berdoo
My bag was packed and ready
I said to myself, "Steady!"

Two more miles and you're in heaven

One little mile from San Berdoo
My heart was skippin' a beat or two
Oh what thrill when I saw you
Waitin' at the station down in San Berdoo

From San Berdoo
I woke this mornin' and thought of you
Looked out the window
What a view
From San Berdoo
From San Berdoo
The porter shouted, "We're almost through!"
I saw familiar sights we knew
From San Berdoo
From San Berdoo
My bag was packed and ready
I said to myself, "Steady!"

Two more miles and you're in heaven

Little mile from San Berdoo
My heart was skippin' a beat or two
Oh what thrill when I saw you
Waitin' at the station down in San Berdoo

San Bernardino!
Berdoo"

Tom Russell

California Snow

This is from the album "Borderland" released in 2001. He co-wrote the song with Dave Alvin, who released the song in 1998. You can see the lyrics under Dave Alvin.

Tom Russell

Out In California

This is from the album "The Rose of the San Joaquin" released in 1995. It's a song he wrote with Dave Alvin who released a version of the song the following year.

"I'm sitting here drinking in the last bar on earth
I'm sitting here drinking in the last bar on earth
Out in California she's taking off her tight red skirt

The mountains out the window - they're a woman lying on a bed
The mountains here are shaped like a woman lying naked on a bed
She may be out in California, but I can't get her out of my head

Out in California

They killed off the Indians, they shot all the grizzly bears
Out in California, they shot all the grizzly bears
She stands by the window letting down her long black hair

If a man keeps running, he'll run right into himself
It a man keeps moving he'll run into himself
Out in California she's lying down with somebody else

Out in California
Out in California

Gonna buy me a Chevy, as soon as my luck turns around
Gonna buy me a shotgun, soon as my luck turns around

I'm gonna drive on back to that California town

I'm sitting here drinking in the last bar on earth
Sitting here drinking in the last bar on earth
Out in California she's takin' off her tight red skirt

Out in California
Out in California
Out in California"

Tom Russell

The Rose of the San Joaquin

Tom Russell is a singer-songwriter born in Los Angeles in 1947 or '48 in Los Angeles, making music in the Americana music tradition. This song is from the album "The Rose of the San Joaquin" released in 1995. I think San Joaquin refers to the San Joaquin Valley which makes more sense than if it refers to the San Joaquin River. Unless Magdalene is a freshwater mermaid...

"Farewell to the lights of Madera, I'm leaving with the wind at my back
Tell all of my friends in Dos Palos, I'm gone but I'll be circling back
Now I'm crossing the Chowchilla River
By the light of a ragged moonbeam
And I miss the Rose of San Joaquin

I'll miss the sun on the Sierra Nevadas, adobe moon on the rise
Shining down on my love in Madera, shining into her dark Spanish eyes
Oh she taught me those Mexican love songs
'Volver, Volver' in my dreams
And I miss the Rose of San Joaquin
Caught somewhere between
The road and the Rose of San Joaquin

Now her black hair fell on the blanket in the tall grass wet with the dew
Making love through the night by the river
Oh Magdalene how my heart cries for you
Alone on this highway of darkness
You are the light of my dreams
And I miss the Rose of San Joaquin
Caught somewhere between
The road and the Rose of San Joaquin"

Anica Russo

Coming Home (California)

Anica Russo is a singer-songwriter based in Berlin, Germany. This pop song was released in 2024.
(She should stop worrying and buy a plane ticket. If she goes to California and it doesn't feel like home, she can always just go back home.)

"Always the one who didn't belong
Holding my heart
Right in my hand
Like a smoking gun
Ever since I was young

Dream of a place
Where it never rains
Where I fit in
Maybe somewhere by the ocean waves
Under the Golden Gate

Hope can be fleeting
And I got a feeling

I had a dream ‘bout California
Maybe now I don't want to go
What if I go to California
And it doesn’t feel like coming home?

The devil I know
Wherever I go
I end up alone
How many hearts lie awake at night
In the city where angels die?

Dreams can be blinding
My road needs refining

I had a dream ‘bout California
But maybe now I don’t wanna go
What if I go to California
And it doesn’t feel like coming home?

I had a dream ‘bout California
But maybe I’m only chasing ghosts
What if I look into the mirror
And finally feel like coming home?"

Charley Ryan

Hot Rod Lincoln

This is a 1955 rockabilly answer song to Arkie Shibley's 1950 song Hot Rod Race. The singer of this song is the Model A driver in Shibley's song who comes out of nowhere to win the race. It was a top ten hit in 1971 for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

"My pappy said, 'Son, you're gonna drive me t' drinkin' ...
If you don't quit drivin' that - Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!'

Well, you've heard the story of the hot rod race,
When the Ford and the Mercury were settin' the pace.
That story's true I'm here to say,
Cause I was a'drivin' that Model A.
It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up;
That Model A body makes it look like a pup.
It's got 12 cylinders and uses them all;
And an overdrive that just won't stall.

It's got a 4-barrel carb and dual exhausts,
4:11 gears that really get lost -
Safety tubes and I'm not scared,
The brakes are good and the tires are fair.

We left San Pedro late one night;
The moon and the stars were shinin' bright.
We were drivin' up Grapevine Hill,
Passin' cars like they were standin' still.

Then, all of a sudden, in the wink of an eye,
a Cadillac sedan passed us by.
The remark was made, "That's the car for me."
But, by then, the taillights wuz all you could see.

Well, the fellers ribbed me for bein' behind,
So I started to make that Lincoln unwind.
Took my foot off the gas and, man alive,
I shoved it down into overdrive.

Well, I wound it up to 110;
Twisted the speedometer cable right off the end.
Had my foot glued right to the floor;
I said, "That's all there is - there ain't no more."

Now the fellas thought I'd lost all sense;
The telephone poles looked like a picket fence.
They said, "Slow down, I see spots."
The lines on the road just looked like dots.

Went around a corner and passed a truck;
I crossed my fingers just for luck -
The fenders clickin' the guard rail post;
The guy beside me was white as a ghost.
Smoke was rollin' outta the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac
I knew I could catch him and hoped I could pass
But when I did I'd be short on gas.

There were flames comin' from out of the side;
You could feel the tension; man, what a ride.
I said, "Look out, boys, I've got a license to fly"
And the Cadillac pulled over and let me by.

All of a sudden a rod started knockin';
Down in the depths she started a rockin'.
I looked in the mirror and a red light was blinkin';
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln.

Well they arrested me and put me in jail.
I called my pop to make my bail.
He said, "Son, you're gonna drive me t' drinkin',
If you don't quit drivin' that - Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!" "

Joey Ryan

One Way, or Every N - - - - With a Budget

Joey Ryan is a singer-songwriter from Eagle Rock. He's best known as part of the duo The Milk Carton Kids who formed in 2011 with Ryan and Kenneth Pettengale. This is from "...with its roots above and its branches below" released in 2008. Kenneth Pettengale and Joey Ryan also sing a version of this song that sounds very similar on their album "Retrospect' released in 2011 just before they became The Milk Carton Kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmph6Qxfmi4

"California, California
Know I love you, California
When I leave, I know you wait for me
Cause in the sun and in the weather
No one else has loved me better
California you're the place for me

Los Angeles, Los Angeles
My heart goes out to you and if
I make it back I'd love to drive around
Cause your streets are wide and dirty
Yes they've raised me in a hurry
You're the city with the angels, yes indeed

Oh San Francisco, San Francisco
Always busy, you're always pretty
I can see you just across the bay
Your red bridge over the sea
Keeps me safe and warm and free
On a clear day, there's no place I'd rather be

In the mountains, in the mountains
No one knows you like I do
And summer streams are knee deep in the snow
Just like the giving tree you have made a man of me
Cause everyone needs someplace beautiful
I think everyone needs someplace beautiful

California, California
Know I love you, California
When I leave I know you wait for me
Cause in the sun and in the weather
No one else has loved me better
California you're the place for me

In the valley, in the valley
Give me life and cradle me
The sun is setting as I drive ahead
So keep us and sustain us
Give us food and love and I trust
That without you we'd all soon be dead

In the forest, all the trees
You make a little child of me
How I long to know what you have seen
All the people who are gone
And all the ones who once were strong
Oh won't you keep their fate from claiming me

In the oceans, in the sea
We have seen eternity
How can I tell when you really end
I imagine that you lead to other worlds entirely
Where we can save ourselves and start again
Yes we need to save ourselves and start again

California, California
Know I love you, California
When I leave I know you wait for me
Cause in the sun and in the weather
No one else has loved me better
California you're the place for me

So nurse me like a mother
Raise me strong just like my father
Let me wander off, discover who I am
I'll have learned your deepest lessons
Gathered up your finest blessings
Return to California once again
Yes, I'll come home to California once again

California, California
Know I love you, California
When I leave I know you wait for me
Cause in the sun and in the weather
No one else has loved me better
California you're the place for me
Yes California you're the place for me
California won't you save a place for me?"

Sam Ryder

Somebody

Sam Ryder is a singer-songwriter from the United Kingdom, active since 2009. This pop song was released in 2022. It only has a brief mention of California, but it's an unusual one.

"....You bring me summer every weekend
Like a rooftop in L.A.
When it heats up in the evening
You cool me off like lemonade
So don't go changin' like the seasons
'Cause you're perfect in every way
Babe, you got a love that's worth bleedin'
If you go runnin', I lead, you can't blame (Hey)

Wake me up
Lot of caffeine in my coffee cup
And like a shootin' star, you light me up
Oh, hey, you made it

'Cause we all need somebody
Even lonely hearts need somebody
So the farthest love leaves your body
Give it away
So if you've got somebody
Let 'em know that they got somebody
Little love never hurt nobody, hey
So you use your light and shine it like crazy
We got one life, let's make it amazin'
I love you, baby, no, that ain't changin'
You got, you got somebody who loves ya
You got, you got somebody who loves ya...."

Saba

Saba is the professional name of Tahj Malik Chandler, a rapper and producer from Chicago. This song from the album "Few Good Things" released in February, 2022, has a great beat, melody and chorus. It should have been a bigger hit.

"Want the peace, but don't wanna die
It's a one way street though
It's a round trip when we fly
Never one way, one way
New crib by the seaside
On the one way street though
There's a million ways to get by
Never one way, one way

Need a million after taxes, I might spend the s**t on fashion
All this flexin' made me stronger, feel like Tony in a mansion
My baby mama lookin' she could've won a pageant
I'm not vegan, we been eatin', kick my feet up and get fatter
Sit all day and I play Madden and my mattress California
My address California, when I can't find my controller
I'm like "F**k it", buy another, it ain't nothin', I got money
We all splurgin' on this dumb s**t, 'cause we careless and we youngins
Every ni**a with a budget takin' care at least ten buddies
What you need, you know I cover

It's a one way street though
It's a round trip when we fly
Never one way, one way
New crib by the seaside
On the one way street though
There's a million ways to get by
Never one way, one way

I'ma order pasta that I cannot properly pronounce
Keep my doors open 'case a ni**a pop up on my couch
Went from couldn't afford it, to a ni**a coppin' without counting
None my checks been voidin' since a ni**ga got me an accountant
Send my mama a quick thousand and we crashed them open houses
All the rappers in Tarzana, in the valley, Calabasas
All my ni**as wanna crash here, and my woman friends is ratchet
All my neighbors lookin' at us, lookin' different than they family
A black man with the baggy, so my people in my paddy
Know I got it if you ask me

It's a one way street though
It's a round trip when we fly
Never one way, one way
New crib by the seaside
On the one way street though
There's a million ways to get by
Never one way, one way"

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

Ho! For California!

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band are a tradition folk and old-time country band dedicated to preserve and celebrate American folk music. This song is from their album "Ballad of America, Volume 1" released in 2005. It's a version of a 19th century folk song about the California Gold Rush that is often sung as a sea shanty. Gold was first discovered on the American River, a tributary of the Sacramento River, but steamboats used the Sacramento River to sail to the area.

According to Ballad of America, Jesse Hutchinson Jr. composed the song "Ho! For California!" in 1849, using some of the melody to "Boatman's Dance" a minstrel song by Dan Emmett, and it became an unofficial anthem of the gold rush. Many versions of the song with different lyrics and titles have also been recorded, some of which can be found on this list. "The Banks of the Sacramento," "The Banks of Sacramento," "Banks of the Sacramento," "Sacramento," and "Ho! For California!" are some of the other titles.

This version is unlike most I've heard so far because it uses the original title and the original lyrics which are sung at a slower pace than most other versions, making it sound more like a traditional folk song than a sea shanty.

"We've formed our band, and we're all well manned
To journey afar to the promised land
Where the golden ore is rich in store
On the banks of the Sacramento shore

As off we roam through the dark sea foam
We'll ne'er forget kind friends at home
But memory kind shall bring to mind
The love of those we left behind

Then, ho! Boys ho!
For California go
There's plenty of gold in the world we're told
On the banks of the Sacramento

Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco
Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco

Oh don't you cry, nor heave a sigh
We'll all come back again by and by
Don't breathe a fear, nor shed a tear
But patiently wait for about two year

We expect our share of the coarsest fare
And sometimes sleep in the open air
On the cold damp ground we'll all sleep sound
Except when the wolves come howling 'round

Then, ho! Boys ho!
For California go
There's plenty of gold in the world we're told
On the banks of the Sacramento

Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco
Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco

As the gold is thar most any whar
They dig it out with an iron bar
And where 'tis thick, with a spade or pick
They take out lumps as big as a brick

As we explore the distant shore
We'll fill our pockets with the shining ore
And how 'twill sound as the wind goes 'round
Of our picking up gold by the dozen pound

Then, ho! Boys ho!
For California go
There's plenty of gold in the world we're told
On the banks of the Sacramento

Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco
Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco

Oh the land we'll save for the bold and brave
Have determined there never shall breathe a slave
Let foes recoil, for the sons of toil
Shall make California God's Free Soil

Then, ho! Boys ho!
For California go
There's plenty of gold in the world we're told
On the banks of the Sacramento

Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco
Heigh ho and away we go
Digging up the gold on the Francisco
Digging up the gold on the Francisco"

Saint Etienne

Downey, California

Saint Etienne is an electronic indie dance band formed in London in 1990 with vocalist Sarah Cracknell. This song is from their Sound of Water Album (2000).

"Dream home
In Downey, California
Palm trees
The sound of Karen Carpenter
Mother's holding baby
Baby's getting restless now
Looking for her mother
Looking for her mother

You don't, don't want to believe him now
Don't want to
Don't want to see him"

Stroke 9

Stroke 9 is an alternative rock band formed in Marin County, active since 1989. This song is from the album "Rip It Off" released in 2002.

"Can't change how
Feelings will be shown
Don't blame you
You're nervous on your own
Propose the worst and I'm the first in line
Despite the rest it's not a bad sign

That you mean the world to me
And the city and my soul disagree

Last time 'round fast
I'll see you on the way down
Life's a funny thing
And you can't bring yourself to face
It if you want to
Now I shake here
For your sake dear
I was raised and I was born here
I couldn't leave California if I tried to

Can't say now
Where I'm gonna go
When I figure it out
You'll be the first to know
Do you understand that it's out of these hands of mine
Despite our plans I've got to draw the line

You still mean the world to me
The city and my soul disagree

Last time 'round fast
I'll see you on the way down
Life's a funny thing
And you can't bring yourself to face it if you want to
Now I shake here
For your sake dear
I was raised and I was born here
I couldn't leave California if I tried to
If I tried to
If I tried to
If I tried to

Can't change how
Feelings will be shown
Don't blame you
You're nervous on your own
Propose the worst and I'm the first in line

Last time 'round fast
I'll see you on the way down
Life's a funny thing
And you can't bring yourself to face it if you want to
Now I shake here
For your sake dear
I was raised and I was born here
I couldn't leave California if I tried to

Now I shake here
For your sake dear
I was raised and I was born here
I couldn't leave California if I tried to"

St. Verie

California Calls

St. Verie is Kirsten Skopelitis, based in Berlin at one time, maybe still. Her Soundcloud page says: "If Indie Pop and Dream Pop had a baby... it would be St. Verie." But wouldn't an indie dream pop baby keep you up all night singing depressing songs with too much reverb? This is better than that. It was was one of the first tracks she released back in 2018.

"You've got two hours to write a hit
Hear your time, run out
They say it doesn't take a day it's all we've got
Breathe in breathe out
Time's running out
Take the risk
Breathe in breathe out
Time's running out
Take the risk

California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be
California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be

Pack my things I'm taking my dog
We've got to go
Never look back there's only forward to go
Breathe in breathe out
Time's running out
Take the risk
Breathe in breathe out
Time's running out
Take the risk

California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be
California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be

West Coast, West Coast, West Coast loving
West Coast, West Coast, West Coast loving me
West Coast, West Coast, West Coast calling me
West Coast

California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be
California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be
California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be
California's calling me
Golden Coast is where I want to be"

St. Vincent

Los Ageless

St. Vincent is the stage name for Anne Clark, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter known for her innovative guitar playing, raised in Dallas, Texas, and based in New York City, active since 2003. This song is from her Masseduction album released in 2017. The song title is wordplay on an obsession with youth in Los Angeles. The city is never specifically mentioned, but the first line of the song mentions a season without winter which is obviously L.A. and there is a reference to the Sunset Blvd. club scene. The very colorful video for the song parodies women's yoga, beauty treatments, fashion, plastic surgery, and weird diets, all of which are common stereotypes of L.A. women, though the obsession with youth and beauty is certainly just as prevalent among women in many other places.

"In Los Ageless, the winter never comes
In Los Ageless, the mothers milk their young
But I can keep running
No, I can keep running
The Los Ageless hang out by the bar
Burn the pages of unwritten memoirs
But I can keep running
No, I can keep running

[Chorus]
How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?
How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?

The last days of the Sunset superstars
Girls in cages playing their guitars
But how can I leave?
I just follow the hood of my car
In Los Ageless, the waves they never break
They build and build until you don't have no escape
But how can I leave?
I just follow my hood to the sea, go to sleep

[Chorus]

Oh my Lord, oh, we really did it now
I'm a monster and you're my sacred cow
But I can keep running
No, I can keep on running...."

Sacramento

L.A.? Not Alone Girl!

I couldn't find anything out about this band or singer by searching for "Sacramento." All I know is that English is not the first language of the singer, who sings with an unidentifiable accent. At the end he sings L.A. as "lay" which is nice. I can see that becoming a thing in the future. And I don't know why the artist name is "Sacramento." Maybe they are using the Spanish meaning of the word.

"No matter what you do
No matter if you treat me good
you've always meant a lot

No matter if I win or lose
You're always by my side
I'll never feel alone with you

Remember the swans in Echo Park
Remember the Sunset Boulevard
The Mexican fan palms all around

You can't let me alone out there
I'm not going to live L.A. myself
I'll never be alone again

No matter what you do
No matter if you treat me good
You're going to fly down south to me

It's always been my dream, but never without my lead
I'll never live L.A. alone

Ain't no be no L.A. alone
Ain't no be no L.A. alone
Not alone girl

Ain't no be no L.A. alone
Ain't no be no L.A. alone
Not alone girl"

Salty Dick

Banks of the Sacramento

Salty Dick is Jerry Bryant, a folk music performer/archivist who specializes in maritime songs. This is a "dirty" version of a 19th century folk song about the California Gold Rush that is often sung as a sea shanty. Gold was first discovered on the American River, a tributary of the Sacramento River, but steamboats used the Sacramento River to sail to the area.

According to Ballad of America, Jesse Hutchinson Jr. composed the song "Ho! For California!" in 1849, using some of the melody to "Boatman's Dance" a minstrel song by Dan Emmett, and it became an unofficial anthem of the gold rush. Many versions of the song with different lyrics and titles have also been recorded, some of which can be found on this list. "The Banks of the Sacramento," "The Banks of Sacramento," "Banks of the Sacramento," "Sacramento," and "Ho! For California!" are some of the other titles. You can see the original lyrics under Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band.

Most of the other versions of the song mention that there is plenty of gold on the banks of the Sacramento River, but this song celebrates a more practical natural resource found on the riverbanks.

"As I was walking down the strand
Hoo dah, hoo dah
I spied two b***hes hand in hand
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento

I chose the one with the curly locks
Hoo dah, hoo dah
She's the bugger that gave me the pox
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento

So off to the doctor I did go
Hoo dah, hoo dah
Prick and balls I had to show
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento

In come the doctor with a bloody big lance
Hoo dah, hoo dah
Said, 'Now, young sailor, I'll make ye dance'
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento

In come the nurse with a mustard poultice
Hoo dah, hoo dah
She jammed it on, but I took no notice
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento

Now I'm well and free from pain
Hoo dah, hoo dah
If I meet that whore I'll f**k her again
Oh, hoo dah day

Blow, boys, blow, for Cal-i-for-ni-o
There's plenty of grass to wipe your ass
On the banks of the Sacramento"

Samia

Amelia

Samia (Samia Najimu Finnerty) is a singer-songwriter and actor from New York City, born in L.A. to show-biz parents, and active since 2017. This catchy pop song song is from her album "Honey" released in 2023. "Wet as the L. A. River" is probably meant to be ironic, since the river was pretty dry in all of the movie and tv chase scenes I've seen that were filmed in it.

"Who's that shadow kicking sunset?
Running up with Muriel to catch the last song
Carolina in the springtime
Caleb at the fire pit scaling the beyond

All I'm running with, babe, is a blank slate towards the ocean
F**k your rear view
There's no room to shoulder hindsight where we're going

Huh, delight
To live another night
Huh, delight
Delight

Amelia
She's giving me that half smile
She knows something about me I do not know
And behind her
You can see the sun
Reaching its long fingers into a chokehold

She's shuffling between the strobes
Sucking up and rolling the globe
I'm like, 'How'd you get your leg so high up?'
F**k

Delight, to live another night
Huh, delight
Delight
Huh, delight
To live another night
Huh, delight
Delight

Walking into the middle of the party
I'm writing a poem somebody stop me
Simmer, wet as the L.A. River
Me and all my friends are up late bonding

I can feel the earth, it's shaking underneath my shoes
Oh my god, there's nothing quite like doing what you came to do
Percolating, breathing, dancing, dying

Huh, delight
To live another night...."

Cameron Sanderson

In California

Cameron Sanderson is a musical artist from Great Britain. This song was released in January 2023.

"You're out on the west side
All our mates are too high
Don't tell me you're breaking
All alone
Just bell me on FaceTime
'Cam I swear that I'm fine...'
If you wanna fix me
Leave me alone

So what are you running from
Where are you going?
Maybe I'm on the run
Across the ocean
You tell me I'm giving up
That's your diagnosis
Why haven't I noticed?

Even if I tried
You were always gonna die
In California
No don't tell me you're alright
Wearing hoodies all the time
Yeah don't think I don't notice
So please take me away
Tell me I'm to blame
Everything is golden in this state
But I know that's a lie
God isn't on your side
In California
In California
(In California)

If you're good then I'll follow
You down to the bottle
'Cam I am not sober...'
I know it's not the drugs you've been given
It's the place that you live in
But before she could listen she goes

So what are you running from
Where are you going?
Maybe I'm on the run
Across the ocean
You tell me I'm giving up
That's your diagnosis
Why haven't I noticed?

Even if I tried
You were always gonna die
In California
No don't tell me you're alright
Wearing hoodies all the time
Yeah don't think I don't notice
So please take me away
Tell me I'm to blame
Everything is golden in this state
But I know that's a lie
'Cause God isn't on your side
In California
In California"

San Quinn & Tuf Luv (featuring B-Legit)

Drunk in San Francisco

San Quinn is Quincy Brooks IV, a rapper from San Francisco, active since 1989, B-Legit is Brandt Jones, a rapper from Vallejo active since 1988, and I can't find out much about Tuf Luv except that he's a rapper most likely from the Bay Area. This song is from the album "A Hustler's Hope" released in 2012. It uses a sample of Nancy Wilson's 1968 version of "I'm Always Drunk in San Francisco" as the hook. This song will take you back to a time when the Raiders were still in Oakland, the 49ers still played in San Francisco, and Candlestick Park hadn't yet been demolished. In 2022 the A's are still there, but maybe not for long.

"I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco

[San Quinn]
It's a staring artist, in need of racks
You heard him too? I'll drink to that
Sittin' at the beach, drinking like a fish
Fifty privilege, arguing with my b**ch
She said I need to quit, or find another groupie
Then she took the car, made me ride the MUNI
Bottle gone, at the bus I hobble on
Like a real wine-o, gettin' my wobble on
End up on Market, busy drunk talking to the homies
In the Tenderloin diggin' in the garbage
F**k, like I'm not a star
Lookin' for another card, free ride on the cable car
From brown to ..., Chinatown on the hype
Patron shot after shot, no water or Sprite
Lookin' for a fight, runnin' up on tourists
Not too aware, but I'm for sure, ripped
See me on one, let me be me
You better off calling SFPD

I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco

[Tuf Luv]
What time is it? what day it is?
How the hell I end up it the baby crib?
I don't drink much, but when a ni**a do
I get drunker than a pirate in a sailor suit

I'm on a bar with a bottle in my back pocket
Me and Paul Masson, just left crackin'
We about to go and kick it with Brandy
Her and her little sister Landy
At 11:45, at my Pier 39
With a bar and a dime, with a beer and a lime
Somebody draw the line I try to stop but can't
Soon as the bottle hit my lips I'm like Frank the Tank
I'm drunk on the curb, askin' for my money back
Slurring words, yelling "what the look you fu**in' at"
Now everybody lookin', like ain't that a b**ch
I'm at the 'Niner game, in that Raider fit
At the Giant's game, in that A's hat
When people flip me off, I just wave back

I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco

[B-Legit]
Yeah, I know the club owner, I like to rub on her
I'm in the crib with 3 shots and a cold Corona
I run laps like the 500 Daytona
'Till I find one that wanna know my persona
Then I'm on her like a light switch
The right b**ch, that'll try to f**k a d**e b**h
I take her out to Candlestick
Get another 50 see if she can handle it
That n**ga B-Le, he be on that black
Cognac, Hennessy, yeah he f**k with that
I seen him at the Glass Cat
Gettin' splat at the back, it was hella racks
And, boy if you only knew
What I do, when I ride through them avenues
I'm talkin' 21, 22
My heels on, she about 6 in the few
I let them know what the thing do
We by the zoo so it's cool, baby, act a fool"

I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm always drunk in San Francisco"

Santana (featuring The Product G&B)

Maria Maria

Santana is a rock band formed in San Francsico in 1966 by Carlos Santana, who was born in Mexico. The Product G&B is an R&B duo made up of David McRae and Marvin Moore-Hough. The song, #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, is from the album "Supernatural" released in 1999, one of the best-selling albums in the world, and the winner of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Those are some impressive stats...

"Ladies and gents, turn up your sound systems to the sound of Carlos Santana and the G&B, it's The Product of Ghetto Blues from the Refugee Camp

Oh, Maria, Maria
She reminds me of a West Side Story
Growing up in Spanish Harlem
She's living the life just like a movie star
Oh, Maria, Maria
She fell in love in East L.A.
To the sounds of the guitar, yeah, yeah
Played by Carlos Santana

Stop the looting, stop the shooting
Pick pock'ing on the corner
See as the rich is getting richer
The poor is getting poorer
Se mira Maria on the corner
Thinking of ways to make it better
In my mailbox, there's an eviction letter
Signed by the judge, said see you later

Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (East Coast)
Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (West Coast)

Oh, Maria, Maria
She reminds me of a West Side Story
Growing up in Spanish Harlem
She's living the life just like a movie star, oh
Maria, Maria
She fell in love in East L.A.
To the sounds of the guitar, yeah, yeah
Played by Carlos Santana

I said a la favela los colores
The streets are getting hotter
There is no water to put out the fire
Ni gota de esperanza
Se mira Maria on the corner
Thinking of ways to make it better
Then I looked up in the sky
Hoping of days of paradise

Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (North side)
Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (South side)
Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (Worldwide)
Ahora vengo mama chula, mama chula
Ahora vengo mama chula (Open up your eyes)

Maria, you know you're my lover
When the wind blows, I can feel you
Through the weather and even when we are apart
It feels like we're together, Maria, yeah

She reminds me of a West Side Story
Growing up in Spanish Harlem
She's living the life just like a movie star
Maria, Maria
Oh, she fell in love in East L.A.
To the sounds of the guitar
Played by Carlos Santana

Put 'em up, y'all
Carlos Santana with the Refugee Camp
Wyclef
Jerry Wonda
Mr. Santana
G&B
Yo Carlos, man, you're making that guitar cry"

Sarah Anne

Sarah Anne is a country music singer-songwriter, I'm guessing from Tennessee. This song was released in 2017.

"I can't see it now
At your mama's house
Mulled wine churnin'
The fire's burnin'

You've got your slippers on
Singing Christmas songs
With your daddy and your brothers
Like you always do when you get together

But there's somethin' that just don't feel right
That I'm not right there with you
Underneath the mistletoe
Damn I'm wantin' to kiss you

It's a California Christmas
Sunny and 75 down on the beach
I just miss you and I wish you
Were underneath my tree with Tennessee

Won't be snow or ice
Won't be carriage rides
We've got palm trees and
... the night down Rodeo Drive

There's something about a sunset cruise
Headed up Mulholland
That takes me back to Tennessee
When you and me were fallin'

It's a California Christmas
Sippin' rose all day down on the beach
I just miss you and I wish you
Were underneath my tree with Tennessee

I don't know if I can get on by
Wakin' up without you by my side
I've been ... the middle of our traditions tonight

It's a California Christmas
I'll be holdin' on to you on New Years
I just miss you and I wish you
Were were underneath my tree with Tennessee
I just miss you and I wish you
Were were underneath my tree with Tennessee
Underneath my tree with Tennessee
Underneath my tree
Underneath my tree
Underneath my tree
Underneath my tree
Underneath my tree with Tennessee"

Savage Garden

Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo with Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones, active from 1993-2001. They had a lot of success in the U.S. including two #1 hot 100 hits. This is a previously-unreleased song from their album "Truly Madly Completely: The Best of Savage Garden" released in 2005.

"I've got a cottage with a sea view,
I've got a regular summer tan,
I've been working up the courage to call you all year,
Ooooh.
But there's nothing i can say,
And there are no good words left anyway.
Besides people are cruel and the world still moves without you,
Ooooh.

And welcome to my Californian home.
You don't have to call me you can,
Leave when you want there's a
Picture by my bed and there's a,
Light in your eyes I don't know,
Well I don't know,
Why you still feel alone.

And we were dying from the get-go,
I was dreamin' but you never believed.
I was tryin' to fit myself in the spaces between,
Ooooh.
And you were kind and sometimes cruel -
You said all the world's love couldn't satisfy you.
And nothing could have hurt me as much as the truth,
Ooooh darlin'

Welcome to my Californian home,
You don't have to call me, you can,
Leave when you want there's a,
Picture by my bed and there's a,
Light in your eyes I don't know,
Tell me 'coz i wanna find out,
Do you still feel alone?

Love is elusive when you search for it,
And don't I know.
Happiness sometimes it just creeps in,
And don't I know it.
I'm goin' crazy I've been wonderin'
Do you still feel alone?

(I need to find,
Some kind of peace of mind.
I need to find...)

I've got a cottage with a sea view,
I've got a regular summer tan,
I know that I deserve more,
But I still want you...

And welcome to my Californian home,
You don't have to call me you can,
Leave when you want there's a,
Picture by my bed and there's a,
Light in your eyes I don't know,
Tell me 'coz I wanna find out do you still feel?

Welcome to my California, (I need to find)
Even though I'm no good for ya, (Some kind of peace of mind)
There's a part of me that's still waiting for you, (I need to find)
Oh oh oh,
Welcome to my happy ending, (I need to find)
Even though it's fun pretending I know, (Some kind of peace of mind)
I know you can't look back you can never go back.

(Welcome to my Californian home) I know you can never go back again,
(Welcome to my Californian home) I know you can never go back again,
(Welcome to my Californian home) I know you can never go back,
I know it, I need to find out do you still feel?...."

Savage Garden

Santa Monica

This is from the group's album "Savage Garden" released in 1997. It's an ode to the city in southern California. I'm pretty sure that anybody would know the difference between a supermodel and Norman Mailer, especially since he's dead.

"In Santa Monica, in the winter time,
The lazy streets so undemanding
I walk into the crowd
In Santa Monica, you get your coffee from
The coolest places on the promenade
Where people dress just so
Beauty so unavoidable, everywhere you turn
It's there I sit and wonder what am I doing here?
But on the telephone line I am anyone
I am anything I want to be
I could be a supermodel or Norman Mailer
And you wouldn't know the difference
Or would you?

In Santa Monica, all the people got modern names
Like Jake or Mandy
And modern bodies too
In Santa Monica, on the boulevard,
You'll have to dodge those In-line skaters
Or they'll knock you down
I never felt so lonely,
Never felt so out of place
I never wanted something more than this

But on the telephone line I am anyone
I am anything I want to be
I could be a supermodel or Norman Mailer
And you wouldn't know the difference
On the telephone line, I am any height
I am any age I want to be
I could be a caped crusader, or space invader
And you wouldn't know the difference
Or would you?"

Jasper Sawyer

California Dreaming

Jasper Sawyer is an American singer-songwriter and Instagram star. This is from his album "California Dreaming" released in 2022. The singer of this song dreams of living the life of a rich and famous star in SoCal with all the mansions, fancy cars, & parties in Malibu that he thinks go with it. In these days of six dollars a gallon gas, most of us are probably willing to downgrade our dreams to include just being able to pay the bills - but that would make a very boring song. His California dreams are a lot more fun.

"I’m headed down this road again
I’m going back to California
Only left the first time cause the rent
Was just a little too high

I stacked up all my money
Bought a busted car
But when I get to Hollywood
I’ma be a star
I’m chasing better days
People come to Cali for them better days
So here we are

Can’t you see what I see
Gold and purple mountains
Yellow Lamborghinis by the ocean
Cali dreamin’s coming back
Golden coast is where it’s at
You might see me on your tv
If I make it in California

Cali folk are so chill
Making money, heard some people signed a record deal, like that
Cali dreamin’s where it’s at
Hollywood is calling back
You might see me on your tv
When I make it big, I’m California

I’m on the golden coast again
I bet it all in California
I’ma do it big or I’m gon' quit
I bet that on the rest my life

Fall in love in Hollywood, get a better ride
Buy a house in Malibu
Party through the night
I say hello to better days
People come to Cali for them better days
... ... ... ...
I’m headed to the top
I’ll make it big in Cali
So put everything I got
On black Its coming at me
California, California, California, Califor-ni-a

They say I’m headed to the top
I’ll make it big my mama said to
Show 'em what you got
I’m back it’s coming at me
California, California, California, Califor-ni-a
... ... ... ...
They say I’m headed to the top
I’ll make it big my mama said to
Show 'em what you got
I’m back it’s coming at me
Cali dreamin in my eyes
California in its prime
Golden Coast if you can hear me
Let me make it here, I’m California Dreamin

California I’ve been Dreaming
California dreaming
California I’ve been Dreaming
California dreaming

Oh come live the life, Cali
Live the life, Cali
Live the life, California life
I just got to take a picture
To remember Sunset Boulevard, The life
Live the life, California life

I just got in from San Francisco
Grabbing lunch down in Malibu
The LIfe, Live the life, Hollywood life

There’s a Mercedes, and a Bentley
Next to green Lamborghinis
Live the life, Live the life, California life

I'm livin' I'm livin' I'm livin' I'm livin'
I'm livin' I'm livin' I'm livin' I'm livin' in Cali

Live the life, California life
I’m living in Cali, I live I live in California

I’m out in California, I’ve been dreaming
California dreaming
I’m out in California, I’ve been dreaming

California I’ve been Dreaming
California I’ve been Dreaming...."

Boz Scaggs

White Boy from Sacramento

Boz Scaggs is a singer/songwriter and guitar player mostly from Texas, who started his career in the 1960s, moving to San Francisco in 1967 where he worked with the Steve Miller Band and then went on to an award-winning solo career. This is a disco song from Scaggs' 1977 album "Down Two Then Left."

"The way you read the crowd, the way you make them pay
You stepped in and did the scene a whole new way
No one would resist you now and even if they could
Hollywood just never had it quite this good

I see your name in lights, I see them standing in line
They send the cards and the wine
Broadway here she comes
You should be a natural

Camera, action, do it again
(Ooh, anyway I gotta do it)
What a reaction, do it again
(Yeah, gonna make you a star)

Camera, action, do it again
(Ooh, anyway I gotta do it)
What a reaction, do it again
(To get you this part)

No one had to tell you what your smile was for
You sure there's not an uncle name of Barrymore
Now she did this and she did that you are the latest talk
Now there lining up for you around the block

Throwing roses and Holy Moses
Even the Times say
Sparks fell from the skies
That gets you immortalized

Camera, action, do it again
(Oh, anyway I gotta do it)
What a reaction, do it again
(Yeah, I'm gonna make you a star)

Camera, action, do it again
Ooh, anyway I gotta do it)
What a reaction, do it again
(To get you this part)

They gave you 5 stars, they're sending big cars
And Sunset Boulevard will never be the same
You give it a brand new name

Camera, action, do it again
(Ooh, anyway I gotta do it)
What a reaction, do it again
(Yeah, I'm gonna make you a star)...."

Boz Scaggs

Sierra

This song is from Scaggs' 1994 album "Some Change." "Sierra Nevada" is the correct way to refer to the California mountain range, but since Scaggs lived in San Francisco, and Californians tend to abbreviate the name to the "Sierra" or the "High Sierra." I'm sure he's singing about that mountain range and not a different sierra. There's even a great Bogart film called "High Sierra" from 1941.

"What about the one who said he loved you
What about the one who said he cared
Don't bother trying to find him
Way up in the icy air

Oh you played with his heartstrings
And you played without a care
But not up in the High Sierra
You won't play his heart out there

The angels lay their clouds across his sky
They line up for him every night
Some have wings and others sing
The rest do lazy ballets in the air

There he's got a bird to give him warning
And he's got a lookout too
The beauty of the High Sierra
And she's looking out for you

The angels lay their clouds across his sky
They line up for him every night
Some have wings and others sing
The rest do lazy ballets in the air

What about the one who said he loved you
What about the one who said he cared
He's up in the High Sierra
But don't bother looking there"

Scarub

California Dreaming

Scarub is the stage name of Armon Collins, a rapper from Los Angeles and member of the collective Living Legends, a group of indie hip hop artists from California. This is from his "The California EP," released 2011, which contains several songs about California. It samples some of the iconic The Mamas & the Papas song of the same name to use as a chorus.

[The Mamas & the Papas:

I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
If I was in L.A.
California...
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
On a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm...]

[Scarub]

"....Hello world reporting live from Cali
From a disclosed location where the ocean and valley meet
Surf, sand, sunbathin' in the summer heat
Southern California dreamin' on a sandy beach
And I'm a beach bum
No shirt no sandals
Collectin' sand dollars at the sand bank
Gettin' scratched like sand paper
Eatin' sandwiches
Sex on the beach, that's my favorite drink
Malibu rum
Kick back with me splashin ... back in deep
A black hippie soul surfin'
Watchin' waves break hear 'em crash and leave
I'm prime real estate feelin' great grab a seat
Pacific terrific it's really uplifting
Splendid exquisite complicit no tripping I'm sayin'
Lay out, like a beach towel
Smoke sea weed 'till you see now
Wow"

[The Mamas & the Papas:

...Warm
I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
If I was in L.A.
California...
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
On a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm...]

Scarub (featuring Dirty Gold)

California Sunrise

This is another song from Scarub's "The California EP," released 2011. It samples some of the band Dirty Gold's song also called "California Sunrise"to serve as the chorus. The Tourist Board should think about using this song to promote California tourism, because it's nearly four minutes of stream of consciousness lyrics praising the state. I have only transcribed part of the lyrics below, though I couldn't understand them all.

[Scarub]

".... Cali she calling me back
It's a shore thing
Like Malibu, Oceanside, Santa Cruz, ... PCH
On a natural high ... soaring
Without a cloud in the sky's the limit
And women apply livin' in paradise
It's never boring
Never been?
Poor thing
If you visit in the Summer you ain't neva gonna wanna leave Cali's scorching

[Dirty Gold]

California sunrise
Take a sleep from under our California eyes
Tainted by the ocean siren
Waiting for the tide to take us home
To take us all home

[Scarub]

Home yeah that's where the heart is
Heart is me always leavin'
Me I'm a starving artist hungry for these Cali seasons
Infatuated with the state of mind that only deepens
Warm weather is ideal for playin' every day fun begins
Waters with coral reefs and oceans with sancy beaches
Forests with redwood trees and snow-capped mountains peakin'
Rivers and valleys desert floors mixed with lakes and streams yeah
So many optiions hard to decide how to spend a weekend
Catch a dose of Cali coastline
Cruisin' while the road winds
Shred it like a long board
Easy weavin'
Or travel east up to the summit
Ride the slopes while the sunlit
Catch an ear before the sunset...

[Dirty Gold]

I've been sleepin' far too long, I've been hidden from your love
I need some summer sun to come and wake me up
Let me sink or help me swim, where our love ends my end begins
California sunrise, come on and wake me up
California sunrise, come on and wake me up...."

Scarub

Just Like the Sun

This is another song from The California EP, released 2011, which contains four songs about California, including a version of California Drreamin'. It uses the chorus of "Looks Just Like the Sun" by Broken Social Scene, released in 2003. I can't find the lyrics online, and there are a million words in it, so I have only tried to transcribe part of it that I could understand.

"Dear day, treat me right it's been a tough winter
Summer's here it's time to see the sights
Venture out while the sky is clear
About to drive out somewhere
Vibe out on ocean and air
Push the gas turn the wheels
And let the music blare
Touch the water walk the sands
Moments spent here is rare
So caught up in this hustlin'
Little time left to spare
So for the time bein'
I'm a... with little care
Carefree air sea...

Looks just like the sun
Looks just like it
Looks just like the sun
Looks just like it
Looks just like the sun
Looks just like it
But I'm free...

These Cali sunsets breathtakin' so mystic
From the shorelines watch 'em slide into the Pacific
Some things words can't describe
This Cali vibe you gotta live it
Spirits floatin' high set ablaze purple haze
..... what you find
Give' em praise at the ways
This place will blow your mind
Today is yesterdays elopin' to the by and by
Postcards they don't comply to witness in this open eyed
Rollin' tide of ocean side take a ride along the coast and drive
Beyond where most would slide and toast to those who died
And hopes their souls confide in open sky
Some things words can't convey
I'm from that Golden State
Better I show you than say
.... is a perfect day
Nightfall at the water's edge skip a rock...."

Markus Schulz (featuring Nikki Flores)

Leaving L.A.

Markus Schulz is a DJ from Germany based in Miami, active since 1990. Nikki Flores is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, professionally active since 2003 when she was 15. This electronic dance track was released in 2016. There are some funny versions of the lyrics to this song online. I think they may be victims of bad computer interpretations. My favorite one is "I need to feel the earth underneath the midgets" which you can find on Genius.com. I don't think every word of the lyrics shown below is accurate, the heavy processing on the vocals makes some them hard to understand, but I have removed the midgets, or little people, which most of them prefer to be called now.

"Only that L.A., give me a landscape
Something from my dreams is calling my body
Take me to a place they remember me
Never sleep, memories don't ever die
I need to feel the earth underneath of me
Just get me high

I wanna see the sky there fading into my rearview
The colors racing, purple and blue
I need love, I need love
So I'm leaving L.A.
The City of Angels
Is nothing but heartbreak
I need love, I need love
So I'm leaving L.A.

Leaving L.A.
I'm Leaving L.A.
Leaving L.A.
I'm Leaving L.A.

I wanna see the sky there fading into my rearview
The colors racing, purple and blue
I need love, I need love
So I'm leaving L.A.
The City of Angels
Is nothing but heartbreak
I need love, I need love
So I'm leaving L.A.

Leaving L.A.
I'm Leaving L.A.
Leaving L.A.
I'm Leaving L.A."

Scissor Sisters

San Luis Obispo

Scissor Sisters were a band formed in New York City in 2000. Wikipedia labels them pop rock, indie pop, glam rock, nu-disco, and electroclash, a good example of why genre names are useless. This song is from their last studio album "Magic Hour" released in 2012.

"Well she left me here halfway
Between the bright lights of Los Angeles
And the tawdry nights of San Jose

With Ecstasy and Ivory wave
And a backpack full of Captain Jack
To take me to an early grave

And I've never been to paradise
Standing on this corner by myself
You don't have to tell me twice

And the world's not gonna end
If I could just pretend
And here's a place to go
San Luis Obispo
And the streets they may look the same
Of any town by any name
Gonna find my afterglow
San Luis Obispo

The difference between delight
And loneliness could be a one way flight
In these San Luis Obispo nights

It's where no one seems to mind
If you string words together with
Kool cigarettes and sparkling wine

Keep the conversation light
Wait until the girls get underdressed
Then the talk gets less polite

And I could stay here all my days
Will I spend my life deciding if
Happiness is just a phase

And I hope that I'm not wrong
Maybe here's where I belong
Every winter free of snow
San Luis Obispo

But if she's coming back again
I would flee but until then
Every day my love it grows
San Luis Obispo

The difference between delight
And loneliness is never black or white
In these San Luis Obispo nights

Sorry you misunderstood
This kid with his intentions good
When all I had was two feet left to stand

And if you're coming back through town
Put your ear down to the ground
Cause' this boy's voice has changed into a man's

And I hope that I'm not wrong
Baby here's where I belong
Every winter free of snow
San Luis Obispo

But if she's coming back again
I would flee but until then
Every day my love it grows
San Luis Obispo

The difference between delight
And loneliness could be a one way flight
In these San Luis Obispo nights"

Scoobert Doobert

I Live in California

All I can find out about Scoobert Doobert is that his location is listed as San Diego and that he has quite a few songs online. His name is thought by some people online to be Scooby Doo's real name, though others claim the cartoon Great Dane's last name is simply Doo. This song was released in 2021. (Thanks to LD for the recommendation and help with the lyrics.)

"I'ma I'ma take a selfie hangin' at the beach in
Winter
Rub it in my hometown's face
I'ma I'ma tell my family
I surf like every day
Though I never even caught a wave

Yeah I'm from
Ohio
From Cali back to Cleveland
I am never leavin'
No

I'ma take you down to California
We can swim in the marijuana
That no one can afford yeah
We all live with our mama

Take you down to California
We can cruise in a beat up Honda
We all do what we gotta
To live in California

I'm a waiter on the westside
Got cast in an episode of CSI
Yeah I play a dead guy
What about it?

I'm holistic AF
Got a crystal for that good energy
Tell everyone I'm vegan
Cocaine on the weekend

Ohio
From Cali back to Cleveland
I am never leavin'
No

I'ma take you down to California
We can swim in the marijuana
That no one can afford yeah
We all live with our mama

Take you down to California
We can cruise in a beat up Honda
We all do what we gotta
To live in California"

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. Schmit is a singer-songwriter born in Oakland and raised in Sacramento, active since 1960. He has performed as the bass player and singer for the Eagles and Poco. This song is from his solo album "Expando" released in 2008, back when Schwarzenegger was still the Governator.

"I'm just a white boy from Sacramento
I'm not too funky, or so I'm told
I'm on the level - I'm incognito
I'm just a white boy from Sacramento

I went to school in the shiny suburbs
I heard young Pat Boone on my radio
Grew up on TV - I still love Lucy
Drank Pepsi-Cola, and did the stroll

Went to the barber - he cut my flattop
I rode my red bike straight on home
Put on my Jade East, went to a party
We did the limbo - we got real low

I dig surf music 'cuz it's so bitchin'
I think the Kingston Trio is so hip
I close my eyes and I feel so groovy
I shake my head while I bite my lip

I hit them high notes like they were nothin'
I sing them love songs so soft and fine
So if you wanna feel warm and fuzzy
I whisper, 'Love will keep us all alive'

You know the governor - The Terminator
You know there's nothing he can't do
And he's as strong as an alligator
Now he's from Sacramento too

I'm just a white boy from Sacramento
I'm not too funky, so bless my soul
I'm on the level - there's one thing I know
I'm just a white boy from Sacramento

Whatever I do, wherever I go
I'm still a white boy from Sacramento

Get down! Be groovy! Now limbo!
I'm just a white, white, white, white, white boy!
Yeah - you know what I mean. You know, up there in the capital...
Get down
Alright, this one, here we go, that's it!"

The Scrayper Boyz

Look at California

The Scrayper Boyz are Hyphy rappers from the Bay Area.
This song samples the Maze version of the song.

Seavino

It's Stll You

Seavino (like sea wine) released this pop country single in November, 2024. It drives us around the state where, after a breakup, it's raining in Southern California.

"I took a drive on the PCH
To a Chula Vista red trolley
Danced on a roof in Tijuana
I made a run for the border

But it's still you
You make me blue
Oh baby what can I do
I sleep somewhere you're not
I read a book, I lose the plot
I find love in a bottle of rum
And a Jimmy Buffet song

It's just another day
With you so far away
Isn't love all fun and games
Until it rains, until it rains
(Until it rains) in California ya (Southern California)

Headed north, San Bernardino
Stopped to call you from San Francisco
But when she picked up your line
I just drove back to Anaheim

But it's still you
You make me blue
Oh baby what can I do
I sleep somewhere you're not
I read a book, I lose the plot
I find love in a bottle of rum
And a Jimmy Buffet song (bah)

It's just another day
With you so far away
Isn't love all fun and games
Until it rains, until it rains
In California, ya
In California, in Southern California

Headed north, San Bernardino
Stopped to call you from San Francisco
But when she picked up your line
I just drove back to Anaheim

But it's still you
You make me blue
Oh baby what can I do
I sleep somewhere you're not
I read a book, I lose the plot
I find love in a bottle of rum
And a Jimmy Buffet song (bah)

Headed north, San Bernardino
Stopped to call you from San Francisco
But when she picked up your line
I just drove back to Anaheim

But it's still you
You make me blue
Oh baby what can I do
I sleep somewhere you're not
I read a book, I lose the plot
I find love in a bottle of rum
And a Jimmy Buffet song (bah)"

Seavino

No Roads

This song about how the songwriter ended up in California was released in November, 2024.

"Our Chevy broke down in San Francisco
Two thousand miles from where I would go
We had no plan just roads to roam
Just casual friends miles from home
Unhooked our gear doors swung wide
We slept outdoors on the wild side
I held my hopes and my guitar in hand
Found our way to the steps of an old friend

There were no roads not driven
Trees uncarved, mistakes forgiven
The life I left behind me then
Can't trace those steps back home again
I'm going to make a life that's new
And I hope it brings me back to you

In a backstage room where secrets hide
With wigs and gowns and lipstick bright
I held the glue the lashes tight
Put on my stage face to dance naked all night

There were no roads not driven
Trees uncarved, mistakes forgiven
The life I left behind me then
Can't trace those steps back home again
I'm going to make a life that's new
And I hope it brings me back to you

The city's lights the fireside glow
Down to the wharf where the homeless go
A fortune told a future seen
By candlelight and hazy dreams

A gypsy smiled she touched my face
Rich or poor you'll find your place
But I was sad, alone and unbound
Just another girl lost in this town

There were no roads not driven
Trees uncarved, mistakes forgiven
The life I left behind me then
Can't trace those steps back home again
I'm going to make a life that's new
And I hope it brings me back to you"

Neil Sedaka

Cardboard California

This dramatic pop song that sounds like it's from a musical or a movie soundtrack is from the album "Emergence" released in 1971. I don't think there's any doubt that the town of Cardboard California is really Hollywood.

"Nothing is real
In Cardboard California
Just waking up
Brings you down
One lousy deal
Is Cardboard California
You just can't survive
In a make believe town

Lost in a city of little tin gods
Cold plastic people with phony facades
How can you win when you look at the odds?
You're running down a one way street
Nobody cares if you survive
Sometimes you beg or you don't eat
You've gotta fight to stay alive
Hey
You're never gonna get away

Where's the world you used to know?
Where did all the good times go?
Look around, your hopes and dreams are gone
But like a fool you still keep hanging on

Come and be a movie star
Come and drive a fancy car
Come and see
What you really are

Everybody's going somewhere
But you
You're going nowhere

Look in the mirror
Mirrors don't lie
You're getting older, your time's past you by
You lost your shot
To some younger guy

You're running down a one way street
Nobody cares if you survive
Sometimes you beg or you don't eat
You gotta fight to stay alive
Hey
You're never gonna get away

Nothing is real
In Cardboard California
Just waking up
Brings you down
One lousy deal
Is Cardboard California
You just can't survive
In a make believe town"

Pete Seeger

Little Boxes

Pete Seeger was a celebrated American folk singer and activist from New York. Seeger released this cover of the Malvina Reynolds song in 1963.

Pete Seeger

Seventy Miles

This is a 1965 folk song about the sad state of the San Francisco Bay after many years of unregulated urban growth and unrestricted dumping of garbage and pollutants poisoned the water and filled in over 25 percent of the marshland. Save The Bay, one of the very first environmental organizations, active since 1961, eventually succeeded in getting legislation passed that began the protection and cleanup of the bay. (Unfortunately, the bay is now home to one of the greatest concentrations of non-native species of any waterway with more than 200, and possibly as many as 400.)

"Seventy miles of wind and spray,
Seventy miles of water,
Seventy miles of open bay,
It's a garbage dump.

What's that stinky creek out there,
Down behind the slum's back stair,
Sludgy puddle, sad and gray?
Why man, that's San Francisco Bay!"

Ty Segall

California Commercial

Segall is a singer-songwriter from SF, member of several bands including Ty Segall Band, known for its psychedelic garage rock. This is from "Goodbye Bread" a 2011 release. It's repetitous and monotonous and really short.

"Come to California
Stay inside your house
Stay inside your head
It is nice outside
Come to California
Stay inside your head
Leave on a TV
Slip inside your bed
Stay in California
Never go outside
Things they are too nice
We'll stay until you die

I was gonna tell you
I remember names
Anything for fame, anything for fame
will you marry me?
You can be my wife
I have lots of money
You can settle for me
I still think you love me
I still think you love me
I'll invite our friends
Now come into our house
Yeah"

Ty Segall

Californian Hills

This is from Segall's 2016 album "Emotional Mugger.”

"I met the candy queens
I met the court, they’re so mean
Sound the Dionysus bell
Send them all back to hell

American nightmare
Guilty generation
Fingers on the pulse of their parents’ alienation
From the history, histories of Western civilization
Ahhhhh

The gift of affluent life
Was wasted on the fickle wife
Who slept in Californian hills
And gave herself the sleeping pills
And waits for the dollar bills
The papers say we’re going to hell"

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

Hollywood Nights

Bob Seger is an American rock singer-songwriter from Detroit who had many hits, including this one, form his 1978 album "Stranger in Town."

"She stood there bright as the sun on that California coast
He was a midwestern boy on his own
She looked at him with those soft eyes,
So innocent and blue
He knew right then he was too far from home
He was too far from home

She took his hand and she led him along that golden beach
They watched the waves tumble over the sand
They drove for miles and miles
Up those twisting turning roads
Higher and higher and higher they climbed

And those Hollywood nights
In those Hollywood hills
She was looking so right
In her diamonds and frills
All those big city nights
In those high rolling hills
Above all the lights
She had all of her skills

He'd headed west cause he felt that a change would do him good
See some old friends, good for the soul
She had been born with a face that would let her get her way
He saw that face and he lost all control
He had lost all control
Night after night, day after day it went on and on
Then came that morning he woke up alone
He spent all night staring down at the lights of L.A.
Wondering if he could ever go home

And those Hollywood nights
In those Hollywood hills
It was looking so right
It was giving him chills
In those big city nights
In those high rolling hills
Above all the lights
With a passion that kills

In those Hollywood nights
In those Hollywood hills
She was looking so right
In her diamonds and frills
Oh, those big city nights
In those high rolling hills
Above all the lights
She had all of her skills

(Hollywood nights)
(Hollywood hills)
(Above all the lights)
(Hollywood nights)
(Hollywood nights)
(Hollywood hills)
(Above all the lights)
(Hollywood nights)
Hollywood nights
(Hollywood nights)
Hollywood hills
(Hollywood hills)
Above all the lights
(Above all the lights)
(Hollywood nights)
(Hollywood nights)
(Hollywood hills)
(Above all the lights)
(Hollywood nights)"

The Seldom Scene

California Earthquake

The Seldom Scene is a bluegrass band formed in Maryland in 1971. This is from "The New Seldom Scene Album" released in 1976. The composer and lyricist here are listed as anonymous, but their Wikipedia page attributes it to Rodney Crowell. He released the song in 1978, but it's possible he wrote it a few years before then.

The song mentions the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which actually happened, but I can't find any information about the Mission Creek quake of '99 or the Owens County quake of 1883. There is no Owens County in California now and there wasn't one in 1883 either, and there was no big quake in the Owens valley in 1883, or 1983, so that's a fictional quake and the Mission Creek quake is probably also made up. Why would they need to make up California earthuakes when there have been so many real ones?

"There was a California earthquake in the year of '83
It shook the living daylights out of the Owens County Seat
There weren't a building still left standing when the dust had cleared away
Just a rumble in the distance all the way to San Andreas

Well, Sherman Buck was driving his old mule on into town
When the big 'un came and shook so hard that it knocked him to the ground
Lord, there opened up a hole so big, he just knew that his time was up
And it swallowed up that poor old mule and it just missed Sherman Buck

California earthquake, you just don't know what you've done
We might fall off in the ocean, Lord, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner to the devil, but we ain't afraid of him
And we'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again

Then there came the quake of '99 that leveled Mission Creek
The earth was like an ocean churning waves of twenty feet
Lord it sounded like a thousand trains were screaming underground
Clean across to San Joachin folks heard that mournful sound

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We might fall off in the ocean, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner to the devil, we ain't afraid of him
And we'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again

Then there came one day a holocaust, and it rocked the Frisco Bay
Miles of walls came tumblin' down, like on Jericho that day
Might near everything that the earthquake missed, a holy fire consumed
And just left 'em the smoke and ashes of the dreams that they had ruined

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We might fall off in the ocean Lord, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner to the devil but we ain't afraid of him
And we'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again"

Semisonic

Day After Day (It's Slippin' Away)

Semisonic is a rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1995. This song is the band's second album "Feeling Strangely Fine" released in 1998, which also includes probably their best known song, the saddest bar song ever made - "Closing Time." Dan Wilson sings the name of the state in a way I haven't heard before - Caaaaaaa-li-for-niiiii-yuh. Maybe it's a Minnesotan thing, dontcha know.

"Driven through the canyons I was
Dazzled by the mountains and we didn't go very far
Close enough to heaven if you
Climb up on a mansion you too can swing like a star

I tried to get inside
I bought a ticket with my pride
And I was gone right out of my head
I went out for a ride to go
Across the great divide
And I ended up at home instead

California
I thought I should see
Now I'm back home, yeah
With twelve little pieces of me

I was just a passenger
A rider on the tremors
That were shaking all our beds at night
A visitor a stranger thought
I might pass for a regular
If I just kept out of the lights

Tore my heart out from my chest
Mixed it up in my mind
With the best freshest pieces of my soul
Chose the ones I loved the most
Drove 'em all down to the coast
Threw 'em in a big black hole

California
I thought I should see
Now I'm back home, yeah
Got twelve little pieces of me
California
I dreamed I would find
Some kinda sorta pick-me-up
I got twelve little pieces of my mind

California
I thought I should see
Now I'm back home, yeah
Got twelve little pieces of me
California
I dreamed I would find
Some kinda sorta pick-me-up
I got twelve little pieces of my mind
Twelve little pieces of my mind
Twelve little pieces of my mind
Twelve little pieces of my mind, ohh"

Semisonic

El Matador

This low-key song is from the band's third album "All About Chemistry" released in 2001.

"Matador sweeps the veil
From the last young day of my life
Malibu tides inhale
Santa Ana winds from behind

Wade out into the water
No more chances this year
I busied myself all summer
My day for swimming is here
Yes it's time

Seaside revelations
All those dreams and visions of mine
Washed up like a vacation
Lost as I wasted my time

Looking through my dark glasses
I see smiles on the faces of friends
But time keeps pushing me on now
And I'll ride this wave till the end

Please don't go away
Stay awhile, stay awhile
Please don't go away
Stay awhile, stay awhile...."

Seven Foot Wave

Catalina

Seven Foot Wave is a band from California, fronted by Michael Berns, who wrote this song. They got a lot of attention in 2004 when the demo for this song started getting indie radio station airplay. It's an indie rock song with a reggae feel from their EP "Better than Sunshine" released in 2006.

"Hey Miss 28 of October girl
Would you like to chill on an island with me?
Whoa, yeah
I would take you there and cover all the fare
We could go by sea, we could go by air
Alright, tell me now

Would you come with me
To Catalina some time
To Catalina some time
I would make it right
In Catalina some time
In Catalina some time

We should set a date and make it late
I hear the island really comes alive at night
Whoa, yeah
It wouldn't take long, before an hour's gone
By the ocean we'll be in Avalon
Whoa, yeah
Tell me now

Would you come with me
To Catalina some time
To Catalina some time
I would make it right
In Catalina some time
In Catalina some time

I promise I will be spontaneous
And there would be no fuss if we get lost
I hope that you can leave behind your cell
In interruption Hell is where it belongs

Underneath the stars
Venus and Mars
There's a spot I just want to see with you
Alright
When the verdict lands
My offer still stands
I would get whatever your heart demands
Alright, tell me now

Would you come with me
To Catalina some time
To Catalina some time
I would make it right
In Catalina some time
In Catalina some time"

SHAED

Everybody Knows I'm High

SHAED is a pop trio formed in Washington, D.C. in 2011. This song is from their album "Spinning Out" released in 2024. I like her description of feeling like she's on "the wrong coast" when she's on the left coast. I get that. It feels like I'm on the wrong coast whenever I travel east to the right coast.

"...Sun's burning up the City of Angels
I'm seeing stars in the blue sky
A smile's creeping on your face, I'm terrified

Everybody knows I'm high
Stuck on the wrong coast
I'm missing you back home
Hundred degrees, but I'm freezing
I think they know
Yeah, everybody knows I'm

High
High

When I'm left to my own devices
I'm homesick and I'm paranoid
I miss laughing at the little things
Like our tongues in the mirror out here

Everybody knows I'm high
Stuck on the wrong coast
I'm missing you back home
Hundred degrees, but I'm freezing
I think they know
Yeah, everybody knows I'm

High (High)
High
I'm high

The white rabbit staring from the corner
Is telling me I'm late for tea
They wanna pull me back under the ceiling
But I'm never leaving

Yeah, everybody knows I'm high
Stuck on the wrong coast
I'm missing you back home
Hundred degrees, but I'm freezing
I think they know
Yeah, everybody knows I'm
High...."

Tupac Shakur (2Pac) (featuring Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman)

California Love

Tupac Shakur (aka 2Pac and Makaveli) was a rapper and actor born in New York City, raised in Baltimore and then California where he moved when he was 17. Active from 1989 to 1996 when he was murdered in a drive-by shooting as part of the notorious East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. In California he became one of the most influential rappers and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, as well as a convicted felon - the first artist to have a #1 album on the charts while serving a prison sentence. This iconic California anthem was released at the end of December 1995, becoming a huge hit that reached #1 on the Billboard hot 100 chart. It's based on samples of other songs, most notably Roger Troutman's talk box chorus "California knows how to party" taken from the 1982 song "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson & The Street People." It's also built of samples of the horns and piano vamp from Joe Cocker’s 1972 song “Woman to “Woman” and the "Shake, shake it Baby" vocals from Zapp and Roger’s 1993 song “Dance Floor."

[Roger Troutman]
"California...knows how to party
California...knows how to party (Yes, they do)
In the city of L.A.
In the city of good ol' Watts
In the city, the city of Compton
We keep it rockin'! We keep it rockin'!"

[Dr. Dre]
Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west
A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness
The track hits ya eardrum like a slug to ya chest
Pack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sex
We in that sunshine state with a bomb ass hemp beat
The state where ya never find a dance floor empty
And pimps be on a mission for them greens,
Lean mean money-makin-machines servin' fiends
I been in the game for ten years makin' rap tunes
Ever since honeys was wearin' Sassoon
Now it's '95 and they clock me and watch me
Diamonds shinin', lookin' like I robbed Liberace
It's all good, from Diego to The Bay
Your city is tha bomb if your city makin' pay
Throw up a finger if ya feel the same way
Dre puttin' it down for
Californ-i-a

[Roger Troutman]
"California...knows how to party
California...knows how to party (Yes, they do)
In the city of L.A.
In the city of good ol' Watts
In the city, the city of Compton
We keep it rockin'! We keep it rockin'!"

Shake, shake it, baby
Shake, shake it, mama
Shake it Cali, shake it shake it baby
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it

[2Pac:]
Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreaming
Soon as I step on the scene, I'm hearing hoochies screaming
Fiending for money and alcohol
The life of a Westside player where cowards die and the strong ball
Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die
In L.A. we wearing Chucks not Ballys (yeah, that's right)
Dressed in Locs and Khaki suits, and ride is what we do
Flossing, but have caution: we collide with other crews
Famous because we throw grams
Worldwide, let them recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans
Bumping and grinding like a slow jam, it's Westside
So you know the row won't bow down to no man
Say what you say, but give me that bomb beat from Dre
Let me serenade the streets of L.A.
From Oakland to Sac-town, the Bay Area and back down
Cali is where they put their mack down
Give me love!

[Roger Troutman:]
California knows how to party
California knows how to party (Yes, they do)
In the city of L.A
In the city of good ol' Watts
In the city, the city of Compton
We keep it rockin'

[Dr. Dre:] South Central
[2Pac:] Uh, that's right
[Dr. Dre:] Now make it shake

[Roger Troutman:]
Shake, shake it, baby
Shake, shake it, mama
Shake it Cali, shake it shake it baby
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it

[Dr. Dre:]
Shake it Cali
Uh, uh, West Coast
Uh, yeah, uh, uh, Long Beach in the house
Uh, yeah, Oaktown, Oakland definitely in the house
Frisco, Frisco

[2Pac:]
And you know L.A. up in here

[Dr. Dre:]
Pasadena where you at?
Yeah, Inglewood
Inglewood always up to no good

[2Pac:]
Even Hollywood trying to get a piece, baby

[Dr. Dre:]
Sacramento, Sacramento where you at?

[2Pac:]
Throw it up ya'll, throw it up, throw it up!
I can't see ya
Let's show these fools how we do it over on this West Side
Cause you and I know it's the best side
Yeah, that's right
West Coast, West Coast"

Tupac Shakur (2Pac)

Check Out Time

From Shakur's All Eyez on Me album released in February 1996. The mentions of death and Las Vegas in this song seem eerily prescient of his shooting death in Las Vegas seven months after the song was released.

“…. Now I'm up early in the mornin', breath stinkin' as I'm yawnin'
Just another sunny day in California
I got my mind focused on some papers while I'm into sexy capers
Give a holla to them hoochies last night, that tried to rape us
Will these rap lyrics take us, plus room all up in Vegas
I'm a boss playa, death before I let these b**ches break us
Last night was like a fantasy...."

Tupac Shakur (2Pac)

To Live and Die In L.A.

This song is from Tupac's altum "The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory" released in 1996, almost two months after his death.

"To live and die in L.A., California
What you say about Los Angeles?
Still the only place for me
It never rains in Southern California

To live and die in L.A.
Where everyday we try to fatten our pockets
Us n**gas hustle for the cash, so it's hard to knock it
Everybody got they own thing, currency chasin'
Worldwide through the hard times, worrying faces
Shed tears as we bury n**gas close to heart
Who was a friend is now a ghost in the dark
Cold-hearted 'bout it, n**ga got smoked by a fiend
Tryin' to floss on him, blind to a broken man's dream
A hard lesson, court cases keep me guessin'
Plea bargain ain't an option now, so I'm stressin'
Cost me more to be free than a life in the pen
Making money off of cuss words, writin' again
Learn how to think ahead, so I fight with my pen
Late night down Sunset, likin' the scene
What's the worst they could do to a n**ga?
Got me lost in Hell, to live and die in L.A. on bail

(My angel sing)
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
(And the angels go)
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
(To live and die in L.A.)
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see

It's the City of Angels and constant danger
South Central L.A. can't get no stranger
Full of drama, like a soap opera, on the curb
Watchin' the ghetto bird helicopters, I observe
So many n**gas getting three strikes, tossed in jail
I swear, the pen right across from hell
I can't cry, 'cause it's on now, I'm just a n**ga on his own now
Livin' life thug style, so I can't smile
Writing to my peoples when they ask for pictures
Thinking Cali just fun and b**ches
Better learn about the dress code, B's and C's
All them other n**gas copycats, these is G's
I love Cali like I love women
'Cause every n**ga in L.A. got a little bit of thug in him
We might fight amongst each other
But I promise you this: we'll burn this b**ch down get us pissed
To live and die in L.A.

(My angel sing)
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
(And the angels go)
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
(To live and die in L.A.)
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see

It wouldn't be L.A. without Mexicans
Black love, brown pride, and the sets again
Pete Wilson tryin' to see us all broke
I'm on some bulls**t out for everything they owe
Remember K-day? Weekends, Crenshaw, MLK?
Automatics rang free, n**gas lost they way
Gang signs being shown, n**ga, love your hood!
But recognize and it's all good
Where the weed at? N**gas gettin' shermed out
Snoop Dogg in this mothaf**cka permed out
M.O.B., Big Suge in the Lo-Lo, bounce and turn
Dogg Pound in the Lex with a ounce to burn
Got them Watts n**gas with me, O.F.T.B.
They got some hash, took the stash, left the rest for me
Neckbone, Tray, Heron, Big Buntry too
Big Rock got knocked, but this one's for you
I hit the studio and drop a jewel, hopin' it pay
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly; to live and die in L.A.

To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
(Let my angel sing)
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
(And my angels go)
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
(To live and die in L.A.)
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
(Let my angel sing)

This go out for 92.3, and 106
All the radio stations that be bumpin' my s**t
Makin' my s**t sells katruple quitraple platinum
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
This go out to all the magazines that support a n**ga
All the real motherf**kers
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
All the stores, the mom and pop spots
A&R people, all y'all mothaf**ckers
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
L.A., "California Love" part mothaf**kin' two
Without gay ass Dre
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)"

Shango

Shango was a band formed in Los Angeles and active in 1969 and 1970 that started as the band Renaissance in 1968. This Calypso-influenced parody of the doomsday earthquake scenarios popular at the time about California falling into the ocean was their debut single and best-known song, released in 1969. Idaho seems a bit far to rent dock space after the big one. You might be better off buying a beach house in Fresno.

"Day after day
More people come to L.A.
Shhh! Don't you tell anybody
The whole place slippin' away
Where can we go
When there's no San Francisco?
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho

Do you know the swim?
You better learn quick, Jim
Those who don't know the swim
Better sing the hymn
Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole
Ooh ooh, what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?

Day after day
More people come to L.A.
Shhh! Don't you tell anybody
The whole place shakin' away
Where can we go
When there's no San Francisco?
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho

Where can we go
When there's no San Diego?
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho

Do you know the swim?
You better learn quick, Jim
Those who don't know the swim
Better sing the hymn
Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole
Ooh ooh, what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?

Day after day
More people come to L.A.
Shhh! Don't you tell anybody
The whole place shakin' away
Where can we go
When there's no San Francisco?
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho

Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho
Shhh! Better get ready
To tie up the boat in Idaho..."

Stephen Sharer

Malibu Barbie

Stephen Sharer is an internet personality and singer-songwriter from Virginia, born in 1998. Most references to a blonde blue-eyed California girl called a Malibu Barbie are critical of her, but in this really cheesy but very popular song with millions of views that was released in 2022, the singer is crazy about her.

"Malibu Barbie, bar bar Barbie
Malibu Barbie, bar ba ba bar Barbie

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband

I can take you where you wanna go
We can take a flight from Paris all the way to Tokyo
Pop into the club just to make a cameo
Drop the top pull off in the Lambo

And my visions gettin' blurry but I keep you in my sight
I know that you don't know me but imma
Leave with you tonight

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband

Cant get you off my mind
You lookin' really fine
The way you dancin' in this party make me wanna slide
And I'm hypnotized
From lookin' in your eyes
So lit lets dip imma make you mine

And my visions gettin' blurry but I keep you in my sight
I know that you don't know me but imma
Leave with you tonight

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband

I saw you at the party
Blonde hair blue eyes smile so bright yeah
Be my Malibu Barbie
With your sun-kissed suntan Gucci on the waistband"

Malibu Barbie, bar bar Barbie
Malibu Barbie, bar ba ba bar Barbie
Malibu Barbie, bar bar Barbie
Malibu Barbie, bar ba ba bar Barbie"

Shark?

California Grrls

Shark? is a rock band from Brooklyn. This is from their album"Savior" released in 2013.

"Don't care about the rest of the world
I hate California girls
Let 'em burn let 'em burn burn burn
I hate California girls
Blonde hair and black eyeliner
They try to hurt each other
They lead like lambs to slaughter
They want to kiss each other

Oh, I hate California girls
They don't believe in nothin'
I hate California girls
They don't believe in nothin'
They don't believe in nothin'

Cigarette in the back of the cab
Forty ounces and an acid tab
Y' feel good for the rest of the night
With a Misfits jacket and a pocket knife
Black hair and black sunglasses
Buying their backstage passes
Don't care who else may suffer
Just wants the world to love her

Oh, I hate California girls
They don't believe in nothin'
I hate California girls
They don't believe in nothin'
They don't believe in nothin'

I hate California girls
I hate California girls
I hate California girls
I hate California girls

I hate California girls
I hate California girls
I hate California girls
I hate California girls"

Shaunta

California Soul (Lincoln Lawyer Remix)

Shaunta is a musical artist from Beverly Hills, which is not the most common source of L. A. rappers. This hip-hop track is from the special edition bonus disc to the soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile, released in 2002. I can't understand all of the lyrics so my transcription is full of holes, including, unfortunately, the repeated chorus, but I'll bet it's a bit more more accurate than all the other lyrics sites that copy each other's hilarious mistakes. ("Twelfth quarter." What is that?) You can check out some other lyrics on Genius.com.

"I'm just ridin' and decidin' if I want somebody to hold
No commitment I'm just ... laid ...
California, sweet California
Got the sunset room where we can hide it
Got me ... like, ooh

Want somebody down wit your clown
Would you ride around town
Would you let the sun hit you weed smokin'
Fu**in' take a shower
Lay down wit ya in the bed wit ya ... lickin' wide open
Got me on my back with my thighs wide open
I stay wet, I don't need no lotion
Meet me in the back of the spot love potion
Meet me in the sunshine state West Coastin'
Hit it from the side fly by sex motion
Do a drive by, fly high, f**k boastin'
Crack on mine, we ... boatin'
In the sea fishin'
Beverly Hills ho, Beverly Hill pigeon
Beverly shoppin', Beverly men pickin'
Beverly hotel, Beverly sweet pimpin'
Compton game got Beverly men listen

I'm just ridin' and decidin' if I want somebody to hold
No commitment I'm just ... laid ...
California, sweet California
Got the sunset room where we can hide it
Got me ... like, ooh

Ni**as wanna hit it from the where, the ...
Spank me and pull my hair, yeah
Talk to me like you really care
Actin' all queer like you Fred Astaire
You think I'm stupid, don't ya
You think I'm a lay down and let you stick me with your beat poker
Don't cha, mister Swiss mocha
You can come closer
You can come over
You can have a signed autograph of my poster
Drunk or sober
May or October, come right over
Rub my shoulders, four leaf clover
No gun holsters, get f**ked wake up with a hangover
Fourth quarter nothing left when the game over
Wake up all alone nights get colder
See you the next day get a cold shoulder

I'm just ridin' and decidin' if I want somebody to hold
No commitment I'm just ... laid ...
California, sweet California
Got the sunset room where we can hide it
Got me ... like, ooh

Let's get it on, we can be alone
Get it on in the freak zone
We can both get along when the heat's on
Look, we can both do wrong
Been too long, I grew too strong
I got full blown then got my own
Got me a loan, bought me a home
Order mine to go, bought me a low-low
And a six-four, sittin' on chrome
Dayton wheels roll, dipped in all gold
Roll with three hoes, pick up three mo'
Buy some Indo, roll purple smoke
We all do the most, keep ni**gas close
Keep heat closer, avoid all vultures
Navigatin' like we supposed to
Sunshine, sunny state, California

I'm just ridin' and decidin' if I want somebody to hold
No commitment I'm just ... laid ...
California, sweet California
Got the sunset room where we can hide it
Got me ... like, ooh"

Billy Joe Shaver

L.A. Turnaround

Billy Joe Shaver was a country singer-songwriter from Texas, active 1973-2020. This song is from his first studio album "Old Five and Dimers Like Me" released in 1973.

"Stuck here in Los Angeles with a case of worn out soles
Totin' a bag full o' yesterdays
And a mind full of doughnut holes
I been talking about leaving
But I just can’t go
Los Angeles hangups won’t turn loose of my soul

Oh Los Angeles women far as I can see
Losing time and making time
With a country boy like me
I wanna go where that wind blows
With a southern drawl
L.A. turn around, turn loose of my soul

L.A. turn your big eyes out to sea
L.A. turn around don't look at me
Let me go home where I belong
Where the nights are short as the days are long
Where they're too busy living to think about dying
L.A. turn around, turn loose of my mind

Sweet, sweet, sweet Virginia
Turning around in my mind
Used to be all over me
Now you're somewhere behind
If I ever get back South
Gonna shut my mouth
Try to turn the wrong side inside right side out

L.A. turn your big eyes out to sea
L.A. turn around don't look at me
Let me go home where I belong
Where the nights are short as the days are long
Where they're too busy living to think about dying
L.A. turn around, turn loose of my mind"

Marlena Shaw (featuring Ya Boy)

Before Matthew McConaughey was making commercials for Lincoln, he played a lawyer who works out of a chauffeured Lincoln in Los Angles in the 2011 movie "Lincoln Lawyer" which is based on the book by Michael Connelly (who also wrote a lot of books about a Hollywood police detective named Bosch.) During the end credits we hear a remix of the classic Marlena Shaw song "California Soul" with Ya Boy, a rapper from San Francisco, rapping extra lyrics on it. (The original lyrics of the song and some other cover versions are discussed under The Messengers.) Most of the music and lyrics to this version are new, but since it uses a lot of Shaw's original song, Shaw gets the performance credit and Ya Boy gets a feature. I have put the parts Marlena Shaw sings in italics.

"Like a sound you hear
That lingers in your ear
But you can't forget
From sundown to sunset

It's all in the air
You hear it everywhere
No matter what you do
It's gonna grab a hold on you

Killa Cali hustler
Git it by all means
The people know whatever they need
They can call me

California hustlin'
Movin' and we musclin'
And we don't f**k with the pigs
Like a Muslim

For the green we rushin'
No not Moscow
I'm talkin' quick pass
In a hurry right now

Can't be a victim
Can't fall short
I just wanna be a baller
With my own ball court
California hustlin'

California soul
California soul

California hustler
California hustler

Like a sound you hear
That lingers in your ear
But you can't forget
From sundown to sunset

That's the code of the street mentality
One minute you're on top
And the next you're a casualty

It's all in the air
You hear it everywhere
No matter what you do
It's gonna grab a hold on you

It's gonna grab a hold on you
If you let it

California soul
California hustler
California hustler
Whoo, feels good

See I live through the fear
Shed a lot of tears
There's a reason why my friend
Died here for the hustle
For the California hustle
So get your hustle on with Cala

Puts a brand new kind
Of thinkin' in your mind
And you can't go wrong
Cause you're groovin' all day long
California soul

I feel you baby
California hustlin'
I got the soul of a Saint
Heart of a lion

I go hard in the paint
Put some paint where it ain't
Put a whig on a pig
I won't stop 'till my dough
Stretched long as a bridge

Movin' through the streets
In my Lincoln
Get it all night
While the whole world sleepin'

In the fast lane
With this thing for a reason
'Cause they handshake
Don't match the way they speakin'

Top gettin' closer
And I'm still reachin'
If you lookin' for me
I'll be hustlin' in my region

California hustler
Yeah
See life has it's lessons y'all
When you a California hustler

So happy they were rockin and reelin'
Take 'em to church
Because they had added that lovin feeling
Put your best foot forward
To California soul
California soul
I'm become a victim of these streets
Hustle, Hustle
Might as well get with it
Sound you hear that lingers in your ear
Oh, you just cannot forget it,
From early in the morning 'till the sun goes down
Money make the world go 'round
So just gimme, yeah, just gimme, yeah
Money make the world go 'round
Oh, it's all a trend
Money make the world go 'round
Listen to it, listen to it
Give a beat
Feels good"

She & Him

Home

A 2010 release from M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, the film actress with Anime eyes and a TV Sit Com. M. Ward is also a solo artist and works with the Monsters of Folk.

"California is a great big nation of one
They never knew what they wanted til it was already gone
What do they do with the light in the morning when they wake up alone? They just go home

They just go home You're the nicest, nicest boy I've ever met
and then I think about you then I think about you again
And again

Why don't we just sit and stare and do nothing?
Nothing at all for a while I like the way you smile
I could be your state and I could be your nation
It doesn't get better than home, now does it?
Doesn't get better than home, now does it?"

Shed Seven

Kissing California

Shed Seven is a rock band from York, England, active since 1990, and much more well-known at home than in the US. This single released in July, 2023 is a return to the great BritPop sound of the 1990s.

"(California)
(California)

What would you do if I called for you
You'd wrap your arms around California
Everyday my love grows for you
All dressed up and everywhere to go now

This could be far out of sight
Cause you and I, it's dynamite
Come on we could see this through
Looking from this birds-eye view of love
Kissing California
(California)
California
(California)
Kissing California

What would you say if I came running for you
You'd drape your arms around California
Cause everyday my love for you grows
I wanna see my flag wave when the wind blows

This could be far out of sight
Cause you and I, it's dynamite
Come on it's just me and you
Looking from this birds-eye view of love
Kissing California
(California)
California
(California)
Kissing California

Some say that life's unkind
But I'm a lucky find
Open your mind, the world keeps spinning round with love

Open your mind, the world keeps spinning round with love
(California)
The world keeps spinning round for us
(California)
Kissing California
(California)
California
(California)
Kissing California
California
(California)"

Sherilyn

California Christmas For One

Sherilyn is a singer-songwriter-podcaster based in Cayucos, CA. This song was released in 2021. You have to admire the singer's attitude. Instead of just ignoring the holiday, like most people who spend it alone, she's all in on the holiday. But I wonder if she wraps presents for herself, too. That would be weird.

"No, there's no hint of snow
No need for mistletoe
One lonesome stocking hung
But feels so right
I'll make new memories
And trim the tree, just me
And watch 'It's a Wonderful Life'

I'm strummin' my white guitar
Singin' old Christmas songs alone
I'm snugglin' up by the fire
All is so calm and so bright on my own

I love this California Christmas
This California Christmas for one
This California Christmas
This California Christmas

Things may be different this year
But I'm digging
That peace-on-earth
Yuletide cheer
Lesson learned, I never needed anyone else
To make the season bright

I'm strummin' my white guitar
Singin' old Christmas songs alone
I'm snugglin' up by the fire
All is so calm & so bright on my own

I love this California Christmas
This California Christmas for one
This California Christmas
This California Christmas

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright

Deckin' the halls on my own
Singin' Christmas songs alone
I love it, I love it
This Christmas, this Christmas

Oh I am snugglin' up by the fireside
All is calm and all is bright
I love it, I love it

I love this California Christmas
This California Christmas for one
This California Christmas
This California Christmas
For one"

Allie Sherlock

Allie Sherlock is a singer and guitarist based in Cork, Ireland, known so far for performing on the street. This live street recording of the song was put on YouTube in April, 2023, and there is another video of a rehearsal of the song she recorded in a studio with a band on YouTube also. Maybe one day she will make a studio recording of the song.
It's true, the skies are always blue in California. Except when they're gray. Or orange. Lots of orange these days.

"Saturday night and I'm sitting on the sofa
Staring at the only photo of us
God I wish you were here tonight
Holding me so tight
Another Saturday night without you

And maybe you will love me
Maybe you will hurt me
But I want to risk it all
And Maybe I'll stay over
You might say it's over
But I want to risk it all

And maybe if I lived in California
Maybe one more time I'd get to hold ya
Remind me once again just why I left
Hope you don't forget again
And maybe if I lived in California
Where the sky is always blue
Where the sky is always blue

It's a Saturday night
Drinking why wine on the sofa
Trying to numb the pain
That I'm sitting here without you

And when .... comes around
Life will start again
Another Saturday night without you

Or maybe you will love me
Maybe you will hurt me
But I want to risk it all
And Maybe I'll stay over
Watch you kiss and hold her
But I want to risk it all

Maybe if I lived in California
Maybe one more time I'd get to hold ya
Remind me once again just why I left
Hope you don't forget again
Maybe if I lived in California
Where the sky is always blue
Where the sky is always blue...."

Sherwood

The Best In Me

Sherwood is a rock band from San Luis Obispo, California, active since 2002. This upbeat pop rock song is from the album "A Different Light" released in 2007. There's also an electronic version released in 2015 -
"The Best In Me Electronic."

"If only you could hear the beat, beat, beat of my beating heart
Then maybe we, we, we would never be apart
Its a beautiful sky on a beautiful day
But only you could stretch a smile across my face

So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting
For you to be calling, calling, calling
Cause its another drive another day on the road
And honey I don't have the strength for another show, no

And I've got it almost figured out
If I could get you closer to me
Cause its a good life, for a short time
Whoa oh woah oh
And you've got me almost figured out
There's almost nothing left to see
You're bringing out the best in me
You're bringing out the best in me

And it's a long way back to the Golden State
Where the city's held in by a Golden Gate
Like a giant jar full of fireflies
The yellow lights blinking on the mountainside
And I wish I had a plane or a cable car
Cause all I really want is to be in your arms

And I've got it almost figured out
If I could get you closer to me
Cause its a good life, for a short time
Whoa oh woah oh
And you've got me almost figured out
There's almost nothing left to see
You're bringing out the best in me
You're bringing out the best in me

And I've got it almost figured out
If I could get you closer to me
Cause its a good life, for a short time

And you've got me almost figured out
(You've got me almost figured out)
You're bringing out the best in me
You're bringing out the best in me
You're bringing out the best in me...."

She Wants Revenge

Up in Flames

She Wants Revenge was a goth rock band from Los Angeles, active since 2004. This fire song is from their album "Valleyheart" released in 2011. It's one of several songs that mention the Santa Ana winds, which can make wildfires so dangerous.

"You don't have to dance with me, you don't have to dance at all.
You can just lie there looking good, or you can play by yourself.

We should be careful because the canyons scream as the valley sleeps at night.
Then the fear takes hold, as the Santa Ana winds blow cold.
Cause if the city's goin' up in flames then we oughta go down, down, down together.

You don't have to sleep with me, we don't have to touch at all.
We can talk till the sun comes up or listen to the raindrops fall.

But be careful because the canyons scream and the alleys bleed at night.
Then the freeways fold and the Santa Ana winds blow cold."

Arkie Shibley

Hot Rod Race

Arkie Shibley was a country singer from Arkansas. This song is about a race between 2 hot rods that started in San Pedro and made it all the way out to the desert but was won by a third driver. It's one of the first songs about automobile racing and inspired an answer song - Hot Rod Lincoln, by Charley Ryan in 1955. I guess it took a long time to make an answer song in those days.

"Now me and my wife and my brother Joe
Took off in my Ford from San Pedro.
Hadn't much gas and the tires was low
But the doggone Ford could really go.

Now along about the middle of the night
We were rippin' along like white folks might
When a Mercury behind he blinked his lights
He honked his horn and he flew out of sight.

We had twin pots in the [Columbia?], but
You people may think that I'm in a rut
But to you folks who don't speak the jive
That's two carburators and an over drive.

We made grease spots out of many good town
And left the cop's heads spinnin' 'round and 'round
They wouldn't chase, they'd run and hide
But me and that Mercury stayed side to side.

Now we were Ford men and we likely knew
That we would race until something blew
And we thought it over Now wouldn't you

I looked down at my lovely bride
Her face was blue I thought she'd died
We left streaks through towns about 40 feet wide
But me and that Mercury stayed side by side

My brother was pale he said he was sick
He said he was just a nervous wreck
But why should I worry for what the heck
Me and that Mercury was still neck and neck

Now on through the deserts we did glide
A flyin' low and a flyin' wide
Me and that Mercury was takin' a ride
And we stayed exactly side by side

I looked in the mirror and I saw somethin' comin'
I thought it was a flame by the way it was a runnin'
It was a hummin' along at a terrible pace
And I knew right then it was the end of the race

When it flew by us I turned the other way
The guy in the Mercury had nothin' to say
For it was a kid in a hopped up Model A"

Jack Shields

Leaving California

Jack Shields is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. This rootsy song is from his "Leaving California" EP released in 2017.

"Pack the suitcase
Bring the smog
Leaving California for my home
Fill a jar
With that ocean air
Setting sail with salt up in my hair

But the ink is on the paper
And the writing's on the wall
I got silver in my pockets
And the sun within my heart
I got no enemies
And the ocean's just so blue
But I'm leaving California
For you

Start the wagon and get me out of L.A.
She said don't look back
Unless you plan to stay
And all I is is rain
On the run away

Elementary eloquence
You hop the wall, we cut the fence
Im looking at the ships break for the cove
Run my hand through your a hair
A twist of fate to clear the air
I know you know

Now I'm livin'
In a place I won't call home
Suddenly my bones don't rest so young

So I ask you all too listen
Don't tread upon her faults
And the stories that she gives you
Play them through the halls
Your Majesty
You gave me all I got to lose
But I'm Leaving California
For you"

Chris Shiflett

West Coast Town

Chris Shiflett is a singer-songwriter originally from Santa Barbara, active since 1982, and well-known as the lead guitarist for the Foo Fighters. This alt country song is from his solo album also titled "West Coast Town" released in 2017. He never mentions Santa Barbara in the lyrics, but East Beach, Salinas Street, and Leadbetter Beach are all in Santa Barbara so he's obviously singing about that expensive city where working class people can't afford to live anymore.

"I walked home all the way from East Beach
With an oil spill stickin' to my feet
To that little house on Salinas Street
Throwin’ rocks in the creek, my brothers and me

Yeah, mom held it down on a county wage
Clothes on our backs and food on our plates
Every Saturday night Mariachis played
And I listened through the window to the low rider sway

Yeah, I grew up in a west coast town
Back before they chased the working class out
You know we don't f**k around where I grew up
In a west coast town

Fourth of July, Leadbetter Beach
Salt air digging in my lungs so deep
Chased her all night 'til she couldn’t see
It was paradise but I had to leave

Yeah, I grew up in a west coast town
Back before they chased the working class out
You know we don't f**k around where I grew up
In a west coast town

Now I'm long gone
Like stoplights on the freeway
You can tear me down
But I'll, I'll never change

Yeah, I grew up in a west coast town
Back before they chased the working class out
You know we don't f**k around where I grew up
Yeah, I grew up in a west coast town
Back before they chased the working class out
You know we don't f**k around where I grew up
In a west coast town
In a west coast town"

SHIFT-LOCK

Colors of California

This song was added to Spotify on January 15, 2025, after disastrous wildfires fueled by drought and the Santa
Ana Winds destroyed more than 16,000 homes and other structures in the Los Angeles area. The music and vocals were generated by Suno AI.

This is from SHIFT-LOCK'S X page:
" SH!FT-LOCK is a genre-fluid digital music project exploring critical social and cultural intersections. Debuting with a tribute to Los Angeles communities affected by wildfires, each track aims to transform familiar sounds into fresh perspectives on contemporary issues."

PLATFORM RELEASE DETAILS
Description/Credits: A soulful coastal ballad about the 2025 Los Angeles fires, community resilience, and finding hope in tragedy. Written in homage to those affected by the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires.

"Saint Anna came calling with her burning breath
Dancing through the canyons like a devil possessed
Blue skies turned amber, then to blood-red death
While paradise burned at her savage request

Behind the silver screens and golden gates
Where dreams and dust share the same estate
Some see a playground for the blessed few
But tears fall clear when lives break in two

Some see gold in the embers falling down
Some see red when blue fills this town
But all I see are neighbors on their knees
Praying to the wind to let them be

Colors of California shine
Dancing through these flames
While marble towers draw their lines
Like some kind of game
These mountains wear their winter white
These valleys bear their scars
And Saint Anna owns the night
And our broken hearts

In these picture-perfect neighborhoods
We're all just flesh and bone
When Mother Nature shows her hand
No one stands alone
From those distant city heights
Where power wears its crown
Some only see the colors
They want to paint this town

Strangers share their water in the street
Children carry blankets through the heat
While ivory towers play chess above
Down here we're building bridges made of love

Colors of California shine
Dancing through these flames
While marble prophets point their fingers
We're calling each other's names
These mountains wear their winter white
These valleys bear their scars
But hope blooms in the ashes
Where we bare our hearts

Saint Anna came to show us
What some refuse to see
That when the world's on fire
Love flows deeper than the sea

These mountains wear their winter white
These valleys bear their scars
But hope blooms in the ashes
Where we bare our hearts

Saint Anna came to show us

Love flows deeper than the sea"

Michelle Shocked

Come a Long Way

Michelle Shocked (Karen Michelle Johnston) is a singer-songwriter originally from Texas. Her stage name comes from the term "shell shocked" which was a more accurate term for the acute stress suffered by war combatants until the term was watered down to what was first called post-traumatic stress disorder then the even more vague P.T.S.D. by the military, which has perfected making things sound less terrible with Orwellian doublespeak, including my favorite: when your own side shoots at you, its "friendly fire."

This song is from her album "Arkansas Traveler" released in 1992, but (last checked in March, 2024) it's not available to listen to or buy online. After what were interpreted as anti-gay rants at a show in San Francisco in 2013, she was shunned and cancelled, but that doesn't seem to be the reason why it's not online. I've read that she won't allow her music to be available on any of the major streaming sites. Nevertheless, it's a great L.A. song that takes us on a motorcycle ride all over the city (which can easily feel like a 500 mile drive) and the song even includes an earthquake, as every Cali song should.

"I kicked in his door at 5 AM
'I've come for my bike' I told the repo man
My 920's gonna take me far today
You can travel for miles and never leave L.A.

I've come a long way
I've come a long way
I've gone 500 miles today
I've come a long way
I've come along way
And never even left L.A.

I drive by the Plaza where the gay boys pose
Stand in their windows wearing no clothes
I heard the screams of the dying dark
Through the sweet green icing of MacArthur Park
And then I crossed the river into East L.A.
Pescado mojado me encontré
And I've given up on rock 'n roll
And I'm saving up for norteño
The river she runs by the railroad tracks
I swear I'll never take it back
A train, she cries on the midnight hour
All along the Watts Tower
Ohhhhhhhhhhh

I've come a long way
I've come a long way
I've gone 500 miles today
I've come a long way
I've come along way
And never even left L.A.

I gunned it down to San Pedro Bay
Watched my ship sail in, watched her sail away
The sun was sinking into the sea
But a ball of fire inside of me
Was burning my motor and driving me hard
Past the big hair on the Boulevard
And up Mulholland where I made the scene
Like the one that took little Jimmy Dean
And then I shimmied up Wilshire like a little silk worm
Past Rodeo and the pachyderm
And then I stopped for coffee at an art cafe
I saw the repo man and made my getaway
Doing the Eagle Rock
Heading for the hills
Oh try to let my engines cool
And it is not my fault that this town shakes
I saw the falling rock and I hit my brakes

I've come a long way
I've come a long way
I've gone 500 miles today
I've come a long way
I've come along way
And never even left L.A.

Now you tow it to the repo man's front door
And you give him these keys, I don't need them no more
You tow it to the repo man's front door
And you give him these keys, I don't need them no more

I've come a long way
I've come a long way
I've gone 500 miles today
I've come a long way
I've come along way
And never even left L.A....."

Shocking Blue

California Here I Come

Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967, best known for their #1 hit song "Venus," which also went to #1 in the U.S. in 1986 when covered by Bananarama. This song is from the band's 1968 album "At Home."

"Got a long long way to go
Over her dusty roads
Take my old brown suitcase
And leave at the break of dawn

I'm not afraid of the distance
Some time on my side
Hear me singing my song
California here I come

When the sun's going down
Silence is the only sound
Oh restless are the nights
When nobody's around

I'm not afraid of the distance
Some time on my side
Hear me singing my song
California here I come

Day after day
I'm going over her dusty roads
How long will this go on
Until I'm there where I belong

But now troubles are over
I wipe off the dust on my boots
Hear me singing my song
California now to come...."

Shwayze (with Cisco)

Golden Dreams

Shwayze is an American rapper. This song is from his third album "Island in the Sun" released in 2011. It's essentially an upbeat guitar rock song with rapped verses.

"(Chorus):
Baby come along with me
To a land of fantasy
Where the good things are free
And everybody's smiling
Come along with me
To where the sun meets the sea
California, California, land of golden dreams

Pair of dice and a pair of eyes
Kill me now but I don't wanna die till I see you smile
Cryin' tears of joy on the green mile
But I'm gonna stop now cause that just ain't my style
It's goin' down like the Dow Jones
Soccer moms and town homes
Nukes and new calzones [?]
Kid's skippin school cause they on that home grown
Dad a alien straight ET phone home
No pro bono high school yo just wanna bone hoes [?]
I was the high fool all stoned in the photos
Chillin' on the beach, solo dolo
Kick off my sneaks, watch the world in slow mo

Another year goes by, priorities change
The tide comes in and takes us away
Sometimes stranger ain't such a bad thing
I look at them and say

(Chorus)

It's all good like I knew it would
I'll be your tour guide if you come to Hollywood
Black journey dep slept on the powership [?]
Woke up with a chick she was hot as s**t
Cruisin' down Sunset in the Palisades [?]
Smilie face thinkin' what would your daddy say
You and I blend together like a puree
Palm trees, balm weed there's no other way
We ain't models but we sittin' on the runway
Hit that bottle and we make a clean getaway
Don't worry babe, it's just another vacay
Tell your momma we be back again another day

Another year goes bye, priorities change
The tide comes in and takes us away
Sometimes stranger ain't such a bad thing
I look at them and say

(Chorus)

California, California, land of golden dreams

Hey Cali baby, will you be my sugar honey
I do it from the heart so it ain't about the money
And if I got you it's a rap like a mummy
I get goosebumps every time you say you love me cause

You make me feel like love for the first time
You make me feel like eternal sunshine

(Chorus)"

Michael Shynes

California in the Spring

Michael Shynes is a pop/folk singer-songwriter based in Minnesota. This song is the opening track from his album "Happy Before We Get Old" released in 2021. It seems to be about the life of a traveling musician. I don't know if the line "What doesn't kill me makes me wander" is a play on the Nietzsche quote or the Kelly Clarkson song, but it's a great line that makes me want to hit the road. But with gas prices at an all-time high, maybe that Greyhound's a good idea.

"Tonight I leave familiar for the great unknown
Got a couple broken arrows and my hair has grown since you saw me last
Talking on an old flip phone

Today I shed the skin of who I used to be
Got Sinatra on a 45 I'm buzzing like a bee
Just hoping you'll come fly with me

I took a Greyhound down to Georgia
Then a rental up to Maine
But how I hope for California in the Spring

Tonight I leave the only home I've ever known
Got a couple hundred dollars that I'm gonna blow on a used guitar
A Fender or an Epiphone

What doesn't kill me makes me wander
And think of what the future will bring
But how I hope for California in the spring

Open roads now
Gonna find the place where my heart hits the ground
City lights shine

And it gives me a rush of adrenaline every time
I'm on my way gonna catch that plane
Trying not to get lost in the Everglades

And the start of a dream is just only deciding to chase
Go find the chase
I took a bus back down to Nashville

In Carolina in my mind
But I hope for California one more time
Open roads now

Gonna find the place where my heart hits the ground
City lights shine
Gonna find the place where my heart sticks around"

Sia

California Dreamin'

Sia is a singer-songwriter originally from Australia who moved to Los Angeles like most musicians. This is an excellent version of the Mamas and the Papas classic from the 2015 "San Andreas" soundtrack. Yes, I watched the stupid movie. I happen to like cheezy disaster movies, especially those in which California is destroyed. And there's not much left of the state at the end of this one.

Chelsea Sica

Boys From California

Chelsea Sica is a New York City-based singer-songwriter. Her website describes her as a modern classic rock artist, and this song, which was put online in August 2022, evokes the acoustic guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's 1973 song "Over The Hills And Far Away."

"Let me guess, you can't take the Winter
Too much noise out on the streets at night
F**kin' with your mind
Let me guess, this isn't about me
You need time to find your roots again
Feet in the sand
Hope you feel safe in your mother's arms

All those boys from California
Fall in love with this New Yorker
Try my best to ignore 'em
All those boys from California

Here it comes, are you comin' with me
I don't want to, yes I know I could
Don't like Hollywood
You know that I get impatient
I'm not some kind of laid back babe
Tryin' to catch some sun while you ride your wave
Get away from everything
Hope you feel safe in your hybrid car

All those boys from California
Fall in love with this New Yorker
Try my best to ignore 'em
All those boys from California

You'll still love me when you get back home
Sleepin'... feelin' so alone
Think how ever could I ever let her go
Many people will never know
Ohh ohh ohh ohh

All those boys from California
Fall in love with this New Yorker
Try my best to ignore 'em
All those boys from California"

Sickick

Sickick is a singer-songwriter-EDM artist from Canada, who released his first album in 2014. This cool dance track was released in 2019. He's one of those DJs who wears a mask and you can even buy one on his website along with socks with the word "Sick" on them. And who doesn't always need some new socks.

"Take me to California
Where my dreams don't seem so f**king far away
I am standing by the Walk of Fame, hopin' for a break
I pray that my dreams don't up and fade away

We've spent the most of our lives together
May all our wonderful memories last forever
Whenever I think of you tears I'll cry
Knowin' the life I've let pass me by
This has to be the hardest goodbye
But I'm weighed by the pressure

'Cause I know I'll shine brighter than the sun in the sky
I'm lookin' for my moment where my dreams come to life
Can you show me the way before I run out of time
I'm tired of waitin', tired of waitin', and I said

Take me to California
Where my dreams don't seem so f**king far away
I am standing by the Walk of Fame, hopin' one day to see my name
I pray that my dreams don't up and fade away

One day I'll come back for you, girl
Make you my queen, I'ma give you the world, so
Anymore guilt and I think I'ma tear
Look past the hurt and you'll see that I'm scared

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel
I can see the end of the line, oh no
You've been by my side while I've been through the struggle
I'll always care

I know I'd shine brighter than the sun in the sky
I promise I'm coming back for you if I survive
Show me the way before I run out of time
I've got to make it, got to make it, and I said

Take me to California
Where my dreams don't seem so far away
I am standing by the Walk of Fame, hopin' for a break
I pray that my dreams don't up and fade away, and I said

Take me to California
Where my dreams don't seem so f**king far away
I am standing by the Walk of Fame, hopin' one day to see my name
I pray that my dreams don't up and fade away, aay"

Silent Pilot

Silent Pilot is an alternative pop/rock band formed in San Francisco in 2014. This song is from their heartSOUNDS EP released in 2016.

"(Give me that)
West coast, golden state of mine
Where the sunshine never dies
And your love is like the wave I ride beside you
(Give me that)
Open, orange-colored sky
Can you feel that
It’s the motion in the ocean
That makes you brighter than the sun, yeah
(Cruisin’ down the 101)

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
'Cause that’s where I’ll be at
At sundown
Never looking back now
Dancing to our own sound
Making history
Just you and me, yeah

(Give me that)
Halo, smile to pull me in
Can I kiss your summer skin
'Cause my heart is here to swim with you, I know it
(Give me that)
Summer loving all the way
From the Bay down to L.A.
Cruisin’ down the PCH with you ‘til morning
(Singing)

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
'Cause that’s where I’ll be
At sundown
Never looking back now
Dancing to our own sound
Making history
Just you and me, yeah
Just you and me, yeah
Just you and me, yeah

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
Just you and me, yeah

If you feel like you wanna watch the stars
From the back seat of my car
With the top down we’ll be
Close enough to reach them
And I hope someday we’ll be the ones
Living life under the sun
But until then we’ll be California dreaming
Yeah, we'll be California dreaming

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
'Cause that’s where I’ll be
At sundown
Never looking back now
Dancing to our own sound
Making history
Just you and me, yeah

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
'Cause that’s where I’ll be
At sundown
Never looking back now
Dancing to our own sound
Making history
Just you and me, yeah
Just you and me, yeah
Just you and me, yeah

You’re my
California sunrise
Open up your gold eyes
Meet me on the coast
Just you and me, yeah"

Silver Convention

San Francisco Hustle

Silver convention were a disco band from Germany, best known for their #1 hit "Fly, Robin, Fly." This is another disco dance song from the band's album "Get Up and Boogie" released in 1976.

"San Francisco Hustle

Come and dance
Come and dance

San Francisco Hustle

Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do,
come and dance

Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do,
come and dance

San Francisco Hustle

Do, do, do, do

Hustle, aha

Hustle, aha
Hustle, aha

Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do,
come and dance

Do, do, do, do
Do, do, do, do,
come and dance

San Francisco Hustle...."

Silver Jews

Smith and Jones Forever

From 1989-2009 the Silver Jews were an indie rock band from New York City that included Stephen Malkmus from Pavement. This is from their 1998 album "American Water." I don't know what any of it means or who Smith and Jones are other than common generic surnames.

"Are you honest when no one's looking?
Can you summon honey from a telephone?
They sat there with their hooks in the water
And their mustaches caked with airplane glue

O come let us adore them
California overboard
When the sun sets on the ghetto all the broken stuff gets cold

Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever

Build a stage for Autumn's b**ch
They walk the alleys in duct tape shoes
They see the things they need through the windows of a hatchback
The alleys are the footnotes of the avenues

O come let us adore them
California overboard
Holding up their trousers with extension cords

Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever

I've got two tickets to a midnight execution
We'll hitchhike our way from Odessa to Houston
And when they turn on the chair
Something's added to the air
When they turn on the chair
Something's added to the air forever

Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever"

Silvertide

California Rain

Silvertide is a hard rock band from Philadelphia, PA, active since 2001. This song sounds like it's from the '70s, but it's from their album "Show & Tell" released in 2004. Most years, California needs all the rain it can get, so this guy is welcome to bring as much as he can carry.

"The nights are long and the days roll into each other
In the City of Angels I can't get no sleep
I wish that I was sipping coffee in your kitchen
Yeah I'm stormy from the mountains to the sea

Left her standing
At the gate
Couldn't talk I was running so late
Thought I heard her say goodbye
Saw the sun fade in her eyes

I brought my rain to California
All the way from Philadelphia, PA
And on the way my tears fell for you
I brought my rain to Cali, oh Cali, California

Wandering down the Sunset Strip in the morning
6 a.m. is that a rainbow that I see?
I interrupt my own damn conversation
Yeah I'm talking to myself at the Whiskey

Left her standing
At the gate
Couldn't talk I was running so late
Thought I heard her say goodbye
Saw the sun fade in her eyes

I brought my rain to California
All the way from Philadelphia, PA
And on the way my tears fell for you
I brought my rain to Cali, oh Cali, California

Inside this heart that smiles no more
Lies the ghost of a love so beautiful
And all the time
The rain inside my mind
Goes on and on and on and on and on

I brought my rain to California
All the way from Philadelphia, PA
And on the way my tears fell for you
I brought my rain to California
(I brought my rain to California)
California
(I brought my rain to California)
I brought my rain to California"

Simon & Garfunkel

Cloudy

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel met in elementary school in New York City in 1953 and went on to form a folk-rock duo that was one of the best-selling musical groups of the 1960s before they split up in 1970. This is from their third album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" released in 1966.

"Cloudy
The sky is gray and white and cloudy,
Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me.
And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.
I'm a ragamuffin child.
Pointed finger-painted smile.
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.

Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell.
Down from Berkeley to Carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.

Hey sunshine
I haven't seen you in a long time.
Why don't you show your face and bend my mind?
These clouds stick to the sky
Like floating questions, why?
And they linger there to die.
They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I.

Cloudy,
Cloudy."

Simon & Garfunkel

Punky's Dilemma

This song from the album "Bookends" released in 1968 somehow uses breakfast foods to make fun of the movie industry. That's fine, though I prefer strawberry jam on my muffin. And I have to say that most Californians say "Southern Callifornia" not "South California."

"Wish I was a Kellogg's Cornflake
Floatin' in my bowl takin' movies,
Relaxin' awhile, livin' in style,
Talkin' to a raisin who occasionally plays L.A.,
Casually glancing at his toupee.

Wish I was an English muffin
'Bout to make the most out of a toaster.

I'd ease myself down,
Comin' up brown.

I prefer boysenberry
More than any ordinary jam.
I'm a 'Citizens for Boysenberry Jam' fan.

Ah, South California.

If I become a First Lieutenant
Would you put my photo on your piano?
To Mary Jane
Best wishes, Martin.
(Old Roger draft-dodger
Leavin' by the basement door),
Everybody knows what he's
Tippy-toeing down there for"

Simpletones

Simpletones were an L.A. rock band formed in the late 1970s. This pop punk song was released in 1979.

"Oooh, ooh, California
Oooh, ooh, California

They say the chicks are really nice
Ooh, California
And the cars, they go so fast
Ooh, California
And the beach, it's just the most
And the surf is really wild
I wish that I could stay here all my life
California
Oooh, ooh, California

They say the chicks are really nice
Ooh, California
And the cars, they go so fast
Ooh, California
And the beach, it's just the most
And the surf is really wild
I wish that I could stay here all my life
California
Oooh, ooh, California

They say the chicks are really nice in California
And the cars, they go so fast in California
And the beach, it's just the most
And the surf is really wild
I wish that I could stay here all my life
All my life

Oooh, ooh, California
Oooh, ooh, California

They say the chicks are really nice
Ooh, California
And the cars, they go so fast
Ooh, California
And the beach, it's just the most
And the surf is really wild
I wish that I could stay here all my life
California
Oooh, ooh"

Frank Sinatra

Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham

This big bombastic song is off "The Reprise Collection" recorded in 1963. It sounds like Sinatra is trying to make a new state anthem.

"I've known her valleys, I've known her mountains
Her missions and her courtyards and her fountains
The giant redwoods towering in the skies of her
That grow as though as they know they show the size of her

I've often wandered her farthest reaches
Her deserts and her snow and, yes, her beaches
A land that paradise could well be jealous of
That's California, California, blessed by heaven from above
That's California, land I love."

Frank Sinatra

L.A. Is My Lady

Maybe Sinatra was trying to corner the market on big city anthems when he added this one to his others - "Theme From New York, New York," "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)," "I Love Paris," "London by Night, " etc. This is from his 59th and final solo studio album, released in 1984 - also called "L.A. Is My Lady."

"The music she moves to, is music that makes me a dancer
I brought her my wildest of dreams, and she came up with the answer
I leave behind a part of myself, whenever I leave her
But oh, when I'm back in her arms, she smiles and then, I am home again

'Cause L.A. is my lady,
She's always there for me
L.A. is my lady,
She knows how to care for me
No lady's sweeter
you know it the moment you meet her

I've been in love more times, than I care to remember
And love's kept me cool in July, and warm in December
It may not have lasted, but each time I thought it was heaven
You name it, I've been there and back
Lookin' for someone who
I'd be faithful to

L.A. is my lady,
She's always there for me
L.A. is my lady,
She knows how to care for me
She's good to me,
Yeah she's good to me
And that's why
L.A. is my lady
L.A. is my lady
And you're lookin' at a man
Who doesn't ever plan to
Kiss his lady bye-bye"

Frank Sinatra

The Lady is a Tramp

This is a Rogers and Hart song from the 1937 musical comedy Babes in Arms, and it is also used in the 1957 film version of Pal Joey. Watching the sleazy San Francisco nightclub singer played by Frank Sinatra sing this to a rich society widow who used to be a stripper, played by Rita Hayworth, is a great musical moment. The song features an ironic view of the usual image of sunny California.

This song has also been covered by many other singers including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and various Broadway Cast recordings. Most versions are sung by a woman, and in the stage play the character that sings the song is a woman, who sings it in the first person, using "I" instead of the third person "she" that Sinatra sings, which also changes the meaning from parody to self-parody.

"She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She never bothers with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp

Doesn't like crap games with Barons or Earls
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
That's why the lady is a tramp

She likes the free fresh wind in her hair,
Life without care
She's broke and it's oke
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
That's why the lady is a tramp

She gets too hungry to wait for dinner at eight
She loves the theatre but never comes late
She'd never bother with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp

She'll have no crap games with sharpies and frauds
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincolns or Fords
And she won't dish the dirt with the rest of the broads
That's why the lady is a tramp

She loves the free fresh wind in her hair
Life without care.
She's broke but it's oke
Hates California, it's so cold and so damp
That's why the lady... that's why the lady...
That's why the lady is a tramp"

Nancy Sinatra

California Dreamin'

Nancy Sinatra is a singer and actress from New Jersey, active 1961-2013. She's best known for her 1965 hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin" and for "Somethin' Stupid" a 1967 duet with her father Frank Sinatra. This is a slow and moody orchestral-acoustic version of The Mamas and the Papas 1966 classic, from her album "California Girl" which includes mostly cover versions of California songs:
"Hotel California"
"99 Miles From L.A."
"Hooray For Hollywood"
"San Francisco"
"California Man"
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose"
"San Fernando Valley"
"California Girls."

Nancy Sinatra

This is another song from the album "California Girl" released in 2002.

"Well I packed everything I own and I put it in a knapsack
I'm leaving Birmingham, yes, I am, ain't never gonna look back
I bought me a guitar and wrote me a song
I played it for the DJ on the telephone

Going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham

Riding on a Greyhound bus 'cross the Tennessee borderline
Eating from a Po' Boy sandwich, taking drinks from a quart of wine
I got to get off at the very last stop
My ticket's only good to Little Rock

Going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham

I got mixed up with a big city fellow in Little Rock
I spent two weeks one night in the county jail
I had to take a two-days job to get my boyfriend out of hock
But that's the way it goes when you ain't got the dough to make bail

I ran out of transportation funds, I had to hitchhike, yeah
I hitched a ride with a long haired tattooed dude on a motorbike
Now folks are gonna know when I'm in town
Heads are gonna turn when they hear my sound

I'm going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Oh hello L.A., goodbye Birmingham

Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham...."

Nancy Sinatra

How Are Things In California?

This is another song from the album "California Girl" released in 2002.

"How are things in California
Oh, your letter didn't say
Now that you're in California
Are you gonna stay?
Are you gonna stay?

When you left for California
How I begged you please think twice
But you thought that California would be paradise

But it isn't the place, it isn't the weather
What matters the most is being together
You may have the sun, the sand and the sea
But why must you be so far from me?

I'll come out to California
If you care the way I do
Wait for me in California
I'll come out for you
If you want me to

I'll come out to California
If you care the way I do
Wait for me in California
I'll come out for you
If you want me to
I'll come out for you
If you want me to
I'll come out for you
If you want me to"

Sincere Engineer

California King

Sincere Engineer is a pop punk band from Canada led by Danna Belos. This song was released in June 2023. Whenever I see the phrase "California King" I hope it's going to refer to a California Kingsnake, Lampropeltis californiae, because that's what people into snakes call them. But this is just another song about the larger than king-sized bed, not the snake, and not the state either. The singer does add a twist, saying that she could be her partner's "California Queen." But wouldn't a larger version of a queen bed just be a standard king bed?

"Can we move in together? Can we get a California King?
'Cuz I'm just so alone and I need a new box spring
Can we carve our initials in the blue vinyl siding?
I think once I get that I won't need another god damn thing

Can we move in together? I could be your California Queen
'Cuz I've just grown and lonely don't really suit me
I need somewhere to run to and you got me smiling
I think once I get that I won't need another god damn thing

Maybe everything around me is too slow
Baby, in this city I've been feeling so alone
Lately I've been thinking 'bout leaving Chicago

Can we move in together? I promise I can keep it clean
'Cuz I'm just on my own. I don't have much s**t to bring
New padlocks on the door, a new key for my key ring
I think once I get that I won't need another god damn thing

Maybe everything around me is too slow
Baby, in this city I've been feeling so alone
Lately I've been thinking 'bout leaving Chicago

The sun shining through the window on this Sunday afternoon
The sun spots on your shoulders were just dancing with the moon
Our broken crowns hit the pillow. I wanna move in with you
Somewhere to get older where we can dance under the moon

Maybe everything around me is too slow
Baby, in this city I've been feeling so alone
Lately I've been thinking 'bout leaving Chicago
Leaving Chicago
Leaving Chicago
Leaving Chicago"

William Singe (featuring Kennyon Brown & Cuuhraig)

California On You

William Singe is Liam Anthony Singe, a musician of Maori descent from Sydney, Australia, active since 2011. Kennyon Brown is a Samoan musician born in New Zealand, raised in California, and based in Sydney. Cuuhraig is a Samoan rapper who grew up in Compton. I've read that these guys are all Polynesian musicians in a field where there are few of them, so that's worth celebrating. This smooth melodic hip-hop track was released in June 2023. It's a song about girls and sex (like most songs.) I don't have the lyrics yet, but the chorus starts out something like this:

"Oh California on you
You feel the vibe that come through...."

Sinny & 7vvch

This 2022 release is a nicely slowed and darkened phonk remix of the 2019 Night Lovell song which feels like a ghost of the original. I couldn't find out anything about Sinny or 7vvch except that they have some other collaborations on Spotify.

SIR

L.A.

Sir is Darryl Farris, a singer-songwriter from Inglewood, active since 2012. This song is from the album "Chasing Summer" released in 2019.

"Take me back to L.A.
Take me back to L.A.
Take me back to L.A., ohh

I've laughed and I've cried
I've lived and I've died
Stole from, gambled and cheated
Cut corners outside
I've tried and I've failed
Stood tall when they'd run
I've fought a cold war
In the dead of a hot sun

Now take me back to L.A.
Where the weather is good
Take me back to L.A.
Don't wanna give the road a second look

And I remember first time that I left
Pain had flooded the wells of your eyes
You said you'd never forgive me if I didn't make it back
But now I'm comin' home for some good lovin'

I've learned and I've taught
I've gained and I've lost
Made due with what I'm made of
Found out what love cost
Learned who I can trust
Learned that it's just us
I've learned to love mine
Even when it ain't much

Now take me back to L.A.
Where the weather is good
Take me back to L.A.
Don't wanna give the road a second look

And I remember first time that I left
Pain had flooded the wells of your eyes
You said you'd never forgive me if I didn't make it back
But now I'm comin' home for some good lovin'

Take me back to L.A.
Take me back to L.A.
Take me back to L.A., ooh...."

SIR (featuring Scribz Riley)

Life is Good

Sir is Darryl Farris, a singer-songwriter from Inglewood, active since 2012. Scribz Riley is Michael Orabiyi, a singer-songwriter-producer from London, England, active since 2012. This song was released in 2022.

"Life is good, ayy, car fast as f**k
Ain't got pulled over once while I was actin' up
Hundred-twenty while I'm headed to Sonoma
I ain't turnin' down no fades
No I don't need any soldiers, ayy, ayy
I might fly you down to Florida tonight
Miami where the water stays warm
Baby, we can do what we like
Baby, we can do what we want

Ha-ha, ah, ha-ha, ha-ah-ha-ah-ha-ah
Life is good, ayy, roll another blunt (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah)
Life is good, ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ha-ha, ah, ha-ha, ha-ah-ha-ah-ha-ah
Life is good, ayy, roll another blunt (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah)
Life is good, ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)

Life is good, ayy, car fast as f**k
Ain't got pulled over once while I was actin' up
120 on my way to Calabasas, I ain't takin' any favors
I ain't givin' any passes, ayy, ayy
I may (Hey), fly you down Canada today
Maybe to Toronto where it's cold
Everything but the weather, girl, I got under control
And we could do what we want
Baby, tell me what you like
(Baby, tell me what you like)

Ha-ha, ah, ha-ha, ha-ah-ha-ah-ha-ah
Life is good, ayy, roll another blunt (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah)
Life is good, ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ha-ha, ah, ha-ha, ha-ah-ha-ah-ha-ah
Life is good, ayy, roll another blunt (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah)
Life is good, ayy, we do what we want (Ayy, ayy)
Ayy, we do what we want (We do what we want, ayy, ayy)

Had some problems yesterday but I feel good today (Yeah)
I'm on a different wave
And you ni**as don't float the same way
I be out in a maze (Maze)
Like look what a ni**a became (Became)
I'm from an old estate
Now all of a sudden, I'm switching lanes (Lanes, yeah, yeah)
Ain't no way that we 'bout to slow down (Down, down, down)
They ain't know who I was but they know now

Ha-ha, ah, ha-ha, ha-ah-ha-ah-ha-ah
Life is good, ayy, roll another blunt (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah)...."

The Sir Douglas Quintet

Mendocino

In this 1969 rock classic, after thanking all his friends for all the beautiful vibrations, the singer pleads with his teeny bopper lover to stay with him in his love house by the river where life's such a groove you blow your mind in the morning. Can you dig it?
(Yes, they really sing "Can you dig it?" And it is dug.)

"Teeny Bopper, my teenage lover
I caught your waves last night
It sent my mind to wonderin'.
You're such a groove
Please don't move
Please stay in my love house by the river.
Fast talkin' guys with strange red eyes
Have put things in your head
And started your mind to wonderin'
I love you so, please don't go
Please stay here with me in Mendocino.
Mendocino, Mendocino,
Where life's such a groove
You blow your mind in the morning.
We used to walk through the park,
Make love along the way in Mendocino."

Sir Mix-a-Lot

Jump On It

Sir Mix-a-Lot is a rapper and producer from Seattle. This song is from his 1996 album "Return of the Bumpasaurus." The rapper brags about knocking dames and "Chasing the skirts like a playa supposed ta," in cities and area codes across the U.S.A., including California from Redding to the Valley to the TJ Border, and his favorite football team from Frisco. (Yes, he uses that forbidden city name, and not even because it rhymed with something.)

This song has an interesting genealogy: First there was the rock instrumental song "Apache" by The Shadows, released in 1960. It was covered as a rock instrumental a few times before it was turned into an instrumental dance song with lots of horns and percussion by The Incredible Bongo Band in 1973. The percussion break from that song was later sampled in a lot of hip hop songs, including The Sugarhill Gang's version of Apache in 1981, which kept the title and added rapped lyrics, including the words "jump on it. Then Sir Mix-a-lot sampled the melody of the Sugarhill Gang's Apache and the percussion of The Incredible Bongo Band and also used the words "Jump on it" in 1996, adding all new lyrics.

"Ho, Ho, Ho
(I know I ain't hear somebody say
nuthin about hoes up in here, sshhh, ooh lord)

What's up Dallas, what's up
What's up Dallas, what's up
Dallas jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up San Antone, what's up
What's up San Antone, what's up
San Antonio jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up Austin, what's up
What's up Austin, what's up
Austin jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up Houston, what's up
What's up Houston, what's up
Houston jump on it, jump on it, jump on it (Ooh lord)

Welcome to the 2 1 4
Big B, D Texas
Let Mr. Sexes flex this Lexus
And this where the Cowboys play
They battle with my team from the Bay
Frisco
Now I'm from the Northwest
But I likes my soul food
So I'm calling up an old groove
And I'm a brother with a gut
So, hello Keana, can ya take us out to Poppa Doughs
And don't forget about San Antone
The last time I went thru
I took three broads home
And much love love to the brothers in Austin
And the 5 1 2
I'm flossin in Lawston
A state that's as big as hell
And I spot two bad ass girls in a Tercel
They said what's up? And I said whassup? (We're going to Houston)
And I said giddy up, U-turn

What's up Phoenix, what's up
What's up Phoenix, what's up
Phoenix jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up Cali, what's up
What's up Cali, what's up
California jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up Vegas, what's up
What's up Vegas, what's up
Las Vegas jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
What's up Sea-town, what's up
What's up Sea-town, what's up
Seattle jump on it, jump on it, jump on it (Ooh lord)

Welcome to the 6 0 2
It's a 105 in the shade
And I'm sippin on a lemonade
Phoenix Arizona puts the heat up on ya
I should warn ya
The girls as fine as California
Speaking of Cali
Check your mack daddy
He gots game, and knocks dames from Redding to the Valley
And I can pull'em on a TJ border
I even knock Mr. G's daughter
And come on up to the 7 0 2
Where it's legal to gamble, and hoing is too
The kinda city I could run wit
Las Vegas Na vi dad, I love it
Back to the 2 0 6
Double up my grits
And Sea-town giving po po fits
Chasing the skirts like a playa supposed ta
348 roasta HIT IT! (ho, ho, ho... ooh Lord)...."

Sister Sledge

He's the Greatest Dancer

Sister Sledge is a group from Philadelphia that formed in 1971 and had several big disco hits. This song is from 1979 from the "We Are Family" album. I don't know if this was the first song to rhyme "Disco" with "Frisco," but it certainly wasn't the last. It was a top 10 hit in 71, but the guitar riff became the best part of an even bigger hit in 1998 when it was sampled in "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," Will Smith's #1 hit.

"Oh, what, wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh, what, wow
That I've ever seen
Oh, what, wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh, what, wow

One night in a disco on the outskirts of Frisco
I was cruisin' with my favorite gang
The place was so borin' filled with out-of-towners tourin'
I knew that it wasn't my thing
I really wasn't carin', but I felt my eyes starin'
At a guy who stuck out in the crowd
He had the kind of body that would shame Adonis
And a face that would make any man proud...."

Luke Sital-Singh

Luke Sital-Singh is a folk singer-songwriter from the UK, active since 2012. This is a single released in 2022.

"I will meet you back here someday
After the storm
We can re-tell old stories
Oh the times we were younger
In love in a hurry
Why worry?
You’d say empty your questions out onto the floor
They’re only keeping you heavy

The light has this magic here
Watch how it slow glows
Through the windows

I’m waiting for ya
In California
I’ve saved a spot
Beyond the crowded parking lot
We can sit and wait
Til summer fades away

Only thousands of miles
Only no one I know
But I like when it’s raining

There is a smile in your voice
That you’re barely containing
And I’m changing

I’m waiting for ya
In California
I’ve saved a spot
Beyond the crowded parking lot
We can sit and wait
Til summer fades away

Past the burning tree
It should feel like nowhere
Beyond the golden beach
There’s a space for two there
A little further reach
Not nearly over
Wait for me In California

I’m waiting for ya
In California
I’ve saved a spot
Beyond the crowded parking lot
We can sit and wait
Til summer fades away
Til summer fades away"

Luke Sital-Singh

This is a single released in 2019.

"I wake on Tuesday morning
And it's raining again
But it sounds a little like applauding
Like someone's cheering us on
I keep a small secret diary
Of every failure I've been
Oh, you look so beautiful this morning
While you're packing up all our things

Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

Maybe
In the sands of Los Angeles
We'll find a new lease of life
Just stay close
'Cause you're so much more brave than me
But I'll be fine
If we know what we're looking for
Do we know what we're looking for?

We walk through Venice in the sunlight
And dream of a house on the canals
And you're floating higher up than ever
But I hear that distant booming sound
What if we fail? What if we fail?
You turn and pull my guard away
And throw that diary in the water
Assure me everything's okay

Oh, oh, oh

Maybe
In the sands of Los Angeles
We'll find a new lease of life
Just stay close
'Cause you're so much more brave than me
But I'll be fine
If we know what we're looking for
If we know what we're looking for
Do we know what we're looking for?"

Six Years Later

Six Years Later is a pop rock band from Pennsylvania. This song is from "The Christmas Album" released in 2016.

"The sun is shining the air is warm
But nothing here quite feels like home
When Christmas comes around
No angels laid out in the snow
No falling snowflakes or winter glow
When Santa comes to town
He'll have a California Christmas

I've got everything on your list
Like the palm trees with some lights
On those California Christmas nights
... ... ...
We'll have a California Christmas
A California Christmas
I've got everything on your list
Like the palm trees with some lights
On those California Christmas nights
A California Christmas
I've got everything on your list
Like the palm trees with some lights
On those California Christmas nights"

The Skatalites

Skalifornia

The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica that played from 1963-1965 then formed again in 1983. This song was released in 1993. It's instrumental with no lyrics mentioning California, but since it has such a great California song name, I had to include it here.

Sloane Skylar

Sloane Skylar is a singer-songwriter from Chicago, based in Los Angeles. She released her debut single a the age of 14. This electro-pop song was released in 2023.

"Why you only hit me up when it's late at night?
And why do I still come through just for a quick high?
Always thought that I was better than this
Never thought that I'd be scared to commit
Lately I've been on a different vibe

Cause I'm pullin' up past nine
Empty streets just headlights
I'll be there and back before the morning
Blowin' all the stop signs
Somethin' 'bout the nighttime
Driving through the hills in California

Why you mess me up with what you write?
Tell me to come through and then I slide
We do our thing and then I split
Hop in the whip down Laurel Canyon
Music up, window down on driver's side
I'm so tired of fu**ing girls that I don't like
They don't understand me, I guess that's fine
Looking for love but I settle for this
Rather have your body when I get that text
Put myself together and then I ride

Cause I'm pullin' up past nine
Empty streets just headlights
I'll be there and back before the morning
Blowin' all the stop signs
Somethin' 'bout the nighttime
Driving through the hills in California

Pullin' up past nine
Empty streets just headlights
I'll be there and back before the morning
Blowin' all the stop signs
Somethin' 'bout the nighttime
Driving through the hills in California"

Sloane Skylar

Tears from Cali

This song was released in 2024.

"Trying to find the words
Don't know what to say
All these different thoughts
Stuck inside my brain
I miss the way you talk
And I miss your face
I guess I make it hard
By jumping state to state
Always have to leave
But I just wanna stay
My nephew's growing up
Faster than I prayed
Used to acting tough
Cause I don't wanna break
Guess that's what it's like
Living in L.A.

But I still cry these tears from Cali
Down the 5 to the valley
I still cry these tears from Cali
Takes a toll on my body
These tears from Cali

Got lost a few times
Trying to find my way
Memories of home
Haunt me everyday
Chicago on my mind
Where I used to roam
Now I'm in a maze
That I navigate alone
Second guess myself
Of where I'm supposed to be
But I keep coming back
To my childhood dream
Caught up in the rush
Everybody in my ear
But I keep moving on
Cause I gotta be here

But I still cry these tears from Cali
Down the 5 to the valley
I still cry these tears from Cali
Takes a toll on my body
These tears from Cali
I still cry these tears from Cali
Down the 5 to the valley
I still cry these tears from Cali
Takes a toll on my body
These tears from Cali"

Skywind

California (Chris Lake & Matroda Remix)

According to their Facebook page, Skywind is "Ambient Alternative Rock from Minneapolis/St. Paul." This slow-build alternative rock song is from the album "Escape Plan" released in 2019.

"Is it cold in here?
My heart don't feel the same since
California
If I could take the year
I'd sink it like a stone into the ocean

And I'd keep you here
And never see your face the way I left ya
All of my dreams go over my head for you
All of my dreams go over my head
Now I'm only a million miles from you
But I'm six feet higher up than I should be
And now I'm under the lights and face to face with you
Karma, carry me away
Come and carry me from here

My heart don't feel the same since
California

Could you tie me down
And throw me out to sea in California?
Got a deep blue dream
And shallow are the waves
Until they own ya
It's an empty breeze
Midnight on the beach
I feel like dyin'
But I live for you to see
The hole inside of me
That I keep diggin'
And I keep diggin'
All of my dreams go over my head for you
All of my dreams go over my head

Now I'm only a million miles from you
But I'm six feet higher up than I should be
And now I'm under the lights and face to face with you
Karma, carry me away
Come and carry me away

All of my dreams go over my head for you
All of my dreams go over my head

My heart don't feel the same since California"

Sleater-Kinney

Hollywood Ending

Sleater-Kinney is a rock trio named after a road in Olympia Washington where the band formed in 1994. They are usually mentioned as part of the Riot grrrl feminist punk rock movement that had much of its origins in the Olympia area in the early 90s. Guitarist Carrie Brownstein is also known for starring in the satirical comedy TV series "Portlandia." This is from the album "One Beat" released in 2014.

"You stay on 'til you're good and raw
Go back and forth, a little see-saw
Hoping that this ride will end
But when it does you go again

Can't get that monster
Out of my mind
She's got my hair and
She's got my eyes
She follows me wherever I go
Speaking for me and
Wearing my clothes

You hang on 'til your hands are sore
Blistering you still want more
You think there's something here for you
Go out and buy yourself a clue

Can't get that monster
Out of my mind
She's got my hair and
She's got my eyes
She follows me wherever I go
Speaking for me and
Wearing my clothes

In Hollywood where all the lights are low
And truths as rare as the winter snow
She wanted a place arid as her soul
Where her only job was never to grow old

When the lights are shining
Will you see my skin
Or just the shell that
I'm packaged in
I've held my tongue
And I've hid my sores
If I'm less of myself
Will you love me more?"

Sleater-Kinney

Jumpers

This song is from the 2005 album "The Woods." The singer is sad and lonely and lost in the San Francisco fog and quotes the beginning of the witty weather observation attributed to Mark Twain that the coldest winter he ever saw was the summer he spent in San Francisco. She takes a taxi to the Golden Gate Bridge where she will become another suicide "jumper." She imagines what she will look like as she falls and reminds herself that it will only take four seconds before she hits the water and dies.

I spend the afternoon in cars
I sit in traffic jams for hours
Don't push me, I am not ok

The sky is blue most every day
The lemons grow like tumors
They are tiny suns infused with sour

Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent...

The only substance is the fog
And it hides all that has gone wrong
Can't see a thing inside the maze

There is a bridge adored and famed
The Golden spine of engineering
Whose back is heavy with my weight

Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent...

Be still this old heart
Be still this old skin
Drink your last drink
Sin your last sin

Sing your last song
About the beginning
Sing it out loud
So the people can hear, let's go

Be still this sad day
Be still this sad year
Hope your last hope
Fear your last fear

You're not the only one
You're not the only one
You're not the only one
You're not the only one, let's go

My falling shape will draw a line
Between the blue of sea and sky
I'm not a bird, I'm not a plane

I took a taxi to the Gate
I will not go to school again
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest"

Tom Sless

California Dream

Tom Sless is a singer-songwriter originally from Texas. This song was released in 2020.

"I was breathing in the burning fossil fuels
In the downtown Los Angeles heat
But the air tasted clean, and the mountain views
Were sweeping me off of my feet

Ah when my phone started ringing, man, I couldn't believe
The feeling I got looking out at this city
I answered the call, put the world on hold
Said I'm packing my bags, I've found my new home

I held on to my heart, and reached for the hills
I took it all in, I took it all in
A relentless change was blowing in the wind
And nothing can rein a change in

The sun was arriving the very next day
But the night was already there
Two missed calls with a third on the way
Woke me up into a new nightmare

My Daddy fought back his tears, and I couldn't believe
My cousin Shaun had died in his sleep
In less than an hour I was back on a plane
Finding out good and bad days all end the same way

So now when I write my demons down
And start singing 'em gently or screaming 'em loud
I trust in my heart, and I follow my feet
I beat my own path and I run where it leads
I cherish my life, the omniscient scheme
I thank God for my California Dream

I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream

So now when I write my demons down
And start singing 'em gently or screaming 'em loud
I trust in my heart, I follow my feet
I beat my own path and I run where it leads
I cherish my life, the omniscient scheme
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream
I thank God for my California Dream"

Slipknot

Eyeless

Slipknot is a heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995. This is from their debut album "Slipknot" released in 1999. When I heard this I thought the last lines were "Look me in my Brando eye" but all the lyrics sites show it as "brand-new eye." I still think it should be "Brando eye."

"Insane, am I the only motherf**ker with a brain?
I'm hearing voices, but all they do is complain
How many times have you wanted to kill
Everything and everyone? Say you'll do it but never will

You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
Can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes

I am my father's son
'Cause he's a phantom, a mystery, and that leaves me nothing!
How many times have you wanted to die?
It's too late for me, all you have to do is get rid of me!

You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
Can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes

It's all in your head
It's all in my head
It's all in your head
Yeah!

I tried, you lied to me for so long
Everywhere I go, there's a sense of it
Freak on my antics and give me a choice
Doesn't matter if I give a s**t, it's s**t that you gave me

You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
Can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes
You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes

It's all in your head
It's all in my head
It's all in your head
Yeah!

Do you wanna feel pain? Takin' my name in vain
Caring never felt so lame inside
Anybody else got pride? Do you wanna take my life?
Maybe I'll reverse my ride
Who the f**k are you? F**k you!
Better suck it up, 'cause you bled through
Better get away from me
Stay the f**k away from me

I feel safe; seems you're saved
I feel safe; seems you're saved
Look me in my brand-new eye
Look me in my brand-new eye
Look me in my brand-new eye
Motherf**ker!
Look me in my brand-new eye
Look me in my brand-new eye
Look me in my brand-new eye
Look me in my brand-new..."

Smash Mouth

Hey L.A.

Smash Mouth is an alternative rock band with roots in ska punk and power pop from San Jose, active since 1994. This song is from the band's sixth studio album album "Summer Girl" released in 2006.

"Hey! L.A.!

There's an automatic teller machine in the emergency room
There's a meter maid she arrives by broom
There's a bear in the air with a lullaby
And a big brown coat to keep you warm at night

There's a money tree
And the ladder leans up against the trunk
But the steps are greased

Hey! L.A.!
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
Well it looks as though your spaceship crashed
In Babylon

There's a plastic man with a plastic knife
In a rubber hand at a drastic price
Don't miss this show you will be amazed
You're a shining star, a needle in the haze
There's a man upstairs
With the fire below
There's the elevator
And away you go

Hey! L.A.!
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
Well it looks as though your spaceship crashed
In Babylon

There's a smooth operator
There's a famous Governator
Everybody walks in L.A.
On a backward escalator

It's a soul terminator
It's a sea of alligators
On each and every corner
There's a broken hearted waiter

Hey! L.A.!
Hey! L.A.!
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
Where you from
(Hey! L.A.!)
Where have you gone now
(Hey! L.A.!)
Well it looks as though your spaceship crashed
In Babylon"

Smash Mouth

Pacific Coast Party

This song is from the band's third studio album "Smash Mouth" released in 2001.

"Get your motor running
California Interstate 1
Pacific Coast party

If you got to work today
Get yourself a new vocation
Pacific Coast party

You don't have to mind father time mother nature
Get yourself in line take your time
And watch it slip away
Just quit your bi***in' bite your tongue
Save it for a rainy day son
Pacific Coast party

Get your ticket pack your bags
Come and join the celebration
Pacific Coast party

If you want to find piece of mind
Come and get it
Get yourself in line take your time
And watch it slip away
Pacific Coast party

Hey I heard somebody say work harder than you play
But I never missed a single day's party
Word I never heard a word
I turn the other way
Pacific Coast party

You don't have to mind father time mother nature
Get yourself in line take your time
And watch it slip away

Hey I heard somebody say work harder than you play
But I never missed a single day's party
Word I never heard a word
I turn the other way
Pacific Coast party

Hey I heard somebody say work harder than you play
But I never missed a single day's party
Word I never heard a word
I turn the other way
Pacific Coast party
Pacific Coast party
Pacific Coast party
Pacific Coast party "

Eddie Smith

Cold in California

Eddie Smith is a singer-songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. This acoustic country song is from his album "Legacy" released in 2018.

"Now you say this whole town will waste your time
There ain't much around here that you ain't done
Could you be trading ... for the rhymes
And are you sure the good time is in the land of the sun
'Cause it gets cold in California
You feel snow when you're on the beach
Always know that there's a warm spot
Here at home in Tennessee

And things really haven't changed much since you've gone
Phillip he's a daddy now, life goes on
Tori gets sweeter every day
She still asks about you
And wonders why you went away

When it gets cold in California
And if you feel snow but you're on the beach
Always know that there's a warm spot
Here at home in Tennessee

And I know life looks golden in that L.A. sun
With all the people smiling like they're having fun
And home creeps in their heads when they stare at that town
And hey tell me, where do you find your mind

Yeah I know life looks golden in that L.A. sun
With all the people smiling like they're having fun
And home creeps in their heads when they stare at the time
And hey tell me, where do you find your mind

When it gets cold in California
You feel snow but you're on the beach
Always know that there's a warm spot
Here at home in Tennessee
Always know that there's a warm spot
Here at home in Tennessee"

Elliott Smith

Angeles

Elliott Smith was an American singer songwriter born in Nebraska, raised in Texas, started out in Portland, Oregon, and died at 34 in Los Angeles, probably by suicide, although some think he was murdered. This song is from his album "Either/OR" released in 1997. It was used in the movie "Good Will Hunting" along with Smith's Oscar-nominated song "Miss Misery." Angeles is a song I've seen on other lists of California songs because, while Angeles could refer to any bad muse, it seems obvious that the song is about his feelings about the entertainment industry in Los Angeles where he felt he would sell out his ideals if he stayed and made music there. But then he did move to Los Angeles in 1999 and made "Figure 8" there, one of his best albums.

"Someone's always coming around here, trailing some new kill
Says I've seen your picture on a hundred dollar bill
What's a game of chance to you, to him is one of real skill
So glad to meet you
Angeles

Picking up the ticket shows, there's money to be made
Go on and lose the gamble, that's the history of the trade
Did you add up all the cards left to play to zero
And sign up with evil
Angeles?

Don't start me trying now
'Cause I'm all over it
Angeles

I could make you satisfied in everything you do
All your secret wishes could right now be coming true
And be forever with my poison arms around you
No one's gonna fool around with us
No one's gonna fool around with us
So glad to meet you
Angeles"

Elliott Smith

L.A.

This song is from the last album he released before his death "Figure 8" released in 2000.

"The gentleman's in the lane
Spinning his hat on a cane
Stepping out, out for a change
Good morning all, it's a beautiful day
The generals are winning the war
Seemed suicidal before you came along
Now, now
I'll protect you, long as you'll stay
L.A.

Morning had to come, I'd be walking in the sun
Living in the day
But last night I was about to throw it all away
If patience started a band
I'd be her biggest fan
Look at me, I'm talking to you
I don't want the lead in your play
The star's just a part of the scene
The gentleman in green
Paying off, out on the street
I can't go home, it's not on my way
L.A.

Things I've never done, cars parked in the sun
Living in the day
But last night I was about to throw it all away
Last night I was about to throw it all away
Last night I was about to throw it all away
Last night I was about to throw it all away"

Patti Smith

Redondo Beach

Patti Smith is a singer, songwriter, poet, painter, and author from New Jersey, active since 1967, and a central figure in the punk rock scene in New York City. This reggae rock song is from her classic debut studio album "Horses" released in 1975, one of the first punk rock albums. The lyrics to the song were published previously in her 1972 book "kodak" under the title "Radando Beach."

Redondo Beach is a small coastal city in Los Angeles County so I was curious why Patti Smith would have used it for a song about a woman's suicide by drowning after an argument with the narrator. Redondo means "round" in Spanish, but I don't think that matters. According to Far Out Magazine: "In Smith’s lyric book Complete, she explained: “The words for ‘Redondo Beach’ were written in 1971. I was sharing a space near the Chelsea Hotel with Robert [Mapplethorpe] and my sister Linda. One afternoon I had a rare argument with my sister, and she left. She didn’t return, and by nightfall, I was worried. Needing time to think, I took an F train to Coney Island and sat on the littered beach until the sun rose. I came back, wrote the draft and fell asleep. When I awoke, she had returned. I showed her what I had written, and we never quarreled again.” ... "Many fans have speculated that the song is sung from the perspective of a lesbian, saddened to find out that her girlfriend has died. Smith often introduced the track at live shows by saying, 'Redondo Beach is a beach where women love other women,' seemingly encouraging this alternative interpretation." In a 2012 article "Patti Smith's 'Redondo Beach": The First Gay Reggae Song?" Marco on the Bass states that "Redondo Beach was a popular destination (or perhaps a safe-haven) for lesbians living near Los Angeles at the time." If true, that could explain why Smith chose the west coast beach as the setting for the song. Or maybe she just liked the sound of it...

" Late afternoon, dreaming hotel
We just had the quarrel that sent you away
I was looking for you
Are you gone, gone?

Called you on the phone, another dimension
Well you never returned, oh, you know what I mean
I went looking for you
Are you gone, gone?

Down by the ocean it was so dismal
Women all standing with shock on their faces
Sad description, oh, I was looking for you

Everyone was singing, girl is washed up
On Redondo Beach and everyone is so sad
I was looking for you
Are you gone, gone?

Pretty little girl everyone cried
She was the victim of sweet suicide
I went looking for you
Are you gone, gone?

Down by the ocean it was so dismal
Women all standing with shock on their faces
Sad description, oh, I was looking for you

Desk clerk told me girl was washed up
Was small, an angel with apple blonde hair now
I went looking for you
Are you gone, gone?

Picked up my key, didn't reply
Went to my room started to cry
You were small, an angel
Are you gone, gone?

Down by the ocean it was so dismal
I was just standing with shock on my face
The hearse pulled away and
The girl that had died, it was you

You'll never return into my arms
'Cause you are gone, gone
Never return into my arms
Cause you are gone, gone
Gone, gone
Gone, gone
Good-bye"

Shawn Smith

Leaving California

Shawn Smith was a singer-songwriter from Spokane, Washington who lived in Bakersfield then moved to Seattle, active from 1991-2019. He knows about leaving California, because he did it. This song is from his third album "Shield of Thorns" released in 2003.

"If you ever want to get away from California
Maybe in another life you'd like to stay
And the devil may call you when he thinks it's time
You know that he'll be knocking if you're still here

Don't wait too long, cause you're almost there
Don't wait too long, cause you're almost there
Don't want too long, till you see it undone, yeah
Till you see it undone, yeah

You'll never hear another couldn't get out of space
A new way of living without any pain
Oh I never did believe it, but it seemed that I could good try
Just get in the car now and take off and drive

Don't wait too long, cause you're almost there
Don't wait too long, cause you're almost there
Don't want too long, till you see it undone, yeah
Till you see it undone, yeah

If you ever want to get away from California
Maybe in another life you'd like to stay
And the devil may call you when he thinks it's time
You know that he'll be knocking if you're still here...."

Will Smith

Gettin' Jiggy Wit It

Will Smith is an Oscar-slapping, I mean Oscar-winning actor and a Grammy-winning rapper from Philadelphia active since 1985. This upbeat pop rap song from his album "Big Willie Style" released in 1997 is built on samples of Sister Sledge's "He's the Greatest Dancer" released in 1979, along with a sample of "Sang and Dance" a 1970 song by the Bar-Kays. It peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 and was nominated for a Grammy. It's on this list because it mentions the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and later Shaquille O'Neal who was playing for them in 1997. It also mentions the Raiders football team, who were based in Los Angeles until they returned to Oakland in 1994, three years before this song was released, so maybe he was at the 50-yard line in L.A. And besides, he's the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!

"...On your mark ready set let's go, dance floor pro
I know you know I go psycho (Woo)
When my new joint hit, just can't sit
Gotta get jiggy wit it, ooh, that's it
Now honey honey come ride, DKNY
All up in my eye, you got a Prada
Bag with a lot-a, stuff in it (Ugh, ugh, ugh)
Give it to your friend let's spin, everybody lookin' at me
Glancin' the kid, wishing they was dancin' a jig
Here with this handsome kid, ciga-cigar
Right from Cuba-Cuba, I just bite it
It's for the look, I don't light it
Illway the an-may on the ance-day oor-flay (Haha)
Give it up jiggy make it feel like foreplay (Woo)
Yo my cardio is infinite, ha-ha
Big Willie style's all in it

Gettin' jiggy wit it
(Na na na na na na na)
(Na na na na na na)
Gettin' jiggy wit it...

What? You want to ball with the kid?
Watch your step (Woo), you might fall trying to do what I did
Mama (Ugh) mama (Ugh) mama come closer
In the middle of the club with the rub-a-dub, uh
No love for the haters, the haters
Mad 'cause I got floor seats at the Lakers
See me on the fifty-yard line with the Raiders
Met Ali—he told me I'm the greatest
I got the fever for the flavor of a crowd-pleaser
DJ play another from the prince of this
Your highness, only mad chicks ride in my whips
South to the West to the East to the North
Bought my hits and watch them go off, a-go off
Ah, yes-yes y'all (Woo), ya don't stop
In the winter or the (Summertime), I makes it hot

Gettin' jiggy wit 'em
(Na na na na na na na)
(Na na na na na na)
Gettin' jiggy wit it...

Eight-fifty I.S. if you need a lift
Who's the kid in the drop? Who else Will Smith
Living that life some consider a myth
Rock from South Street to one-two-fifth
Women used to tease me, give it to me now nice and easy
Since I moved up like George and Weezie
C.R.E.A.M. to the maximum I be asking 'em
Would you like to bounce with the brother that's platinum?
Never see Will attacking 'em
Rather play ball with Shaq and 'em, flatten 'em
Psych, kidding
Thought I took a spill, but I didn't
Trust the lady of my life she hitting
Hit her with a drop top with the ribbon
Crib for my mom on the outskirts of Philly
You trying to flex on me?
Don't be silly
Gettin' jiggy wit it...."

Snail Mail

Glory

Snail Mail is the solo project of Lindsey Jordan, a singer-songwriter from Maryland, active since 2016 when she was 15. This song is from her album "Valentine" released in 2021. [I also recommend the song "Forever (Sailing)" from that album.]

"You want it all
Superstar
Jesus died just to save you
Walk me down Hollywood Boulevard
Get me high in the hotel room

You owe me
You own me
I could never hurt you, my love
You know me

When it gets cold
We'll move to Malibu
Where the drinks are hard
You make em' go down smooth
You wanna make it hurt, superstar
When you take too much in the bathroom

You owe me
You own me
I could never hurt you, my love
You know me

You owe me
You own me
Couldn't even look at you straight on
Shining in your glory"

SNBRN (featuring Kaleena Zanders)

SNBRN is Kevin Chapman, a DJ and musician from Los Angeles active since 2014, Kaleena Zanders is a singer-songwriter, Chris Lake is a music producer from the UK, and Matroda is a music producer from Croatia. This 2015 dance remix uses elements of the song "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson and the Street People which was sampled on Tupac Shakur's 1995 hit "California Love."

Snoop Dogg

Gin and Juice

Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Doggy Dogg and Snoop Lion) is Calvin Broadus Jr., a rapper from Long Beach California and an icon of West Coast hip-hop, active since 1992. This was a huge hit from his first album "Doggy Style" released in 1994.

"I'm serious n***a one of y'all n***as got some bad motherf***ing breath
Oh man aye baby, aye baby, s**t,
Aye baby get some bubblegum in this motherf***er or something
Aye, n***a, get something to eat, dog
Study long, study wrong n***a

With so much drama in the L-B-C
It's kinda hard being Snoop D-O-double-G
But I, somehow, some way
Keep coming up with funky ass s**t like every single day
May I, kick a little something for the G's
And, make a few ends as I breeze, through
Two in the morning and the party's still jumping
'Cause my momma ain't home
I got b***hes in the living room getting it on
And, they ain't leaving 'til six in the morning (six in the morning)
So what you wanna do, s**t
I got a pocket full of rubbers and my homeboys do too
So turn off the lights and close the doors
But (but what?) we don't love them hoes
So we gon' smoke a ounce to this
G's up, hoes down, while you motherf***ers bounce to this

Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)
Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)

Now, that I got me some Seagram's gin
Everybody got they cups, but they ain't chipped in
Now this type of s**t, happens all the time
You got to get yours but fool I gotta get mine
Everything is fine when you listening to the D-O-G
I got the cultivating music that be captivating he
Who listens to the words that I speak
As I take me a drink to the middle of the street
And get to macking to this b**ch named Sadie
Sadie?
She used to be the homeboy's lady
(Oh, that b**ch)
Eighty degrees, when I tell that b**ch please
Raise up off these N-U-Ts, 'cause you gets none of these
At ease, as I mob with the Dogg Pound, feel the breeze
B**ch, I'm just

Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)
Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)
Later on that day
My homie Dr. Dre came through with a gang of Tanqueray
And a fat ass J, of some bubonic chronic that made me choke
S**t, this ain't no joke
I had to back up off of it and sit my cup down
Tanqueray and chronic, yeah I'm f***ed up now
But it ain't no stopping, I'm still popping
Dre got some b***hes from the city of Compton
To serve me, not with a cherry on top
'Cause when I bust my nut, I'm raising up off the cot
Don't get upset girl, that's just how it goes
I don't love you hoes, I'm out the door
And I'll be

Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)
Rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice
Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)...."

Snoop Dogg (featuring Marknoxx)

I Wanna Thank Me

This is from Snoop Dogg's seventeenth studio album "I Wanna Thank Me" released in 2019.

"Last but not least, I wanna thank me
I wanna thank me for believing in me, I wanna thank me for doing all this hard work, I Wanna thank me for having no days off, I wanna thank me for... for never quitting, I Wanna thank me for always being a giver and tryna give more than I receive, I wanna Thank me for tryna do more right than wrong, I wanna thank me for just being me at all Times
Snoop Dogg, you a bad motherf***er

Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg

Eagle side, homie coming up
I was young and I didn't give a f**k
Long Beach ni**a, a fiend for the bucks
Lean in my Chucks, banger, I'm tough
Yeah, long time coming, had to earn my G
Gold digging hoes had to learn my fee
I beat a couple cases, I'm H-O-T
I'm Snoop Dogg to the world, gotta thank 'ol me
We celebrating, you hating on a real one
All the L's that I took, man I still won
Big bank rolls coming at ya
West Coast king, man, I need a statue

Yeah, I said it, who did it like me?
Who want the dice? ni**a bet it
Twenty-plus years, I ain't even gotta sell it
I ain't even got to show up to get the money
Mail it, I'm going in

Oh, I paid my dues and earned my stripes (can you hear me?)
No matter what ya say it's all me (can you hear me?)
Bring that beat back, bring that B-Cat

Who did it? like the King gon' tell
Sent a bunch of kids to the NFL
Did it from the dirt, ni**a can't you tell?
Don't I ride by in that SSL?
Snoopy had to get it on, ball, beat ten of y'all
I'm just tryna show 'em how them men evolve
Couple mill' then they into y'all
Still screaming, rolling through my Hollywood stid-all (yeesh)
Back up off me, sip your coffee, it's the Dogg show
Smoking weed on TV like a Marlboro
Standing there flexing, hoes see the drip
This crip, no question

Who bigger than me? s**t, yeah, I said it
Who did it like me?
Who want the dice? ni**a bet it
Twenty-plus years, I ain't even gotta sell it

I ain't even got to show up to get the money
Mail it, I'm going in

Battlecat, what you gon' do?
Hoes recognize, ni**as do too
Long Beach, East Side mad-ass lunatics
Still own ni**as who talk bi**h s**it
Down for whatever, whoever wanna see me now
Slap a bi**h ni**a out to get a grip
Take a whole lot to be Snoop D-O-dub
You gotta put it down and always stay G'd up

Who did it like a muthaf***in' legend?
Yeah it hurts, church, reverend
Sat back took a look at me, s**t's classic
Pocket full of paper, the haters, they can't grasp it
Still at the top of my game, I'm all-pro
Lost count of the cars, ni**a they all show
I got a family to feed, now that's growth
But I'll still lay your ass out for the low
Now, roam in, make it hard to trip
I'm talking big dick s**t, man it's hard to grip
Got a whole gang of albums and some major flicks
I got a wife, rich life, that's some major s**t

Bigg Dogg, yeah, I said it
Who did it like me?
Who want the dice? ni**a bet it
Twenty-plus years and I ain't even gotta sell it
I ain't even got to show up to get the money
Mail it, I'm going in

Used to be out West but now you hear me
From the LBC, around the room, let's blow this smoke
Used to be out West but now you hear me
From the LBC, around the room, let's blow this smoke
La-da-da-da-dah
It's the Snoopy to the D-O-double-G
Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg"

Snoop Dogg (featuring Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder)

California Roll

Pharrell Williams is an award-winning singer-songwriter-producer from Virginia. Stevie Wonder is a singer-songwriter from Michigan, active since 1961 and one of the most-awarded, best-selling, most influential, and greatest musicians of all time. This is from Snoop Dogg's album "Bush" released in 2015. I thought this was going to be about the inside-out sushi, but it's about a different kind of roll. This is why I like Snoop so much. Not only does he offer to take the girl shopping for shoes - most men would rather be boiled alive than do that - but then he offers to make it with her for 15 minutes. Most guys in a song would brag about doing it all night long or claim that they're a 60 minute man, but Snoop makes a much more realistic offer.

[Pharrell & Stevie Wonder]
"Baby you could be a movie star, hey (in Los Angeles)
Get yourself a medical card, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls
They do the fingers like Redd Foxx, hey (in Los Angeles)
You can make it on a light blue box, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls, yeah

[Snoop Dogg]
Say when I pass you that weed and I ask you can you roll?
You say roll, don't you know that I'm from round here?
Well girl I like the way you roll
Even though you from the ghetto you belong in a home in the mountains
Not talking 'bout the view
I'm talking 'bout me and you
So if you wanna go to Melrose
Let's hit Adidas, girl we got our own shell toes
And then we'll go to Venice
You roll so good you might as well let me hit it
For like 15 minutes
Girl, you never gon' forget it
And if you wanna go around town
I could show you where all the real get it
And if you wanna go downtown
You might as well roll with a real ni**a
I'm not talking 'bout them fools
I'm talking 'bout me and you

[Pharrell & Stevie Wonder]
Baby you could be a movie star, hey (in Los Angeles)
Get yourself a medical card, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls
They do the fingers like Redd Foxx (in Los Angeles)
You can make it on a light blue box, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls, yeah

[Snoop Dogg]
And when I hand you that weed and I ask if you can roll?
You say no, let me show you around here
Cowgirl wanna roll with a winner
Rodeo with a winner, rodeo loud yeah
Ain't got nothing to lose
I'm talking 'bout me and you
And girl I got a home in that valley, in a Rolls in that valley
Just tell 'em what my name is
You heard about me, you heard all about me
Mean you heard all the hittas that I'm with gangbanging
But I ain't talking 'bout the news
Girl you know that I'm talking 'bout you
Let me show you all around
I could show you where all the real get it
And if you wanna go downtown
You might as well roll with a real ni**a
I'm not talking bout them fools
I'm talking 'bout me and you

[Pharrell & Stevie Wonder]
Baby you could be a movie star, hey (in Los Angeles)
Get yourself a medical card, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls
They do the fingers like Redd Foxx (in Los Angeles)
You can make it on a light blue box, yeah (in Los Angeles)
Cause that's how California rolls, yeah

[Stevie Wonder]
L.A., L.A."

Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, & Ice Cube (featuring WC)

California Kings

This is a project by L.A. hip-hop legends or "California Kings" as they put it. Snoop Dogg is a rapper and actor from Long Beach, Dr. Dre is a rapper and producer from Compton, Ice Cube is a rapper and actor from South Central L.A., and WC is William LaShawn Calhoun Jr. a rapper and actor from Los Angeles. This song was released in 2023.

[Ice Cube]
"....I got to warn ya this is California
Home grown get ya dome blown
South Central couldn't hold his potential
Monumental hood credentials
DubC is like the fundamentals
In the back of Winchell's
With the .45 cocked
Everybody better hold they spot
Ni**as think they hot but no they not

[Snoop Dogg]
The ... baby maker from the city they call LB
What y'all know about the DOG?
I keep my peace with a bag of treats
On the streets my nephew beat that beat and keep that heat
In the cut and indiscreet
Me and DubC crippin' cousins in this industry
A lot of y'all pretend to be
... see friends with me and then want to sleep with the enemy
Want some get some bad enough take some
Suckers poppin' up I'm bout to take one
Break sun make gun don't want none
And just 'cause we talkin' what you doin' C-walkin

[Ice Cube]
I got to warn ya this is California
Home grown get ya dome blown
South Central couldn't hold his potential
Monumental hood credentials
DubC is like the fundamentals
In the back of Winchell's
With the .45 cocked
Everybody better hold they spot
Ni**as think they hot but no they not

[Dr. Dre]
Straight off the streets of chaos, no pity
To aggravate making these punk motherf**kers hate it
Compton is the city of ...
They never leave the city without a murder weapon
I can't live my life on ... no more
And most of these fools ain't s**t but cutthroats
They smilin' and make a face
... they got the game f**ked up and want my thing f**ked up

[Ice Cube]
I got to warn ya this is California
Home grown get ya dome blown
South Central couldn't hold his potential
Monumental hood credentials
DubC is like the fundamentals
In the back of Winchell's
With the .45 cocked
Everybody better hold they spot
Ni**as think they hot but no they not

[WC]
Damn, come on, back to the streets
Where they grip a Tech 9 like a spoon 'cause I eats with it
An I ain't a n**ga to talk peace with it I squeeze with it
Play for keeps with it put you under the white sheet with it
And back on Lynch Mobbin' in a big ...
It's been a while but ni**a not that long
Still West Side ... with a cannon
Bustin' all you ni**as with those gay ass dances
From the t-shirts and Starter caps
Real recognize real but y'all ni**as know where Gangsta Rap started at
Yeah I said it and ain't afraid to say it
I'm from where the sun sit bite my tongue for s**t
You know the place they introduced the world to thuggin' and ...
The place that got ... town ni**as bloodin' and crippin'
The place where we gun sling
The same place Kobe scored 81 in one muthatf**king game

[Ice Cube]
I got to warn ya this is California
Home grown get ya dome blown
South Central couldn't hold his potential
Monumental hood credentials
DubC is like the fundamentals
In the back of Winchell's
With the .45 cocked
Everybody better hold they spot
Ni**as think they hot but no they not"

Hank Snow

I've Been Everywhere

Hank Snow was a Canadian-American country singer who made a lot of records and a lot of hit songs over his long career. This song was a #1 country single in 1962. It was written by Geoff Mack, an Australian country singer, in 1959 and made popular by Australian singer Lucky Starr in 1962, using the names of Australian places in the lyrics. Then Geoff Mack re-wrote the lyrics with the names of North American towns that he picked randomly from a road atlas so Hank Snow could sing the song. So not only had the songwriter NOT been everywhere listed in the song, he didn't even know where the places were. Before you get upset that the song is a total fraud, remember that most song lyrics are lies - Bruce Springsteen never really was on fire, Jay-Z only had 88 problems, and Lady Gaga was not born that way, her real name is Stefani Germanotta.

There are more versions of the song that list towns in New Zealand, Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Finland, Germany etc. Cover versions of the song have been recorded by Lynn Anderson, Asleep at the Wheel, Johnny Cash, and more. You can listen to Lucky Starr's original Australian version here.

I was totin' my pack
Along the dusty Winnemucca road
When along came a semi
With a high and canvas covered load
"If you're going to Winnemucca, Mack
With me you can ride."
So I climbed into the cab
And then I settled down inside
He asked me if I'd seen a road
With so much dust and sand
And I said,
"Listen, Bud I've traveled
Every road in this here land."

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere.

Been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota,
Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota,
Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma,
Tampa, Panama, Mattawa, La Paloma,
Bangor, Baltimore, Salvador, Amarillo,
Tocopilla, Barranquilla, and Padilla, I'm a killer.

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere.

Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana,
Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana,
Monterey, Ferriday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa
Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa,
Tennessee, Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake,
Grand Lake, Devil's Lake, Crater Lake, for Pete's sake;

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere.

Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika,
Shefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica,
Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport,
Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond do Lac, Davenport,
Idaho, Jellicoe, Argentina, Diamontina,
Pasadena, Catalina, see what I mean, sir;

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere.

Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Gravellburg, Colorado,
Ellensburg, Rexburg, Vicksburg, Eldorado,
Larrimore, Atmore, Haverstraw, Chattanika,
Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika,
Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City,
Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City, what a pity;

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man
"I know some place you haven't been."
I've been everywhere."

Phoebe Snow

San Francisco Bay Blues

This is a jazzy acoustic version of the Jesse Fuller 1954 original from Snow's 1974 debut album "Phoebe Snow." The lyrics are shown under Jesse Fuller.

SOB X RBE (featuring Kendrick Lamar and Zacari)

Paramedic!

SOB X RBE is a four-man rap crew from Vallejo. Kendrick Lamar is a rapper from Compton. This song is from the Black Panther movie soundtrack, released in 2018.

(I am Killmonger)
No one's perfect
But no one's worth this
We ain't deserving of everything Heaven and Earth is
But word is, good
(This is my home)

No one's perfect
But no ones worth this
We ain't deserving of everything Heaven and Earth is
But word is, good
(Northern California)

Ay, they better call a paramedic in the street
I got leverage in the street
I'm a California n***a and I'm heavy in the streets

.22 or.23, I'm heavy with the heat
Hit you with this chop paramedics can't save you (can't save you)
Really in field c'mon boy, know that ain't you (no, it ain't you)
2018 hell nah I ain"t gon fade you, gon' paint you
TDE and SOB we can't lose
n***as b***h made
That's just something I can't relate to (can't relate to)
Turn on the gang
That's just something that I can't do (no, I can't do)
Fall out over a b***h
That's just something that I can't do (no, I can't do)
Rip every beat I get on, I was made to (I was made to)
Glock get to growling, something like a black panther
Tryna touch a mil, f**k saying "get yo bands up"
F***ing with the gang, yeah I had to man up
One fist in the air I ain't finna put my hands up

I wish a n***a would
I wish a n***a would, I wish a n***a would
... ... ... ...
Got shooters tappin' in n***a for them bands n***a
West coast n***as yeah they blowin' fans n***a
I know I'm the man baby bring your friends with you
Puttin' points up while you in the stands n***a
But I be stuck in these streets you in the background
Ever since they took my brother gotta pack rounds
Sorry momma, two bales, took a bad route
I done got my bands up a n***a stacked now
But we been still O.T. on that bull***t (on that bull***t)
I don't wanna have to do it empty full clips (empty full clips)
Why these n***as talkin' robbin' they don't do s**t
High Cali n***as tapped in we'll cook s**t
Bust down on my neck, n***as reach gettin' stretched
Rockin' with this TEC n***as better wear a vest
Last year I was broke young n***a in the Crest
Now I show up 20 better broke n***as keep the rest...."

Social Distortion

Bakersfield

A 2011 release from the Orange County cow punk band which formed in the late 1970s. It's about being stranded in Bakersfield. This would segue nicely into Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lodi," though, if I had my pick, I'd choose to be stranded in Bakersfield, but only because I spent some time there a few times and learned to like it.

"Stranded here in Bakersfield
So close yet so far far away
Stranded here in Bakersfield
You're a million miles away yeah

So I walked out that lonely truck stop
With my head hanging down wondering
How in the hell I got myself into this mess
And more importantly
How I was going to get myself out of it

So I wrote a song for you baby girl
And I hope that when I return home
The locks ain't changed on the doors
And there's still a spot for me
On that big ole California king-sized bed

Stranded here in Bakersfield
So close yet so far far away
Stranded here in Bakersfield
You a million miles away
Won't you come see me in Bakersfield
Ohhhh I'm not a million miles away"

Social Distortion

California (Hustle and Flow)

Another one from their 2011 album.

"Well, I was born, babe, with nothing to lose
But the black man taught me how to sing the blues
Made a little life outta rock ‘n’ roll
And that crazy California hustle and flow

Take me down
Take me on down the line
Shake me down
Shake me on down the line

I went too fast with that rhythm and booze
Almost ended up dead like all those other fools
Everyone’s got some sort of ball and chain
What’s life without a little pain?"
... ... ... ... ...
Living in a Hollywood movie dream
And I’m still reaching for the stars
Life gets hard and then it gets good
Like I always knew it would

Running around like you’re front page news
Lonely eyes and your motorcycle boots
Tattooed heart and your jet-black hair
Running ‘round like you don’t care."

Social Distortion

Highway 101

From 2004, another driving on the coast highway song. I don't understand why he sings about driving up the coast on Highway 101 past Ventura and Santa Barbara and then says he's southern California bound. He's going the wrong way!

"Take a drive baby up the coast, yea Highway 101
I’ll pass Ventura and Santa Barbara too, just as fast as my motor runs
Gotta pocket full of memories, some happy and some are sad
Gotta girl standin’ by my side through the good times and the bad

Listen to the boulevard, listen to the falling rain,
I believe in love now, with all of its joys and pains

Sick boy, sick girl, looking nice dressed up on a Saturday night
Take a walk downtown for a while and chase the pale moonlight
I can still hear the mission bells and the train rollin’ through your town
Gonna leave this world behind, we’re Southern California bound

Listen to the boulevard, listen to the falling rain
I believe in love now, with all of its joys and pains
Follow the palm trees under the California sun
I believe in love now, I believe in love again...."

The Softies

California Highway 99

The Softies is a musical duo formed in 1994 made up of Rose Melberg, from Sacramento, California, and Jen Sbragia, also from California. This minimal indie pop song was released in July 2024, their first album in 24 years.

"Oh, the night I drove away from you
In a rented Chevy Malibu
3 a.m. empty lanes
Just chalk this up to growing pains

You were kind and fair
You can't fake feelings that aren't there

Oh, California Highway 99
Won't fix this broken heart of mine
And there is no car that can drive fast enough
To escape this love

I cried the whole way as I drove
Sacramento to Elk Grove
And country radio reminded me
That you and I weren't meant to be

I tried, I failed
Our ship never sailed

Oh, California Highway 99
Won't fix this broken heart of mine
And there is no car that can drive fast enough
To escape this love"

somegirlnamedanna

Somegirlnamedanna is some girl named Anna from Minnesota who made some great bedroom pop demos then signed a recording contract in 2019. This song was released in 2020.

"10 hours up in the clouds, away from you
5,098 miles and I feel them all too
I got a lot of s**t to tell ya
It’s been a few years and things have changed
I’ve written you a thousand letters
Still think about you everyday

I’ll be waiting for ya
So come to California
I could tell you that I love ya
But you gotta come to California

I swear as soon as we can afford it
I’ll be at the airport waiting for ya
Oh, oh yeah I’ll be waiting for ya
Oh, yeah

I hope that you’re doing well and you’re happy now
Cuz from here it’s so hard to tell what you’re thinking about
I’ve got a lot of s**t to tell ya
It’s been a few years and things have changed
I’ve written you a thousand letters
Still think about you everyday

I’ll be waiting for ya
So come to California
I could tell you that I love ya
But you gotta come to California

I swear as soon as we can afford it
I’ll be at the airport waiting for ya
Oh, oh yeah I’ll be waiting for ya
Oh, yeah

Don’t wanna let go
Just wanna hold on
And I hope you know, that if you want
I’ll be waiting for ya
So come to California
I could tell you that I love ya
So come to California

I swear as soon as we can afford it
I’ll be at the airport waiting for ya
Oh, oh yeah I’ll be waiting for ya
Oh, oh yeah I’ll be waiting for ya
Oh, oh yeah"

Bonnie Somerville

Winding Road

Bonnie Somerville is an American actor and singer from Brooklyn who moved to LA when she was 22. This is a soft rock song that she co-wrote with David Weisberg. It starts with solo acoustic guitar, then other instruments are added, and some male backup singers enter and do a little bit of Beach Boys harmony when she sings “California sun in your hair.” The song was included on the Garden State Soundtrack in 2004, which is probably where most of us first heard it.

“Well, the rain keeps on coming down
It feels like a flood in my head
And that road keeps on calling me
Screaming to everything lying ahead

And it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
I still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
I still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home

And I can see a little house
On top of the hill
And I can smell the ocean
The salt in the air
And I can see you
You're standing there
And you're washing your car
And I can see California sun in your hair

And its a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
Still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home

All these dreams took me so far
And I felt I just couldn't go on
And I want to hang
Out the window of your car
And see just how good this baby can run
'Cause it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
And I still don't know
Where it goes

And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
We're gonna find our way home
It's a winding road
Still have hope
One day we'll find our way home
It's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
We're gonna find our way home
It's a long way home
It's a long way home”

Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica is a power metal band from Finland, active since 1995. This song is from their album "Clear Cold Beyond" released in 2024, a year when a number of houses perched on seaside cliffs in California might literally fall into the sea due to some heavy rain events. That's definitely the main reason I don't own a gazillion dollar seaside mansion...

"So, you think you now have found yourself a game
With smiles and lies you climb the walls
To every heart, far apart
The seer’s thousand faces share a name
A thousand tales, unfolding now within a day, everywhere

Scars keep score
The broken pieces, gold on the floor
For you, love’s a game, a chore
Counting the rounds like a revolving door I’m yours on the day when

California falls into the sea
The birds know the way and fly away, if one day
California falls into the sea
You’ll never find the way, the key
To lock me down, I’m free

Now, as you have failed to hear me out, again
Made deaf by your own open mouth…
I think it’s only fair I live my life
Enjoy the day, go find my beach
And have my moments in the sun

Scars keep score
The broken pieces, gold on the floor
For you, love’s a game, a chore
Counting the rounds like a revolving door I’m yours on the day when

California falls into the sea
California falls into the sea
California falls into the sea
California falls into the sea
The day you find a way to lock me down

California falls into the sea
California falls into the sea
You wait for
California to fall into the sea
I cannot find a tongue you speak
I’ve tried them all, can you leave me be?

Preeeeego!

When California falls into the sea
When California falls in to the sea
It’s safe to say
We’ll never see the day"

Sonic Youth

Expressway to Yr Skull

Sonic Youth was a rock band formed in New York in 1981. Someone I forget called them the archetype of the Indie movement of the '80s. (Maybe that means they started the trend of going on stage in whatever clothes they woke up in that morning.) This song is from the album "EVOL" released in 1986. One of the boys in the band sings about killing the California girls, even though the girl in the band, Kim Gordon, tells in her book "Girl in a Band" that she's from California. So let's not be too hasty, boy, they're not all bad. According to Michael Azerrad in his book "Our Band Could Be Your Life" Neil Young called this "the greatest guitar song of all time" in 1990 when Sonic Youth opened for him on his Ragged Glory tour. Azerrad describes the song: "Moore sings the first line, dreamily, like some homicidal twist on a Beach Boys lyric. The song builds to a cataclysm...then back down to a meditative, after-the-storm feeling, the whole roller-coaster ride ending with a good three minutes of Moore and Ranaldo drawing sounds from their guitars like the music of the spheres..."

"We're gonna kill the California girls
We're gonna fire the exploding load
In the milkmaid maidenhead

We're gonna find the meaning of feeling good
And we're gonna stay there
As long as we think we should

Mystery train
Three way plane
Expressway to your skull...."

Sonic Youth

Death Valley '69

From 1985's "Bad Moon Rising", this song was co-written and co-sung by New York No Wave icon Lydia Lunch. Sonic Youth was obsessed with obsession, insanity, and violence, and the embodiment of all three - Charles Mansion, who hid out at the Barker Ranch ranch (now in Death Valley National Park) after the notorious Los Angeles murder spree until he and his followers were captured there.

"Coming down
Sadie I love it
Now now now
Death Valley '69
You're right
You're right
You're right
You're right
I was on the wrong track
We're deep in the valley
How deep in the gulley
And now in the canyon
Way out in the yonder
She started to holler
She started to holler
I didn't wanna
I didn't wanna
I didn't wanna
I didn't wanna
But she started to holler
So I had to hit it
Hit it
Hit it
Hit it"

Sonic Youth

Pacific Coast Highway

Beautiful, dissonant, and sinister noise-guitar-pop or whatever you want to call it from their 1987 album "Sister." Kim Gordon explores the dark side of the coast highway from a woman's perspective. She describes the song in her book "Girl in a Band" as "...a twisted love story about hitchhiking up to Malibu and getting picked up by a sociopath....It was a direct pull from the fears of my teenage years when I was focused on the lore surrounding Charlie Manson, who mirrored the darkness and swirl lying beneath West L.A.'s Disney-green lawns and movie-perfect foliage."

"Come on get in the car
Lets go for a ride somewhere
I won't hurt you
As much as you hurt me
Let me take you there
Before the sun goes down
Come on give me your love
Come on baby all you have
I wanna take your breathe away
Come on baby
Just like that, you say
You make me feel so crazy
Come on get in the car
Lets go for a ride somewhere
I won't hurt you
You make me feel so crazy"

Sonic Youth

Swimsuit Issue

This is from the album "Dirty" released in 1992. Kim Gordon says this song was inspired by a story about an executive who had sexually harassed his secretary at Geffen, the L.A. record company the band had just signed with, and the hypocrisy that the company had a "Secretary's Day" while secretaries were harassed and never promoted. At the end she lists the models in the 1992 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

"I'm just here for dictation
I don't wanna be a sensation
Bein' on Sixty Minutes
Was it worth your fifteen minutes?
Don't touch my breast
I'm just working at my desk
Don't put me to the test
I'm just doing my best.
Shopping at Maxfields
Power for you to wield
Dreams of going to the Grammys
Till you poked me with your whammy
You spinned the disc
Now you're movin' your wrist
I'm just from Encino
Why are you so mean-o?
I'm just here for dictation
And not your summer vacation
You really like to schmooze
Well now you're on the news
I'm from Sherman Oaks
Just a wheel with spokes
But I ain't giving you head
In a Sunset bungalow
Hhh, hhh . . .
Roshuma, Judith, Paulina, Cathy, Vendela, Naomi,
Ashley, Angie, Stacey, Gail
I'm swimmin'
I'm swimmin'
I'm swimmin' "

Sonic Youth

Tunic (Song For Karen)

This song from the album "Goo" released in 1990 is about Karen Carpenter, the drummer and singer of the Carpenters, who came from Downey, California, and died of anorexia.

"Dreamin', dreamin' of a girl like me.
Hey, what are you waiting for?
Feedin, feedin' me.
And I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller everyday,
But I look in the mirror, and I'm bigger in every way.

She said, 'You aren't never going anywhere.'
She said, 'You aren't never going anywhere.'
'I ain't never going anywhere.'
'I ain't never going anywhere.'

I'm in Heaven now.
I can see you, Richard.
Goodbye, Hollywood.
Goodbye, Downey.
Hello, Janis.
Hello, Dennis, Elvis, and all my brand new friends.
I'm so glad you're all here with me until the very end...."

Sons of Bill

Sons of Bill is a band from Virginia founded in 2006 by three brothers. Bet you can't guess what their father's name is. This is a great upbeat straight-up rock song from their third album "Sirens" released in 2012. There's also a more alt-country less electrified version on the "Who's First? Music Fog Sessions Vol. 1" released in 2011.

"There ain't no one to blame
That we all look the same,
And it's maybe just the course of evolution
And it surely seems to me that predictability
Is quickly becoming something you can count on

When all through the night
As the headlights shine so bright
And they're staring me down like I'm to blame
Rolling in and out of L.A. county
And they're calling out my name
They're calling out my name

Oh at the end these Santa Ana winds are going straight to my head
When the sun comes up there won't be no tomorrow
In the valley of the dead, in the valley of the dead

There ain't no skatin' by, we're all gonna die
No matter what the plastic surgeon told you
Should karma be the judge, 'cause she don't hold the grudge
Does she need a little helping hand?

When all through the night there's the moon that shines so bright
And it lights up the sheets on my bed
But tonight I'm gonna light that San Fernando with kerosene instead
With kerosene instead, with kerosene

Oh at the end these Santa Ana winds are going straight to my head
When the sun comes up there won't be no tomorrow
In the valley of the dead,
In the valley of the dead, in the valley of the dead...."

The Sons of the Pioneers

Sierra Nevada

The Sons of the Pioneers are a western vocal group formed in Los Angeles that has been active since 1933 and has included many different members including founding member and film star Roy Rogers. The band and their music has been used in many movies over the years, including several of John Ford's westerns. This song is from 1962.

"Way up high in Sierra Nevada
Close to heaven
That's where I want to be.
Clouds drift by in Sierra Nevada
Where my true love
Is there waitin' for me

Will I find my love waitin' with teardrops in her eyes
For a lover who's been to long away.
Or will this trail I'm ridin' bring an end to all her sighs
For this time I'm comin' back to stay.

Way up high in Sierra Nevada
Clouds drift by
By my true love and me

Will I find my love waitin' with teardrops in her eyes
For a lover who's been to long away.
Or will this trail I'm ridin' bring an end to all her sighs
For this time I'm comin' back to stay.

Way up high in Sierra Nevada
Clouds drift by
By my true love and me"

Sons of the San Joaquin

(More Bounce In) California

Sons of the San Joaquin is a western music band formed in 1987 and made up of two brothers from the Central Valley and one of their sons. This song is from their album "Sing One For the Cowboy" released in 2000.

"There's no place like California
No place can compare
From the desert bleak to the snow-capped peak
She'll make you stop and stare
From the emerald streams and the lakes that gleam
To Big Sur's splashing sea
And nothing compares to the mighty San Joaquin
And nothing compares to the mighty San Joaquin

Where the sugar pine trees sway in the breeze
Where the tall peaks kiss the sky
Way up there with the deer and the bear
Where the great bald eagles fly
Where the redwoods stand like gods so grand
They thrill my soul to say
California's great, she makes me shout hooray hey-hey!
California's great, and I can proudly say

There's no place like California
History's pages claim
Where the red man danced, he prayed and pranced
Before the Spaniard came
As the dashing proud vaquero
And the handsome buckaroo
They roamed this land where the grass-fed cattle grew
On the [Lux?], the Kern, the Tejon, the Tehachapi, too

Where the sugar pine trees sway in the breeze
Where the tall peaks kiss the sky
Way up there with the deer and the bear
Where the great bald eagles fly
Where the redwoods stand like gods so grand
They thrill my soul to say
California's great, she makes me shout hooray hey-hey!
California's great, and I can proudly say

There's no place like California
See her grand review
Where the Merced flows, the dogwood grows
Yosemite beckons you
In a wonderland, see El Capitan
Where the cataracts plunge and spray
I stand in all of nature's grand display
California's great, and great she's gonna stay

Where the sugar pine trees sway in the breeze
Where the tall peaks kiss the sky
Way up there with the deer and the bear
Where the great bald eagles fly
Where the redwoods stand like gods so grand
They thrill my soul to say
California's great, she makes me shout hooray hey-hey!
California's great, and I can proudly say
California, California, California!"

Sons of the San Joaquin

Sierra Nevada

This is another song from the album "Sing One For the Cowboy" released in 2000. If you like songs about cows eating grass in the mountains, this one's for you. And it has yodeling, too.

"The ole cows are ballin' they're rarin' to go
It's hot in the San Joaquin Valley, you know
They're a headin' up high where the meadows are green
Up where the air is both fragrant and clean
Up near the timber line spendin' my days
Keepin' and eye on the cattle that graze
Sierra Nevadas right now and always
I'm a grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range

Yodel-o-o-dee-o-lo-o-dee
I'm a headin' up high
Up where the high mountain peaks kiss the sky
Sierra Nevadas I'll ride 'till I die
Grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range

Your great cliffs and canyons are snow-packed and deep
Your grand [?] slopes are both rugged and steep
Your cool meadows gleam, a meanderin' stream
Up here's the hard workin' cow puncher's dream
Up near the timber line, here's where I'll stay
I'm feelin' guilty just a drawin' my pay
Feeling your breeze, see the trees as they sway
Grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range

When Autumn rolls in, the scenes are so rare
The Sierras are grandest when Fall nips the air
There's frost on the ground, the grass has turned brown
We've gathered the cows and we're hazin' them down

Up near the timber line stars shine so bright
Cliffs are aglow in the moon's silver light
Sierra Nevadas your world is so right
Grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range

When the snow starts to fly, it's back down I go
It's cold in the San Joaquin Valley you know
When Spring colors fade and old Summer rolls in
It's back to my beckoning highlands again

Up near the timber line, a hawk's sailin' by
Coyote goes a slinkin', a bald eagles' cry

Sierra Nevadas, there's a tear in my eye
Grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range

Yodel-o-o-dee-o-lo-o-dee
I'm a headin' up high
Up where the tall mountain peaks kiss the sky
Sierra Nevadas I'll ride 'till I die
Grazin' your high country range
Grazin' your high country range
Your high country range
Your high country range
Yodel-o-o-dee-o-lo-o-dee"

Sonya

San Francisco Song

Sonya is a post-rock band formed in Budapest, Hungary in 2014. This song is from the album REFLECT/ION released in 2022.

"Rainy nights on my way to San Francisco
Radio sounds abysmal
Want to get out of this hole
But who am I to dieWho are you to cry
Can you find a way
Hit me in the eye

Leave me here to die
To die
Leave me here to die
To die
Leave me here to die

Hello
Welcome to the end of time
See the world through my eyes
I'm blind
Let me open you tonight
All night
Dark and red gin and juice
Sweet taste to the tooth
Endless thoughts of fruit
Adam, where are you
Eve just sold your youth

Rainy nights on my way to San Francisco
Radio sounds abysmal
Want to get out of this hole
But who am I to die
Who are you to cry
Can you find a way
Hit me in the eye
Leave me here to die"

Soul Coughing

Screenwriter's Blues

Soul Coughing was an alternative rock/jazz rock band that formed in New York City in 1992. This song is from their debut album "Ruby Vroom" released in 1994.

"Exits to freeways twisted like knots on the fingers
Jewels cleaving skin between breasts

Your Cadillac breathes four hundred horses over blue lines
You are going to Reseda to make love to a model from Ohio whose real name you don't know
You spin like the Cadillac was overturning down a cliff on television
And the radio is on
And the radio man is speaking
And the radio man says women were a curse
So men built Paramount Studios
And men built Columbia Studios
And men built Los Angeles

It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles
It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles|

And the radio man says, "It is a beautiful night out there"
And the radio man says, "Rock 'n' roll lives"
And the radio man says, "It is a beautiful night out there in Los Angeles"
You live in Los Angeles, and you are going to Reseda
We are all in some way or another going to Reseda someday to die
And the radio man laughs because the radio man f***s a model, too

Gone savage for teenagers with automatic weapons and boundless love
Gone savage for teenagers who are aesthetically pleasing, in other words, fly
Los Angeles beckons the teenagers to come to her on buses
Los Angeles loves love

It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles
It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles

I am going to Los Angeles to build a screenplay about lovers who murder each other
I am going to Los Angeles to see my own name on a screen, five feet long and luminous
As the radio man says, "It is 5 A.M., and the sun has charred the other side of the world and come back to us
And painted the smoke over our heads an imperial violet"

It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles
It is 5 A.M., and you are listening to Los Angeles...."

Soul Kid #1

Soul Kid #1 is a pop band formed by Canadian Mark Godfrey after he settled in Los Angeles. This song, from the concept album "Americanized" released in 2006, became a SoCal sensation, played at Dodger games and used in TV shows such as "The O.C." and "Laguna Beach."

"We got more bounce in California
Than all y'all combined
We got more bounce in California
We like to party all the time
We got more bounce in California
Where the hustlers all reside
We got more bounce in California
Rollin' easy when we ride

Well excuse me for a while
But it's time to propagate
I'm comin' from the land
Where the seasons never change
Where all around the world
They're all lookin' to L.A.
Always the first in new directions
Cause Cali leads the way

We got more bounce in California
Than all y'all combined
We got more bounce in California
We like to party all the time
We got more bounce in California
Where the hustlers all reside
We got more bounce in California
Rollin' easy when we ride

Now everybody's by the pool
All peaking out on Ecstasy
Just bumpin' to a playlist
That's all down on MP3
Here comes another group of ladies
Parked her mama's SUV
Well I've seen that blonde before
In a Vivid DVD

We got more bounce in California
Than all y'all combined
We got more bounce in California
We like to party all the time
We got more bounce in California
Where the hustlers all reside
We got more bounce in California
Rollin' easy when we ride

In California
Just a little bit higher baby
In California
Just a little bit higher now
In California
Just a little bit higher baby
In California
Just a little bit higher now

If ya stuck in rush hour traffic
Out on the 101
Just blaze up and roll the top down
'Neath that California sun
Oh let those police helicopters
Shine the spotlights down on me
And I thank my lucky stars
There's no place else I'd rather be

We got more bounce in California
Than all y'all combined
We got more bounce in California
We like to party all the time
We got more bounce in California
Where the hustlers all reside
We got more bounce in California...."

Soundgarden

Outshined

Soundgarden was a rock band formed in 1984 in Seattle a few years before the grunge scene that they helped define. This is from their album "Badmotorfinger" released in 1991. Me, I'm looking Minnesota but feeling California.

"I got up feeling so down
I got off being sold out
I've kept the movie rolling
But the story's getting old now

I just looked in the mirror
Things aren't looking so good
I'm looking California
And feeling Minnesota

So now you know, who gets mystified
So now you know, who gets mystified

Show me the power child
I'd like to say
That I'm down on my knees today

It gives me the butterflies
Gives me away
Till I'm up on my feet again

I'm feeling out-shined ...

Someone let the dogs out
They'll show you where the truth is
The grass is always greener
Where the dogs are s**tting

I'm feeling that I'm sober
Even though I'm drinking
I can't get any lower
Still I feel I'm sinking

So now you know, who gets mystified
So now you know, who gets mystified

Show me the power child
I'd like to say
That I'm down on my knees today

It gives me the butterflies
Gives me away
Till I'm up on my feet again

I'm feeling out-shined ...."

South Park

The Great Canyon Fire in General

This song was created for the 2012 South Park episode "Butterballs" that satirized film director Jason Russell who suffered a mental breakdown and was found wandering around naked in San Diego, shouting obscenities, and masturbating. I didn't see the episode, so I don't know why they were making fun of his mental breakdown. It seems a bit cruel. South Park has always strived to shock and disgust its audience for a laugh, so, mission accomplished. I wonder if really they're not making fun of him but instead they're applauding him for enjoying his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

"I'm gonna' jack it where the sun always shines
(He's gonna jack it)
Been spreading the word and now I need to ease my mind
(Jackin' it, oh)
Been planting apple seeds, and while the apples grow
I'm gonna go out jackin' it in San Diego

Jackin' it, jackin' it, jackety-jack
Spankin' it, jackin' it, spankety-smackI don't need no shirt no, gonna' take them pants right off
(He's about to jack it)

On such a bright day, who needs underwear or socks?
(Jack it, jack it, ho!)
Been around god's country, and there's one thing I know
There's no better place for jackin' it than San Diego!

Jack it, jack it, jackety-jack
Spankin' it, spankin' it, smackety-smack
Jackin' it, jackin' it, jackety-jack
Spankin' it, spankin' it, smackety-smack
Jacking for the lord!

Come to San Diego, there's so much to see! From the sparkling waters of Mission Bay to the warm tortillas of Old Town. And after a day of sightseeing, why not try spankin' it on one of our city streets?
San Diego: Come. Take a load off

Jackin' it, jackin' it, jackety-jack
Spankin' it, spankin' it, smackety-smack
A-whackin' it, whackin' it, whackety-whack
Spankin' it, jerkin' it, smackety-smack

The cars are passing me by
They honk and say hello
(Hey, that guy's jackin' it!)
From his window there's a guy shootin' video
(Video of them jackin' it)
And if the good lord Jesus comes knocking on my do'
Just tell him that I'm jackin' it in San Diego

Jackin' it, jackin' it, jackety-jack
Spankin' it, spankin' it, smackety-smack
(He's about to jack it)
Jackin' it Jack, jackin' it Jack
Whack, whackin' it, whackin' it
Whackey, whackey, spank spank, smackety-smack"

Spirit

California Blues

Spirit was a rock band founded in Los Angeles in 1967 that is one of the best L.A. bands from the 1960s. Jimi Hendrix even gave Spirit's guitarist the nickname "Randy California." This song is from the band's last album "California Blues" released in 1996, and features a male and female singer singing alternate lines.

"Come back
I need your love
Come on come on now
Come back
I need your love

Got that low down
California blues
Got that low down
California blues

Got that California blues
Got that California blues

Come on come on now take me
All over this land
And I want you to shake me
Till I say I can

Just love me
Through and through
Pretty mama don't tell me
What you gonna do

Got that California blues
Got that California blues

Come on come on now show me
A heart that's clean
You are the sweetest thing
I ever seen

Got that California blues
Got that California blues

I need your love
Come back
I need your love
Baby baby please come back
I need your love

Come back
I need your love"

Spirit

This is from the band's first album "Spirit" released in 1968. This song doesn't say which canyon is burning, but it's without doubt a California canyon that's subject to California's typical winter rains and summer-through-fall drought. It could be Topanga Canyon, the subject of another song on the album "Topanga Windows," but I hear this as a general California fire song since the fire season in the state is as predictable as death and taxes and blockbuster movie sequels.

"Somewhere, someone's calling
6 o'clock on a Thursday evening
I saw the smoke rise orange in the sky
I watched the fire climb over the hilltops
Canyon's burning
Canyon's burning down
Hear the trees crying
All the years dying
Fire has turned the hills into ashes
And as the sun ran down from the sky
The canyon burned
Canyon's burning
Canyon's burning down
Ashes, long lying
Memories, slow dying
Fire has gone and the rain has fallen
The winter has passed and the springtime is near
But under the wind someone is calling
Canyon's burning
Canyon's burning down"

Spirit

Topanga Windows

This song is about Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains above Los Angeles which had a reputation of being a decadent countercultural bohemian enclave, and I hope it still is. It's off their first album "Spirit" released in 1968.

"Watching the world through our Topanga window
Seeing people running through their lies
The sun shines warm through our Topanga window
The cat lies sleeping waiting for the night

Your time is going much too fast
You've got to slow it on down
Or it won't last
And what we'll be will sewn in a past part
Our Topanga window window window

People searching for a better season
Trying to catch their moment on the run
Always asking wanting what's low reason
What do you want when you just want to have some fun?

Your time is going much too fast
You've got to slow it on down
Or it won't last
And what we'll be will sewn in a past part
Our Topanga window window window…"

Alana Springsteen

57 Channels (And Nothin' On)

Alana Springsteen is a Nashville-based country music singer-songwriter from Virginia Beach, Virginia. This lovely song from her album "History of Breaking Up (Part One)" released in 2021.

"PCH, driving up the coast, it's been like twenty days
Am I the only one who's getting way too into my head?
I'm packing up to go home, but I don't want to
(I don't want to)

It's your green eyes against the blue
And that night in Malibu, when we stayed 'til sunrise
Oh my god, it's almost like a dream and that's the issue
Might wake up and forget you, I'm just trying to be honest

Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California
I can't decide if it's in my mind
Or just the way that the lights in Santa Monica
Shine on you maybe it's just the view
Baby I'm confused, I can't tell
Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California

Is it you I'll still be thinking of?
Wish I knew how to tell the difference 'cause
Once I get on that plane, I know it's all gonna change
I hope that you know that I hate it, baby let's face it

Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California
I can't decide if it's in my mind
Or just the way that the lights in Santa Monica
Shine on you maybe it's just the view
Baby I'm confused, I can't tell
Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California

It's your green eyes against the blue
And that night in Malibu, when we stayed 'til sunrise
Oh my god, it's almost like a dream

Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California
I can't decide if it's in my mind
Or just the way that the lights in Santa Monica
Shine on you maybe it's just the view
Baby I'm confused, I can't tell
Maybe it's us or maybe I'm just falling in love with California

Yeah, I think I've fallen in love with, with California
Oh, oh, yeah"

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey, active since 1964. He's one of the best-selling and most celebrated musical artists in the world. This song is from the album "Human Touch" released in 1992 back when cable and satellite TV had ONLY 57 channels and people were slaves to the TV instead of their phones.

The lyrics posted online all want us to believe that the singer drives a cheap Japanese car but can afford a house that cost, as they show the lyrics: "a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills." But to my ears he sings the line with pauses that change that meaning: "with a trunk (or truck) load (pause) a hundred thousand (pause) dollar bills." A hundred thousand dollar bills are a lot less money than a hundred thousand-dollar bills, and that fits the singer's description of the house being bourgeois. (One hundred thousand dollar bills have been printed, but it is illegal for private individuals to use or own them, and that fact helps convince me that my interpretation is correct.) If the song was released these days, I wouldn't doubt for a second that a house in the hills costs multi-millions, but the song was released back in 1992 when there still was a middle class that could afford to buy houses. That's enough complaining. It's time to walk back to my tiny studio apartment to find something to watch in my huge Netflix queue.

"I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a trunk load, a hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me

We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn:
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars

A message came back from the great beyond:
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
We might'a got all nice and friendly if we'd made it upstairs

All I got was a note that said, 'Bye-bye, John
Our love's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on,'
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

So I bought a .44 magnum, it was solid steel cast
And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
'Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin' the almighty peace

Judge said, 'What you got in your defense son?'
'Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on,'
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

I can see by your eyes, friend, you're just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

Bruce Springsteen

Balboa Park

This quiet acoustic song is from Springsteen's eleventh studio album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" released in 1995, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

"He lay his blanket underneath the freeway
As the evening sky grew dark
Took a sniff of toncho from his coke can
And headed through Balboa Park

Where the men in their Mercedes
Come nightly to employ
In the cool San Diego evening
The services of the border boys

He grew up near the Zona Norte
With the hustlers and smugglers he hung out with
He swallowed their balloons of cocaine
Brought them across to the Twelfth Street strip

Sleeping in a shelter
If the night got too cold
Running from the migra
Of the Border Patrol

Past the salvage yard across the train tracks
And in through the storm drain
They stretched their blankets out beneath the freeway
And each one took a name

There was X-man and Cochise
Little Spider, his sneakers covered in river mud
They come north to California
End up with the poison in their blood

He did what he had to for the money
Sometimes he sent home what he could spare
The rest went to high-top sneakers and toncho
And jeans like the gavachos wear

One night the Border Patrol swept Twelfth Street
A big car come fast down the boulevard
Spider stood caught in its headlights
Got hit and went down hard

As the car sped away, Spider held his stomach
Limped to his blanket beneath the underpass
Lie there tasting his own blood on his tongue
Closed his eyes and listened to the cars rushing by so fast"

Bruce Springsteen

Rosalita

Bruce Springsteen is a guy from New Jersey who sings about cars, and girls, and people with nicknames like "Sloppy Sue" and "Big Bones Billy." This song is from his second album "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle " released in 1973.

"Spread out now Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama's reins
You know playin' blind man's bluff is a little baby's game
You pick up Little Dynamite, I'll pick up Little Gun
And together we're gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don't have to call me lieutenant, Rosie, and I don't want to be your son
The only lover I'm ever gonna need's your soft, sweet, little girl's tongue
And Rosie, you're the one

Dynamite's in the belfry, baby, playin' with the bats
Little Gun's downtown in front of Woolworth's tryin' out his attitude on all the cats
Papa's on the corner, waitin' for the bus
Mama, she's home in the window, waitin' up for us
She'll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs, 'cause you know we ain't gonna come
I ain't here on business, baby, I'm only here for fun
And Rosie, you're the one

Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain't no liar
Rosalita, you're my stone desire

Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knee Willie, don't you know they're gonna be there
Sloppy Sue and Big Bones Billy, they'll be coming up for air
We're gonna play some pool, skip some school
Act real cool, stay out all night, it's gonna feel alright
So Rosie, come out tonight, little baby, come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
So use it, Rosie, that's what it's there for

Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain't no liar
Rosalita, you're my stone desire

Now, I know your mama, she don't like me, 'cause I play in a rock and roll band
And I know your daddy, he don't dig me, but he never did understand
Your papa lowered the boom, he locked you in your room-- I'm comin' to lend a hand
I'm comin' to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny
But now you're sad, your mama's mad
And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Oh, your daddy says he knows that I don't have any money
Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
'Cause a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance

And my tires were slashed and I almost crashed, but the Lord had mercy
And my machine, she's a dud, out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Well, hold on tight, stay up all night, 'cause Rosie, I'm comin' on strong
By the time we meet the morning light, I will hold you in my arms
I know a pretty little place in Southern California, down San Diego way
There's a little cafe, where they play guitars all night and all day
You can hear them in the back room strummin'
So hold tight, baby, 'cause don't you know Daddy's comin'
Everybody sing...."

Bruce Springsteen

Sinaloa Cowboys

This is from "The Ghost of Tom Joad" released in 1995.

"Well, Miguel came from a small town
In northern Mexico
He came north with his brother Luis
To California three years ago
They crossed at the river levee
When Luis was just sixteen
And found work together
In the fields of the San Joaquin

They left their homes and family
Their father said, 'My sons, one thing you will learn
For everything the north gives
It exacts a price in return'
They worked side by side in the orchards
From morning until the day was through
Doing the work
The gueros wouldn't do

Word was out some men in from Sinaloa
Were looking for some hands
Well, deep in Fresno County
There was a deserted chicken ranch
Well there in a small tin shack
On the edge of a ravine
Miguel and Luis stood
Cooking methamphetamine

You could spend a year in the orchards
Or make half as much in one ten-hour shift
Working for the men from Sinaloa
Ah, but if you slipped
The hydriodic acid
Could burn right through your skin
Leave you spitting up blood in the desert
If you breathed those fumes in

It was early one winter evening
As Miguel stood watch outside
When the shack exploded
Lighting up the valley night
Miguel carried Luis's body
Over his shoulder down a swale to the creek side
And there in the tall grass
Luis Rosales died

Miguel lifted Luis' body
Into his truck and then he drove
To where the morning sunlight fell
On a eucalyptus grove
In the dirt he dug up ten thousand dollars
All that they'd saved
Kissed his brother's lips
And placed him in his grave"

Bruce Springsteen

Tucson Train

In this song from Springsteen's 2019 album "Western Stars" the singer is a crane operator who moved to Tucson when he got tired of his pills getting soggy in the San Francisco rain. (Tucson is a great place, but I advise him to be careful to keep his pills dry when rain pours down during the summer monsoons.)

"I got so down and out in Frisco
Tired of the pills and the rain
I picked up headed for the sunshine
I left a good thing behind
Seemed all of our love was in vain
Now my baby is comin' in on the Tucson train

I come here lookin' for a new life
One I wouldn't have to explain
To that voice that keeps me awake at night
When a little peace would make everything right
If I could just turn off my brain
Now my baby's comin' in on the Tucson train

We fought hard over nothin'
We fought till nothin' remained
I've carried that nothin' for a long time
Now I carry my operator's license
And spend my days just runnin' this crane
My baby's coming in on the Tucson train...."

Bruce Springsteen

Western Stars

This is another song from "Western Stars," Springsteen's 19th studio album released in 2019. The CD cover (remember those?) has a wild horse on it and Bruce wearing a cowboy hat and boots standing in front of an old Dodge truck parked at a run-down house in the Joshua trees. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the album, with its sometimes lushly-orchestrated songs about hitch-hiking drifters, movie stunt men, and lonely motels. This song is sung by an old Western movie actor who is glad to still be alive instead of buried with all the other decease western stars at the Forest Lawn cemetery near Interstate 5. I suspect that his breakfast of raw eggs and a shot of gin with a viagra chaser has contributed significantly to his longevity. It's another song that mentions the Santa Ana winds.

"I wake up in the morning, just glad my boots are on
Instead of empty in the whispering grasses
Down the Five at Forest Lawn
On the set the makeup girl brings me two raw eggs and a shot of gin
Then I give it all up for that little blue pill
That promises to bring it all back to you again

Ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

Here in the canyons above Sunset, the desert don't give up the fight
A coyote with someone's Chihuahua in its teeth skitters 'cross my veranda in the night
Some lost sheep from Oklahoma sips her Mojito down at the Whiskey Bar
Smiles and says she thinks she remembers me from that commercial with the credit card

Hell these days there ain't no more, now there's just again
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

Sundays I take my El Camino, throw my saddle in and go
East to the desert where the charros, they still ride and rope
Our American brothers cross the wire and bring the old ways with them
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

Once I was shot by John Wayne, yeah it was towards the end
That one scene's bought me a thousand drinks, set me up and I'll tell it for you, friend

Here's to the cowboys, the riders in the whirlwind
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
And the western stars are shining bright again

Tonight the riders on Sunset are smothered in the Santa Ana winds
And the western stars are shining bright again
Come on and ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
'Cause tonight the western stars are shining bright again

I woke up this morning just, glad my boots were on"

Starcrawler

I Love L.A.

Starcrawler is a rock band formed in L.A. in 2015 who sound on this song like they formed back when guitar rock and quarter-a-call pay phones were still alive. This is from their 2018 eponymous debut album.

"Walking down the street
Every type of person I meet
Living down here
Cruising everywhere
Just to get in your nightmares

I love L.A.
I love L.A.
I love L.A.
I don't want to leave today

Talking to a friend
He said he'd never ever wanna
Ever come back again
I call him on the phone
Put a quarter in
He can listen to my ringtone

I love L.A.
I love L.A.
I love L.A.
I don't want to leave today...."

Starland Vocal Band

California Day

Starland Vocal Band was a pop band formed in Washington D.C. in 1976, best known for their 1976 #1 hit song "Afternoon Delight." This is from their debut studio album "Starland Vocal Band" released in 1976.

"To be blessed with forgetfulness, oh yes
To be glad to be alive
Like a bee out of the hive
I don't know how I have survived
But here I am (Here I am)

And it's a
California day (California day)
California weather (California weather)
Take the clouds away (Take the clouds away)
I'll feel a whole lot better, California day

There's nothing like the sunshine
To get me out of doors
And I'd paddle you in my canoe
If I could find some oars
Goodbye, big time, hello, wind chimes
Yeah, esprit de corps

It's a
California day (California day)
California weather (California weather)
Take the clouds away (Take the clouds away)
I'll feel a whole lot better, California day

I ran into an old dream
I remember well (I remember well)
It used to be a daydream
(Now it's beginning) Now it's beginning to feel so real

California day
California weather
Take the clouds away
I'll feel a whole lot better, California

California day
California weather
Take the clouds away
I'll feel a whole lot better, California day

To be blessed with forgetfulness, oh yes
To be glad to be alive
Like a bee out of the hive
I don't know how I have survived
But here I am (Oh, here I am)
Blown away and gone again
Blown away and gone again
Blown away and gone again
Blown away and gone again"

Stars

California, I Love That Name

Stars is an indie pop/rock band formed in 2000 made up of musicians from Toronto now based in Montreal. This is from their eighth studio album "There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light" released in 2017. I think the line "California burns to the sky" refers to wildfires, so I"ve put this on the list of songs that mention California Wildfires.

"California is the place to be
When you're alone in the world and you wanna be free
Up in the hills or down by the sea
Deep in the canyons where the vampires run free

California, dry as the moon
We wanna watch the end and we'll be there soon
Sun is the color of blood in my mouth
We were dying in the north so we all ran south for the good life

California, I love that name
Free from the past and free from the pain
California, wish you were here
Where the blood runs cold and the skies are clear
It's the good life
It's the good life

California burns to the sky
We're here to take the picture and to call out why
California, I love you at night
When all the lonely killers have turned out the light
And it's still
And we got hours to kill

California, I love that name
Free from the past and free from the pain
California, wish you were here
Where the blood runs cold and the skies are clear

California, I love that name
Free from the past and free from the pain
California, forget what I mean
But the blood runs cold and the skies are clear
It's the good life
Yeah, it's the good life
It's the good life
Oh, it's the good life

Drive west on Sunset to the sea
Drive west on Sunset to the sea
Drive west on Sunset to the sea
You'll never find me"

Starship

We Built This City

Starship is an arena rock band formed in San Francisco in 1984 after splitting off from Jefferson Starship (which evolved out of Jefferson Airplane) before the name "Jefferson" was slashed off by lawyers. This song, which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is from the band's first album "Knee Deep in the Hoopla" which was released in 1985.

The city that the song claims to have built on rock and roll about a thousand times, is, of course, San Francisco - The City, the city by the bay, the golden city, San Fran, Don't call it Frisco (which was really built on gold rush fever during the mid 19th century.) Alas, the city evicted rock and roll and rebuilt the city with tech companies many years ago.

"We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll
Built this city
We built this city on rock and roll

Say you don't know me or recognize my face
Say you don't care who goes to that kind of place
Knee deep in the hoopla, sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night

Marconi plays the mambo, listen to the radio
Don't you remember?
We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll

We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll
Built this city
We built this city on rock and roll

Someone's always playing corporation games
Who cares, they're always changing corporation names
We just want to dance here, someone stole the stage
They call us irresponsible, write us off the page

Marconi plays the mambo, listen to the radio
Don't you remember?
We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll

We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll
Built this city
We built this city on rock and roll

It's just another Sunday
In a tired old street
Police have got the choke hold, oh
Then we just lost the beat

Who counts the money underneath the bar?
Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars?
Don't tell us you need us 'cause we're the ship of fools
Looking for America, coming through your schools

(I'm looking out over that Golden Gate Bridge on another gorgeous sunny Saturday and I'm seein' that bumper to bumper traffic.)

Don't you remember? (remember)

(Here's your favorite radio station, in your favorite radio city, the city by the bay, the city that rocks, the city that never sleeps.)

Marconi plays the mambo, listen to the radio
Don't you remember?
We built this city
We built this city on rock and roll...."

The Statlers

Livin' It Up In Morro Bay

The Statlers (aka The Statler Brothers) were a country and gospel vocal group from Virginia active from 1955-2002. Only two members were brothers and nobody was named Statler - they got the name from a brand of facial tissue. This is a very show-biz tune with a Dixieland band and a steel guitar. It's from the album "Atlanta Blue" released in 1984.

"Hollywood (Hollywood)
You've got out me here like I knew you would
And you have hooked me with your magic lure
And that's the cure for Hollywood and that's for sure

Hollywood
You have a way of making dreams come true
Anyone can see there's a different me
'Cause that's in Hollywood

Hollywood (Hollywood)
You make me think of things that no one should
Your beauty has become a legend now
Take a bow for Hollywood and show me how

Hollywood
I feel I'm on the verge of somethin' grand
Who can make you feel good, I know Holly could
If only Hollywood

Hollywood (Hollywood)
You've got me out here like I knew you would
And you have hooked me with your magic lure
And that's the cure for Hollywood and that's for sure

Hollywood
You have a way of making dreams come true
Anyone can see there's a different me
'Cause that's in Hollywood

Anyone can see there's a different me
'Cause that's in Hollywood"

The Steam Machine

Home to Sacramento

This is a soft rock single released in 1971. It seems like the songwriter has never been to Sacramento, which is nowhere near the sea. The city does have a port on the Sacramento River which can accommodate oceangoing vessels, but it's a good 90 miles from the Golden Gate.

"Take me back to a place I know
Where the rivers flow
And the west wind blows my mind
Lord it's been a long, long time

Take me back to the early spring
Where the ships roll in
And the robin sings his song
Lord I've been away too long

I'm going home to Sacramento
To the west coast and the sea
I'm going home to where the sun shines
Endlessly

I'm going home to Sacramento
To the land that I call mine
I see it still, I know I always will
Until the end of time
I'm going home

Let me breathe in the morning sun
When the day is done let me breathe the cool night air
Lord I need to be right there

Spread my wings and I'm gonna fly
Over rivers deep, over mountains high
I've seen the world that's waiting there for me

I'm going home to Sacramento
To the west coast and the sea
I'm going home to where the sun shines
Endlessly

I'm going home to Sacramento
To the land that I call mine
I see it still; I know I always will
Until the end of time
I'm going home...."

Steely Dan

Babylon Sisters

Steely Dan is a jazz rock band originally from New York. This is from the band's seventh album Gaucho, released in 1980. You have to appreciate a California song that begins with driving directions. It also mentions the Santa Ana winds.

"Drive west on Sunset
To the sea
Turn that jungle music down
Just until we're out of town
This is no one night stand
It's a real occasion
Close your eyes and you'll be there
It's everything they say
The end of a perfect day
Distant lights from across the bay
Babylon Sisters shake it
Babylon Sisters shake it
So fine so young
Tell me I'm the only one

Here come those Santa Ana winds again

We'll jog with show folk on the sand
Drink kirschwasser from a shell
San Francisco show and tell
Well I should know by now
That it's just a spasm
Like a Sunday in T.J.
That it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three...."

Steely Dan

Kid Charlemagne

This is a classic jazz-rock song with some great guitar playing from the album "The Royal Scam" released in 1976. Steely Dan usually alludes to all sorts of people in their songs, and it seems that Kid Charlemagne is loosely based on Owsley Stanley, known for manufacturing mass quantities of LSD in the '60s (starting when it was still legal) as well as for being a sound engineer for the San Francisco band, the Grateful Dead.

"While the music played you worked by candlelight
Those San Francisco nights
You were the best in town
Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world
That's when you turned the world around

Did you feel like Jesus?
Did you realize
That you were a champion in their eyes?

On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home
Every A-Frame had your number on the wall
You must have had it all
You'd go to L.A. on a dare
And you'd go it alone

Could you live forever?
Could you see the day?
Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away?

Get along
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne

Now your patrons have all left you in the red
Your low rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange
All those Day-Glo freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race
Some things will never change

Son, you were mistaken
You are obsolete
Look at all the white men on the street

Get along
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall
Know who you are

Careful what you carry
'Cause the man is wise
You are still an outlaw in their eyes

Get along
Get along, Kid Charlemagne (Get along)
Get along, Kid Charlemagne"

Steely Dan

My Old School

This is from the band's second album Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973.
Wikipedia shows that the duo formed at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, which explains the Annandale and old school references in the song. The duo was later based in California, which explains why the singer won't go back to Annandale unless California is destroyed in an earthquake.

"I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I
Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no
William and Mary won't do

Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can't stand her
Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale
Well, I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

(Chorus)

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do...."

Steely Dan

Reelin' In the Years

This is from the 1972 album "Can't Buy a Thrill." Elliott Randall does some amazing guitar playing on this song. It's a post break-up song in which the singer is bitter about having spent a lot of time and money taking his ex to Hollywood before he was dumped for another guy.

"Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

You been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college
Didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge
I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made to Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand"

Gwen Stefani

Rich Girl

Gwen Stefani is a singer-songwriting from Fullerton, CA, active since 1986 and the former head of the band No Doubt. Eve is a rapper/actress from Philadelphia active since 1996. This was a top-ten hit single from her debut solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby" released in 2004. It's a remake of the 1993 song "Rich Girl" by Louchie Lou & Michie One, which itself was adapted from the Fiddler on the Roof Song "If I Was a Rich Man." There's not much California in it, but there is some irony because Gwen Stafani is actually a very rich girl, who does live in a multi-million-dollar L.A. mansiion. Of course, she doesn't have all the money in the world, so I suppose she's still got goals.

"...Come together all over the word
From the hood to Japan
Harajuku girls
It's all love, what
Give it all up, what
What

"If I was a rich girl
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
See, I'd have all the money in the world,
If I was a wealthy girl
No man could test me,
Impress me,
My cash flow would never ever end
Cause I'd have all the money in the world,
If I was a wealthy girl

Think what that money could bring
I'd buy everything
Clean out Vivienne Westwood [designer, not the town]
In my Galliano gown

No, wouldn't just have one hood
A Hollywood mansion if I could
Please book me first-class
To my fancy house in London town

All the riches baby, won't mean anything
All the riches baby, won't bring what your love can bring
All the riches baby, won't mean anything
Don't need no other baby
Your lovin' is better than gold, and I know...."

Stefy

Orange County

Stefy was a synthpop band from Orange County, California, active from 2002 to 2009, named after the lead singer Stefy Rae. This song is from their only album "The Orange Album" released in 2006.

"He drives up to her house
She tells her mama goodbye
She jumps into his car
Their kiss lit in the radio's light

And they're gonna fall in love tonight
Underneath the Orange County sky
They sleep on the beach until they see the morning come
Life was over before it begunWe still got our MTV
Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani
Tivo for my sweet sixteen

And pre-paid AT&T
The things we think that we need
For our American dream
We're so perfectly Orange County

She has a baby comin'
He quits school to get a job
She stays at home alone
Thinking where have the good times gone

And they're gonna fall in love tonight
Underneath the Orange County sky
They sleep on the beach until they see the morning come
Life was over before it begun

We still got our MTV
Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani
Tivo for my sweet sixteen
And pre-paid AT&T
The things we think that we need
Now they're two become three
We're so perfectly Orange County
Orange County

Where have all the good times gone
And she says
Where have all the good times gone

And they're gonna fall in love tonight
Underneath the Orange County sky
They sleep on the beach until they see the morning come
Life was over before it begun

We've still got our MTV
Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani
Tivo for my sweet sixteen
And pre-paid AT&T
Marc Jacobs and Gucci gear
We'll pay it off in a year
Credit cards to pay our debt
So why aren't we happy yet?
Old pictures of you and me
When we were young and were free
And memories so perfectly Orange County
Orange County
Orange Country
Orange County"

Hailee Steinfeld (featuring Anderson .Paak)

Coast

Hailee Steinfeld is an actress and singer from Tarzana, CA, active since 2007. Anderson .Paak is a singer-songwriter from Oxnard, CA. This song was released in November, 2022. I wonder if "let's coast" is something people in SoCal say when they want to go to the beach. it should be. But she can keep her riptide to herself. They can drown you.

[Hailee Steinfeld]
"You the wave upon my ocean
Pounding rhythm and motion
Its full moon kinda night yeah
I don’t wanna go home yet

You can question my devotion
Wear my heart on my shoulder
Just relax and let the riptide pull you close

Ahh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Energy the body flows
Ahhh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Frequency of all we know

[Anderson .Paak]
Feelin' like I caught a wave with ya
I been dealin' with a lot of changes
And all the people that I like to hang with
They all been sayin that I ain’t the same
Listen, I been chillin with you for a couple days
If you ain’t afraid me and you should rage in the sun rays
Come on out the cage don’t wanna tame
Live it your way
Body go for days
Got me in a daze
Parties in L.A. feel like holidays
Hit the PCH
And we on our way to a place I was born and raised
You live on the screen and the stage
I wanna fit in between your legs
Let’s pick a day
Everything can wait
Words can’t relay but it’s giving… fate

[Hailee Steinfeld]
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Energy the body flows
Ahhh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Frequency of all we know

Nothing feels as real when we’re connected
So relax and let the riptide pull you close
Ahhh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Frequency of all we know

The stars come down
Ya drown them out
I’m sinking deeper into you
I breath you in
I breathe you out
I'm sinking deeper into

Ahh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Energy the body flows
Ahhh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Frequency of all we know

Nothing feels as real when we’re connected
Ao relax and let the riptide pull you close
Ahhh
Baby all I want to do is coast
With you
Frequency of all we know"

Hailee Steinfeld

SunKissing

Hailee Steinfeld is an actress and singer from Tarzana, CA, active since 2007. This bright pop song was released in March 2023.

"I had a dream that we were underwater
Drownin' in us
I've had a feeling there's something up above
Maybe it's love

California
Right in front of ya
Fast lane follower
Baby, take my hand and don't let go

Come and catch a wave
Fade away like it rains in the summertime (In the summertime)
Make every mistake
We'll just fly far away, higher than the sky (Higher than the sky)
Light drifting, sun kissing (Ooh)
Light drifting, sun kissing

I hear it calling, swimming every summer
Drownin' in us
Singing like starlings, maybe you're the one
Forever love

California
Right in front of ya
Fast lane follower
Baby, take my hand and don't let go

Come and catch a wave
Fade away like it rains in the summertime (In the summertime)
Make every mistake
We'll just fly far away, higher than the sky (Higher than the sky)
Light drifting, sun kissing (Ooh)
Light drifting, sun kissing (Ooh)

Light drifting, sun kissing (Ooh)
Light drifting, sun kissing
(It's you that I've been missin')
(It's you that I've been missin')
(Ooh)

California
I'll take all of ya
California
Right in front of ya (Ooh)...."

Lennon Stella (featuring Charlie Puth)

Summer Feelings

Lennon Stella is a Canadian singer and actress and Charlie Puth is a singer-songwriter-producer from New Jersey. This is from "Scoob! The Album" released in Spring 2020. It's the soundtrack for an upcoming animated Scooby-Doo film.

(Lenon Stella)
"I hear the rhythm of waves hittin' on the shore
And I can swear they're speakin', speakin', speakin'
They're telling me to relax, I'm not good at that
But now I know I need it, need it, need it (I slide)

Ooh, now what you do, nothin' like tell the truth (I slide)
Yeah, on Venice beach, got sand all in my shoes (tonight)
Ooh, unlock me, loose, see the sunset from the roof (that's right)
Yeah, that crystal blue, and it came out someone new

Yeah (good), I'm in my summer feelings
And I'm trying to keep it cool
Wait (up), here in my summer feeling
And I found a piece of me that I never knew

(Charlie Puth)
You got my heart and I'm head over heels in love
In California, dreamin', dreamin', dreamin', yeah
Touchin' the stars and then draggin' them down to earth
That California, feelin', feelin', feelin' (that's right)

Oh, now what you do, your brown eyes tell the truth (that's right)
Yeah, down on the beach, I'm stayin' out late for you (tonight)
Oh, unlock you, loose, see the sunset from the roof (that's right)
Yeah, you got to me and it came out someone new

Hey, gettin' in my summer feelings (summer feelings)
(And I) I'm trying to keep it cool
Wait (up), here in my summer feelings
(And I) I found a piece of me that I never knew

(Lennon Stella)
I'm meltin' like ice cream
The stress is gone for me
Nowhere I'd rather be (oh)

(Both)
Hey (yeah), I'm in my summer feelings
And I, I'm trying to keep it cool
Wait (up), here in my summer feelings
And I found a piece of me that I never knew
Hey, gettin' in my summer feelings
(And I) I'm trying to keep the cool
Wait (uh), here in my summer feelings
And I found a piece of me that I never knew"

Stellar

California Caffeine

Stellar is the stage name Sid Banerjee, and Indian-American pop singer-songwriter from Massachusetts active since 2019. This song was released in 2024.

"Wake up, fu**ed up
I’m already running late
Cuz it’s 33 minutes but only 3 miles away
My head is pounding
Liver’s drownin’, but I’ll be OK
Pour some liquor in my cup, and send a text I’m on the way

They say that I drink too much
(They’re lying)
They say that I’m switching up
(Deny it)
They say that I’m out of touch
(Be quiet)
It’s cuz they ain’t keeping up
(Like I am)

Just another day, another day in L.A.
(Dahda, Dahdada)
I swear that every day, like every day is the same
(Dahda, Dahdada)
Rockstar lifestyle, s**t don’t change
Familiar faces, don’t remember the names
Cuz it's just another day, another day in L.A.
(Dahda, Dahdada)

What’s up, pull up
Another thotty in my phone
California caffeine, cuz I gotta keep it goin’
The sun is setting on the strip, you know I ain’t alone
Shawty dancing on the table, so I gotta take her home

They say that I drink too much
(They’re lying)
They say that I’m switching up
(Deny it)
They say that I’m out of touch
(Be quiet)
It’s cuz they ain’t keeping up
(Like I am)

Just another day, another day in L.A.
(Dahda, Dahdada)
I swear that every day, like every day is the same
(Dahda, Dahdada)
Rockstar lifestyle, s**t don’t change
Familiar faces, don’t remember the names
Cuz it's just another day, another day in L.A.
(Dahda, Dahdada)"

Stereophonics

Have a Nice Day

Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992. This song is from their 2001 album "Just Enough Education to Perform." It's about the vacuousness of tourism and conformity or something like that. That's exactly what they should expect if they're going to touristy places like Pier 39.

"San Francisco Bay
Past Pier 39
Early P.M.
Can't remember what time
Got the waiting cab
Stopped at the red light
Address, unsure of
But it turned out just right

It started straight off
'Coming here is hell'
That's his first words
We asked what he meant
He said 'where ya' from?'
We told him our lot
'When ya' take a holiday
Is this what you want?'

So have a nice day
Have a nice day
Have a nice day
Have a nice day"

Stereophonics

Plastic California

This is from the band's 1999 album "Performance and Cocktails." It's another song denigrating California tourism. Blackpool is a seaside resort on the northwest coast of England.

"Plastic California
Looks like Blackpool outta date
Some love some hate
It's all your competition
It's not my occupation true
But it's what you do
Some love some hate

I like pink architecture
Flip back my red striped deck chair
Prove we got nothing to prove
Gin stroke amnesia problems
Overhearing talk of Hollywood
We wish we could
Ya should
Some love some hate
Some love some hate

It's a beautiful place for nature
And all the beautiful people make it true
But you look good as you
Some love and some hate
Some love and some hate
Makes me feel great
Makes me feel great
I feel new
d'ya feel new, ha, ha
d'ya feel new, ha, ha
d'ya feel new, ha, ha
ha, ha
Well I'm pleased to meet you"

The Steve Miller Band

Rock'n Me

The Steve Miller Band was formed in San Francisco in 1966 and had quite a few classic rock hits in the mid 70s and early 80s, including this one from the band's 1976 album Fly Like an Eagle. It's another song that stereotypes California Girls.

"Well I've been lookin' real hard and I'm tryin' to find a job
But it just keeps gettin' tougher every day
But I got to do my part 'cause I know in my heart
I got to please my sweet baby, yeah

Well, I ain't superstitious, and I don't get suspicious
But my woman is a friend of mine
And I know that it's true that all the things that I do
Will come back to me in my sweet time

So keep on rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby

I went from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma,
Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A.
Northern California where the girls are warm
So I could be with my sweet baby, yeah

Keep on a rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby
Keep on a rock'n me baby
Baby, baby, baby,
Keep on rock'n
Rockn' me baby.... "

Greg Stevens

This is from the album "Forever By The Sea" released in 2000.

"I'm on my way to Morro Bay
About 12 o'clock I spot the rock
After the fog burns away
We're in a pedal car
We ride down the boulevard
Overlooking the bay
Right about 2 o'clock
Go back to the rock
And watch the surfers play

Lala la la la la la la la lala
Livin' it up in Morro Bay
Lala la la la la la la la lala
Livin' it up in Morro Bay

The girls get tanned wearin' a rubber band
Hey but I look the other way
I fly my kite and keep the [?]
So I won't get in their way

We're in a boogie board and pray to the lord
That we can stay for another day
The seafood is the best
It beats all the rest
Believe me when I say

Lala la la la la la la la lala
Livin' it up in Morro Bay
Lala la la la la la la la lala
Livin' it up in Morro Bay...."

John Stewart

California Bloodlines

John Stewart was a singer-songwriter from San Diego active since the 1950s. He was a former member of the Kingston Trio, and the songwriter of the Monkees' #1 hit "Daydream Believer." This song is from Stewart's second solo album "California Bloodlines" released in 1969.

"Had I been born in New York City
A New York City girl I'd know
Workin' in the concrete, not the sunlight
Livin' in the New York rain and snow

Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California woman in my song
Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California heartbeat in my soul

And just to think I might have never known you
If I had lived my life in Tennessee
But I really could have never let that happen
For you and California are in me

Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California woman in my song
Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California heartbeat in my soul

Have you wondered where we were before we were born
Rollin' 'round the heavens like a song
I know it's then I saw the big Sierras
Saw a California sunrise comin' on

Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California woman in my song
Oh, there's California Bloodlines in my heart
And a California heartbeat in my soul...."

John Stewart

Gold

This was a hit song from Stewart's 1979 album "Bombs Away Dream Babies" that features Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. I first heard about this song from Jim Bass, who is mentioned in the song. He mentioned it in the now defunct California herping forum on FieldherpForum.com where we all used to hang out in the aughts.

"When the lights go down in the California town
People are in for the evening
I jump into my car and I throw in my guitar
My heart beatin' time with my breathin'

Drivin' over Kanan, singin to my soul
There's people out there turnin' music into gold

Well my buddy Jim Bass he's a workin' pumpin' gas
And he makes two fifty for an hour
He's got rhythm in his hands as he's tappin' on the cans
Sings rock and roll in the shower

Drivin' over Kanan singin' to my soul
There's people out there turnin' music into gold

Ah, the California girls are the greatest in the world
Each one's a song in the making
Singin' rhymes with me I can hear the melody
The story is there for the takin'

Drivin over Kanan singin' to my soul
There's people out there turnin' music into gold.
Drivin over Kanan singin' to my soul
There's people out there turnin' music into gold.

When the lights go down in the California town
People are in for the evening
I jump into my car and I throw in my guitar
My heart beatin' time with my breathin'

Drivin over Kanan singin' to my soul
There's people out there turnin' music into gold.
People out there turnin' music into gold"

John Stewart

July, You're a Woman

This is another song from "California Bloodlines" released in 1969. I don't really know if he's singing about the San Joaquin Valley or Saint Joaquin, the father of Mary, the mother of the biblical Jesus, but I saw the song on another California song list and the album title mentions California so that's good enough for this list...

"I can't hold it on the road
When you're sitting right beside me
And I'm drunk, out of my mind
Merely from the fact that you are here

And I have not been known
As the Saint of San Joaquin
And I'd just as soon right now
Pull on over to the side of the road
And show you what I mean

La, da, da, da, da, da
La, da, da, da, da, da
July, you're a woman
More than anyone I've ever known

And I can't hold my eyes
On the white line out before me
When your hand is on my collar
And you're talking in my ear

And I have been around
With a gypsy girl named Shannon
A daughter of the devil
It is strange that I should mention that to you
I haven't thought of her in years

La, da, da, da, da, da
La, da, da, da, da, da
July, you're a woman
More than anyone I've ever known

I can't hold it on the road
When you're sitting right beside me
And I'm drunk out of my mind
Merely from the fact that you are here

And I have not been known
As the Saint of San Joaquin
And I'd just as soon right now
Pull on over to the side of the road
And show you what I mean

La, da, da, da, da, da
La, da, da, da, da, da
July, you're a woman
More than anyone I've ever known

July, you're a woman
More than anyone I've ever known
More than anyone I've ever known"

John Stewart

The Queen of Hollywood High

This is from Stewart's album "Blondes" released in 1982.

"Saturday night
Wheels along the boulevard
You're lookin' alright
'Cause love don't come that hard
To the queen of Hollywood High

And the boys are on the move
Hustlin' the boulevard
She knows she couldn't lose
Still she never gets that far
The queen of Hollywood High

Hollywood High
The queen of Hollywood High

There are spirits taking flight
And wings across the boulevard
They're dancin' in the night
And they call to her across the yard
To the queen of Hollywood High

Hollywood High
The queen of Hollywood High

The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High
The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High

It's Saturday night
The wheels along the boulevard
You're lookin' alright
'Cause love don't come that hard
To the queen of Hollywood High

Hollywood High
To the queen of Hollywood High

The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High
The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High
The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High
The angels fly in the northern sky
Only for the queen of Hollywood High

On Saturday night
With the queen of Hollywood High
Boys are takin' flight
With the queen of Hollywood High
And they're dancin' in the night
With the queen of Hollywood, oh
She's the queen of Hollywood, yeah
(Yeah)
She's the queen of Hollywood High
Hollywood High
She's the queen of Hollywood High"

Stephen Stills (featuring Jimi Hendrix)

Old Times Good Times

Stephen Stills is a singer-songwriter born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Louisiana, Florida, and Central America, active since 1963. He is best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (& sometimes Young). This autobiographical song in which Stills describes his life as a musician from his beginnings as a boy to being on top of the L.A. scene in the '60s and '70s, is from his first solo album "Stephen Stills" released in 1970. Stills plays organ, bass, and guitar on the song and Jimi Hendrix plays the lead guitar.

"When I was young and needed my time alone
Jump in the pirogue, pole down the Bayou
Bogafalaya River was dark and cold
Seven years old, I couldn't find my way home

Old times, good times
Old times, good times

When I was twelve, I learned how to play the guitar
Got myself a job in a Jack's beer bar
Got myself together, went to New Orleans
Found myself workin' for rice and beans

Old times, good times
Old times, good times

New York City was so damned cold
I had to get out of that town before I got old
California, the rock and roll dream
Got too high and we blew our whole scene
But we had a good time

Old times, good times
Old times, good times...."

Johnny Stimson

Summer in California

Johnny Stimson is a musician and singer from Dallas, Texas. This pop/alternative rock song was released in May, 2023.

"I guess I forgot what it was like be younger
Hearing the Beatles for the first time na na na na
Not afraid to dream cause I still had my sense of wonder
You remind me what it feels like

Your eyes take me
Right back to California
Summer ‘18
I said I’d always love ya
I meant it then I mean it now
I'd do the whole thing over
Take me back to
That summer in California
California
Summer in California

I guess I forgot what it was like to be lonely
Raindrops on Ocean Avenue
You brought the heat to Pasadena
And the light in the sky on the Fourth of July is a night that I’ll never forget

Your eyes take me
Right back to California
Summer ‘18
I said I'd always love ya
I meant it then I mean it now
I’d do the whole thing over
Take me back to
That summer in California

And the night that you left
When you said that you missed me
I knew that you meant it
The way that you kissed me
I swear I can still hear the sound of the ocean
And strawberry fields underneath the explosions
I knew I’d never let you go
I still see the afterglow

Your eyes take me
Right back to California
Summer ‘18
I said I’d always love ya
I meant it then I mean it now
I’d do the whole thing over
Take me back to
That summer in California
California
Summer in California"

Stone Temple Pilots

Hollywood B**ch

Stone Temple Pilots is a rock band from San Diego, active on and off since 1989.
This is from the album "Shangri-La Dee Da" released in 2001.

"You're on the outside
You're lookin' in
You're takin' pictures of what you never been
So kill to kill
So ya wanna die?
You're burnin' slowly - with seven lives

Blow up the b**ch with the firecracker smile
Switchblade in her suitcase
Loves to drive 'em wild
So kill to kill
Yeah ya gonna die
Everybody's searchin' - every single night

You'll never keep it 'cause you sold yourself
And by the way
You'll never lose it 'cause you never had it
It's all the same

Rock Star Life - turn on the switch
Hollywood B**ch - so fake that she seems real
She goes again

Rock Star Life - turn on the switch
Hollywood B**ch - so fake that she seems real
She goes again

She's from the "Westside," she's lookin' thin
She fills her body with what she'll never be
So kill to kill - so you wanna die?
Everybody's searchin' - every single night

You'll never keep it 'cause you sold yourself
And by the way
You'll never lose it 'cause you never had it
It's all the same

Rock Star Life - turn on the switch
Hollywood B**ch - so fake that she seems real
She goes again

Rock Star Life - turn on the switch
Hollywood B**ch - so fake that she seems real
She goes again

Rock Star Life - turn on the switch
Hollywood B**ch - so fake that she seems real
She goes again"

Storyhill

Sacramento

Storyhill is a folk duo composed of Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson, who got together in Montana in 1989 as Chris and Johnny. They started using the name Storyhill in 1996. This song is from the album "Storyhill" released in 2007.

"Might be right as rain
To fall down in the gutter
Disappear down the drain
Last time we spoke I told you
I was going undercover
Probably never see you again
I gave away my golden timepiece
To my nephew for safekeeping
Made my way to the house of mercy

Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento

Took communion for the last time
At St. James, where I was baptized
Jumped a train for warmer weather
Voices in my head console me
You will find a home, they told me
Make your way to the house of mercy

Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento

Might be right as rain
To fall down in the gutter
To sleep out in the weather

Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento...."

George Strait

Marina Del Rey

George Strait is a country music singer, songwriter and producer and an actor, active since 1976. He has the most number one songs on all charts by an artist working in any music genre. This song is a single from his second studio album "Strait From the Heart" released in 1982.

"We said good-bye in Marina Del Rey
'I had a good time' was the last thing I heard her say
As I walked away
And on the plane back to Tennessee
My mind comes across her memory
And yesterday in Marina Del Rey

On a hidden beach, under a golden sun
She spread a blanket that we laid down on
And loved the world away in Marina Del Rey
And as we looked into each other's eyes
We found our bodies lost in paradise
Like castaways in Marina Del Rey

Like the ocean tides, highs and lows
Love sometimes comes and goes away, in Marina Del Rey
And as this plane is touching down
Tears touch my eyes for I have found
My heart has stayed in Marina Del Rey

On a hidden beach, under a golden sun
She spread a blanket that we laid down on
And loved the world away in Marina Del Rey
And as we looked into each other's eyes
We found our bodies lost in paradise
Like castaways in Marina Del Rey

We said goodbye in Marina Del Rey"

The Stranglers

Dead Loss Angeles

The Stranglers are a rock band formed during the punk era in England in the 1970s. This song is from their 1979 album "The Raven." I wonder if they wrote this after taking a tour of the La Brea Tar Pits or something. All that bubbling tar can be inspiring.

"The plastic peaches there
On concrete beaches there
You see the leeches there
You see the leeches there
They're soft marshmallow there
It's oh so shallow there
In Dead Loss Angeles
In Dead Loss Angeles

The dredged up mastodon
Has got his glasses on
He's never seen the s**t
From the La Brea pit

The lunar base camp there
With burning midnight lamp
They call it Frisbeeland
It's just a Disneyland
Android Americans
Live in the ruins there
In Dead Loss Angeles
In Dead Loss Angeles

The dredged up mastodon
Has got his glasses on
He's never seen the s**t
From the La Brea pit

From the La Brea pit
From the La Brea pit
From the La Brea pit

From the La Brea pit
From the La Brea pit
From the La Brea pit

They get the tremors there
Been given Babylon
Plenty of companies
Such lonely company
I hear a symphony
Of lonely timpanies
In Dead Loss Angeles
In Dead Loss Angeles

The dr fedged up mastodon
Has got his glasses on
He's never seen the s**t
From the La Brea pit

Harry Styles

Harry Styles is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter from England, active since 2010 when he became a member of the popular boy band One Direction. This is an unreleased song that was put on YouTube in October, 2023. Some of the comments question whether it's really Harry Styles or a song created by AI. (We have to worry about that now for everything.) It sounds real to me, but if it is an AI creation I'd like to ask our artificial intelligence computer overlords at Skynet to please make more fake Harry Styles songs like this before you kill all the humans.

"Over it and overseas
Can I get a moment please? Oh, it's you
Oh, it's you who left a mark on me
Skinny girl and shiny car
Unpaid tab and shi**y bar, oh it's you
Oh, it's you who left a mark on me

Add someone space to cuddle on
Stuck inside my summer home
California
California

Kitten scratch and parking fines
Hence that heat in summer time, but it's you
Oh, it's you who left a mark on me
Sex bar and masturbate
Skip food a couple days, and it's you
Oh, it's you who left a mark on me

Add some space to cuddle on
Stuck inside my summer home
California
Summer's death was left to breath
Smell the change and burning tears
California
California
California"

Harry Styles

Satellite

This song is from the album "Harry's House" released in 2022.

"You got a new life
Am I bothering you?
Do you wanna talk?

We share the last line
Then we drink the wall
Till we wanna talk

I go round and round
Satellite

Spinning out, waiting for you to pull me in
I can see you're lonely down there
Don't you know that I am right here?

Spinning out, waiting for you to pull me in
I can see you're lonely down there
Don't you know that I am right here?

(Spinning out, waiting for you)

I'm in an L.A. mood
I don't wanna talk to you
She said, "Give me a day or two

I go round and round
Satellite

Spinning out, waiting for you to pull me in
I can see you're lonely down there
Don't you know that I am right here?...."

SUBFER (featuring Rora)

Morro Bay

SUBFER is Grant Miller, a music producer active since 2012. RORA is Rora Wilde, a singer-songwriter from The Rio Grande Valley based in Los Angeles. This upbeat electronic dance track was released in 2018.

"Windows down with a cool breeze
Sunlight shining through the trees
Drive the coast on the open road
Didn't get here on my own
When we wake up we'll shake it out
You never know, 'cause when in doubt
Well make things right, we'll live for the day
Let's take it back to Morro Bay
Morro Bay
Morro Bay
Morro Bay

I just want to be with you
And now I'm dying to kiss you
It's been so long it's an issue
Way too long
(Way too long)

Picture it now, as the sun beams
A city blinded by the sea
One last toast 'till we hit the road
I couldn't get here on my own

I just want to be with you
And now I'm dying to kiss you
It's been so long it's an issue
Way too long

When we wake up we'll shake it out
You never know, 'cause when in doubt
Well make things right, we'll live for the day
Let's take it back to Morro Bay
Morro Bay
Morro Bay
Morro Bay
Let's take it back to Morro Bay

I just want to be with you
And now I'm dying to kiss you
It's been so long it's an issue
Way too long
(Way too long)

Wish we could go back
Wish we could go back
Morro Bay"

Sublime

April 29, 1992 (Miami)

Sublime was a ska punk band formed in Long Beach in 1988 that broke up far too soon because of a drug overdose. This song about the riots in Los Angeles in 1992 is from the band's last album "Sublime" released in 1996.

"....April 26th, 1992
There was a riot on streets
Tell me where were you?
You were sittin' home watchin' your TV
While I was participating in some anarchy

First spot we hit it was my liquor store
I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford
With red lights flashin', time to retire
And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire

The next stop we hit, it was the music shop,
It only took one brick to make the window drop
Finally we got our own P.A.
Where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today?

Alright

("Call fire and tell them respond local station out to meet us at Anaheim. It's uh, flaming up good." "10-4
Alamitos at Anaheim")

Homicides never doing no time

When we returned to the pad to unload everything
It dawned on me that I need new home furnishings
So once again we filled the van until it was full
Since that day my livin' room's been much more comfortable

'Cause everybody in the hood has had it up to here
It's getting harder, and harder, and harder each and every year
Some kids went in a store with their mother
I saw her when she came out she was gettin' some Pampers

They said it was for the black man
They said it was for the Mexican
And not for the white man
But if you look at the streets,
It wasn't about Rodney King
In this f***ed-up situation and these f***ed-up police

It's about comin' up and stayin' on top
And screamin' "1-8-7" on a mother f**kin' cop
It's not in the paper, it's on the wall
National guard
Smoke from all around

(Units, units be advised of an attempted 211 to arrest now at 938 Temple, 9-3-8 Temple.
Thirty subjects with bats trying to get inside the CP's house. He thinks out there trying to kill him.)

As I'm alive, I'm a live illegal

Let it burn
Wanna let it burn, wanna let it burn
Wanna wanna let it burn
(I feel insanity)

Riots on the streets of Miami
Whoa, riots on the streets of Chicago
On the streets of Long Beach
In San Francisco
Riots on the streets of Kansas City
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Cleveland, Ohio
Fountain Valley, Paramount, Victorville
Eugene, Oregon
Eureka, California
Hesperia
Santa Barbara
Winnemucca, Nevada
Phoenix, Arizona
San Diego
Lakeland, Florida
F**kin' 29 Palms...."

Sublime

Doin' Time

This is from the album "Sublime" released in 1996. "The LBC" refers ti Long Beach city, where Sublime was formed. The opening line of the chorus "Summertime, and the livin's easy" was interpolated from George Gershwin's song "Summertime" from the musical "Porgy and Bess." According to genius.com, in order to get permission to use the line, the band had to change the original recording sung by Bradley Nowell "Doin time, and the livin's easy" to Gershwin lyric "Summertime, and the livin's easy" but since Nowell had already died, Michael Happoldt had to step in and sing the word "Summertime."

Lana Del Rey also released a great cover of the song in 2019.

"Summertime and the living's easy
Bradley's on the microphone with Ras M.G.
All the people in the dance will agree
That we're well qualified to represent the LBC
Me, and me, and Louie, will young run to the party
Dance to the rhythm it gets harder
(And we can do it like this, in the place to be)

Me and my girl we got this relationship
I love her so bad but she treats me like s**t
On lockdown like a penitentiary
She spreads her lovin' all over
And when she gets home there’s none left for me

Summertime and the living's easy
Bradley's on the microphone with Ras M.G.
All people in the dance will agree
That we're well qualified to represent the LBC
Me, me and Louie, we gon' run to the party
Dance to the rhythm it gets harder
(And we can do it like this, in the place to be)

Oh take this veil from off my eyes
My burning sun will some day rise
So what am I gonna be doin' for a while?
Said I'm gonna play with myself
Show them now we've come off the shelf
So what?

Summertime and the living's easy
Bradley's on the microphone with Ras M.G.
All people in the dance will agree
That we're well qualified to represent the LBC
Me, me and Louie run to the party
Dance to the rhythm it gets harder
(And we can do it like this, in the place to be)

Evil
I've come to tell you that she's evil most definitely
Evil
Ornery scandalous and evil most definitely
The tension: it's getting hotter
I'd like to hold her head underwater

Me and my girl we got a relationship
Me and my girl we got a relationship
My girl. We got a relationship
Oh, and my girl. We got a relationship

Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip, tip, tip from me
Bradley's on the microphone with Ras M.G.
All people in the dance will agree
That we're well qualified to represent the LBC
Me, la la Louie well everybody run to the rhythm it gets harder
(And we can do it like this, in the place to be)

Summertime, the living's easy"

Sublime

Garden Grove

This is another song from the band's last album "Sublime" released in 1996.
Garden Grove is a city in Orange County, California.

"We took this trip to Garden Grove
It smelled like Lou Dog in the van
This ain't no reggae party $5 at the door
Get so real sometimes who wrote my rhymes
I got the microwave got the VCR I got the deuce deuce
in the trunk of my car
If you only knew that all the love that I found
It's hard to keep my soul on the ground
You're a fool don't you f... around with my dog
All I can see I steal as I fill up my garage
But my mind music from Jamaica
All the love that I found, pull over there's a reason
why my soul is unsound"

Sublime

What I Got

This is another song from the band's last album "Sublime" released in 1996.
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County.

"Life is too short so love the one you got cause you might get
run over or you might get shot
Never start no static
I just get it off my chest
Never had to battle with no bulletproof vest
Take a small example
A tip from me take all of your money and give it up to charity
Lovin's what I got
It's within my reach
And the Sublime style's still straight from Long Beach
It all comes back to you you're gonna get what you deserve
Try and test that you're bound to get served
Love's what I got
Don't start a riot
You feel it when the dance gets hot"

Sublime with Rome

California Radio

Sublime with Rome is a band formed in Long Beach, California in 2009 made up of two former members of Sublime plus singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. This song is from their final self-titled album, released in May 2024. I assumed that radio had lost most of its listeners due to all of the music streaming sites and all of the other competition for ears, but according to the Pew Research Center in 2023, about 80 percent of Americans over the age of 12 still listen to terrestrial radio each week, including news and NPR. So don't touch his radio!

"Your style, your style
Can say a lot of things
The way you walk
The way you talk
Makes me want to sing
And you know

I’m gonna give it to you
Just like so many times before
This North Town Long Beach
White boy Reggae music
Got so much heart and soul

When this music hits you
Well you know you’ll feel no pain
And when I give it to you
Well you know I can’t complain

You hear the feeling man
You know it’s got soul
Same old sound that you love to hear before
I heard them all on my California Radio
I heard them all on my California Radio

Don’t touch my radio
Don’t touch my radio

Half Pint, Too Short to Led Zeppelin
Fishbone, Bad Brains to Willie Nelson
They got me walking up a Stairway to Heaven
They got me wiggling jiggling just like gelatin
Eek-A-Mouse, Dirty Heads to King Yellow
Snoop Dog down to Ronnie James Dio
That got the melody to make me feel a better way
That got the melody to make me see a better day

When this music hits you
Well you know you’ll feel no pain
And when I give it to you
Well you know I can’t complain

Ayy
You hear the feeling man
You know it’s got soul
Same old sound that you love to hear before
I heard them all on my California Radio
I heard them all on my California Radio

Don’t touch my radio
Don’t touch my radio...."

Sudan Archives

Limitless

Sudan Archives is the stage name of Brittney Denise Parks, a violinist and singer based in Los Angeles. This is from her first studio album "Athena" released in 2019. There is only one mention of "Topanga," the canyon in the hills just west of L.A., but it's definitely an L.A. song.

"Said she met him on the net
Said she'll move out on the spot
Said she got a new friend
Said she got a new B
Said she living in the hills, she don't worry about a thing
Said he give her dollar bills, no biggie, got a Benz
We used to kick it at your crib
When you stayed in in Topanga
And you couldn't pay rent
So we meditate, and we pray

What happened to your dreams?
All you care about is things
Now you take all these things
To cover up, it seems
I don't like this town
I don't like your man
We don't got no plans
I don't want your hugs
I just wanna go back to times when money didn't make you budge

Limitless at our fingertips
Don't sweat it, just get it
We're too cool to admit it
All we have is the internet
Limitless at our fingertips
Don't sweat it, just get it
We're too cool to admit it
All we have is the internet...."

Sugarcult

Back to California

Sugarcult is a rock band from Santa Barbara, active since 1999. This song is from the album "Palm Trees and Power Lines" released in 2004. It seems like this guy is thinking about driving to California to make up with his ex girlfriend but realizing that won't ever happen.

"How long I’ll wait
Just to say goodbye
Ten different ways to enjoy this night
Can’t do this anymore
Won’t feel you anymore

How long I’ll wait
Just to say goodbye
You could never let me in
Holding on until the end
The time I waste just to say goodbye
Out of your way

I could do this right
Can’t see you anymore
Won’t feel you anymore

How long I’ll stay
Just to say goodbye, say goodbye

Leave it all the fights and all
Summer’s getting colder
Drive all night to hold you tight
Back to California
Days went by
We waited and I guess we’re getting older
We couldn’t win in the end

You’re gone
I’m miles away
Turning out your lights
Ten different ways I could end this night
Can’t do this anymore
Won’t feel you anymore

How long I’ll wait
Just to say goodbye, say goodbye

Leave it all the fights and all
Summer’s getting colder
Drive all night to hold you tight
Back to California
Days went by
We waited and I guess we’re getting older
We couldn’t win in the end

You’re gone"

Sugarcult

Spoiled Brats From Malibu

This song is from the album "Lights Out" released in 2006.

"I want a girl, girl that won't talk back
And a job, job that gives me slack
And a car, car that won't break down
In the heat of Los Angeles
I want to go, go without a map
Far away, away, I won't get trapped
By the sound, a town, the sun beats down
In the heat of Los Angeles

One more holiday
I will not celebrate
I'm almost desperate
Cause I'm down, I'm down, I'm so beat down

This city's killing me
I want, I want, I want everything
This city's killing me
In the heat of Los Angeles

I want a love, love that won't hit back
Want sex, sex without a catch
Want a face, to trust, to feel, to lust
In the heat of Los Angeles
Want to f**k, f**k, f**k this up
Gonna feel, feel, feel you up
Had enough, enough, enough's enough
In the heat of Los Angeles

This city's killing me
I want, I want, I want everything
This city's killing me
In the heat of Los Angeles
What has become of me?
I want, I want, I want everything
This city's killing me
(I want everything)

Come on, come on
It's alive and breathing
Come on, come on
Come alive today
Come on, come on
It's a heartless beating
The sun is burning down Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles

I want a girl, girl that won't talk back
And a job, job that gives me slack
And a car, car that won't break down
In the heat of Los Angeles

Come on, come on
It's alive and breathing
Come on, come on
Come alive today
Come on, come on
It's a heartless beating
The sun is burning down

(This city's killing me)
Come on, come on
It's alive and breathing
Come on, come on
Come alive today
(This city's killing me)
Come on, come on
It's a heartless beating
The sun is burning down Los Angeles
(One more holiday)
The sun is burning down Los Angeles
(I will not celebrate)
The sun is burning down Los Angeles
(One more holiday)
The sun is burning down Los Angeles
(I will not celebrate)"

Sugar Ray

Speed Home California

Sugar Ray is a rock band formed in Newport Beach in 1986. This fast alternative rock song is from their second studio album "Floored" released in 1997, which also contains their biggest hit "Fly."

"Hai no lugar como de la casa
Hai no lugar como de la... Yeah!

Can't take this anymore
Got my head down on the floor
My brain is burning inside of my head
Can't speak the word and my face is blue
And I wanna get back to the arms of you
Wanna get back, I gotta get back to my

Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California

Oh yeah, uh
Got 1894 with all my friends who pass at my back door
Can see the light of another night in here
When you want it fast and you want it now
And if you ask they'll tell you how
Wanna get back, I gotta get back to my

Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
... ... ...
'Cause these are the brakes

See you here, no, not at all
Set you up to watch you fall
Least I feel the starting of the end yeah yeah yeah
Gotta pick it up, are you gonna be late?
12 more hours to the sunshine state
Wanna get back, I gotta get back to my

Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home California
Speed home (California)
Speed home (California)
Speed home (California)
Speed home California"

Sullvn

Oh California

Sullvn (formerly the Sully Band) is a ten-piece band with horns fronted by San Diego native Robert "Sully" Sullivan. This old-school blast of R&B was released in 2024.

"Oh California
I miss you baby
You know I think about you night and day
Yeah I’ve been to Belize, I’ve been to Bombay
But there ain’t nothing like the PCH
The sun can rise on the east
But it sets on the west
I’m having visions in my head
Oh California
I miss you baby
I wanna get back to ya

I see visions of paradise
Distorted beauty in the lights
I’m from the land where the goal's for the taking
Ain’t no waiting ‘round when you know you can make it
Baby, take me back to paradise, yeah
I wanna go- oh, oh, oh

Oh California
I miss you baby
You know I think about you night and day
Yeah I’ve been to Belize, I’ve been to Bombay
But there ain’t nothing like the PCH
The sun can rise on the east
But it sets on the west
I’m having visions in my head
Oh California
I miss you baby
I wanna get back to ya

The city lights will keep you blind
And northern reds will blow your mind, yeah
I’m from the land of the Hollywood dreams
Come on sell your soul and you can dance on the screens
Gonna hit the road, man you gotta get free
There’s some things in life that you just gotta see, yeah

Oh California
I miss you baby
You know I think about you night and day
Yeah I’ve been to Belize, I’ve been to Bombay
But there ain’t nothing like the PCH
The sun can rise on the east
But it sets on the west
I’m having visions in my head
Oh California
I miss you baby
I wanna get back to ya

Gonna get back, I wanna get back
I wanna get back
Get back to you
I wanna get back, I wanna get back
I wanna get back
Get back to you

Oh California
I miss you baby
Yeah I’ve been to Belize, I’ve been to Bombay
Oh California
I miss you baby
You know I think about you night and day
Yeah I’ve been to Belize, I’ve been to Bombay
But there ain’t nothing like the PCH
The sun can rise on the east
But it sets on the west
I’m having visions in my head, baby
Oh California
I miss you baby
I wanna get back to ya

Gonna get back, I wanna get back
I wanna get back
Get back to you
I wanna get back, I wanna get back
I wanna get back
Get back to you"

Sunday's Best

The Californian

Sunday's Best was an indie rock band formed in Los Angeles and active from 1997-2003. This song is from the album "The California" released in 2002.

"Falling down again, this feeling that you know so well
A child scraping up his knees
Who's kissing the cuts and chasing behind you?

Leo says that, 'there's no victims, only volunteers'
I think that I believe that if there's a crime
There must be a crime scene

Sorry that we peaked in my California teething
Sorry that we peaked in my California teething

Word on the street: the deal had been queered for quite sometime
Small print too small to read -
'Take the tourniquet off and an artery will bleed
The east-side summer air, thick with smog and chaparral
Hangs waiting for a breeze
Autumn, my friend, I hope that you missed me

Sorry that we peaked in my California teething
Sorry that we peaked in my California teething

Whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-ah-hoh
That's what they say
Whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-ah-hoh

Whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-ah-hoh
That's what they say
Whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-ah-hoh

Sorry that we peaked in my California teething
Sorry that we peaked in my California teething

Whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-hoh, whoa-ah-ah-hoh...."

Sun June

Everything I Had

Sun June is an indie pop band from Austin, Texas. This lovely song is from their album "Somewhere" released in 2021.

"Got an apartment
Three doors down where I used to live
We're not getting any better
We could move to Los Angeles
Know I hated it when everybody did
I'm not getting any younger
Everything I had, I want it back

Got to get used to it fight fair
Yeah I find that there's no use talking to you
Saw the line in the movement
Wasn't mine yet
Everything I had, I want it back

Tongue-tied lightning
All that might have been
Throwing 5 in a cab
You and me in the back
5 in a cab
You and me
Everything I had, I want it back"

Sun Rai

San Francisco Street

Sun Rai is Rai Thistlethwayte, a singer-songwriter from Australia, active since 2000. This cool jazzy song is from his album "Pocket Music" released in 2013.

"Lost on the freeway
This must be L.A.
Tired and lonely
With no real place to stay
Is this the future and where I'm gonna be?
Last night it hit me
When I had this crazy dream

Of waking up
In your house
On a San Francisco Street
We tune out all the nasty weather
And it's all in front of you and me

You were intriguing
Just looking at a magazine
Like when I first saw you
Back in 2003
Then you walked over
Said you don't have to be alone
I don't have a crystal ball
There's no way that I could've known

I'd be waking up
In your house
On a San Francisco Street
We tune out all the nasty weather
And it's all in front of you and me

Waking up
In your house
On a San Francisco Street
We tune out all the nasty weather
And it's all in front of you
All in front of you and me ...

San Francisco Street
You and me
All in front of you and me
You and me
San Francisco Street
You and me
Oh"

Supernova

Costa Mesa Hates Me

Supernova is a punk rock band from Costa Mesa, active since 1989. This song is from the album "Pop As a Weapon" released in 2012. I couldn't quite figure out all the lyrics. Not sure what "the Jaguar" is etc. but you get the general idea. They feel out of place in suburbia. Who doesn't?

"I wish I could be just like the kids I see on TV
Hey
As I wonder why I was born and raised in suburbia
Playin' the Jaguar
I wish I could have a big guitar
I wish I could be a
Post punk pop star
Oh take a ride with me
We'll follow the north star to stardom
Sticking in a city where the hopeless teens don't cry
Costa Mesa hates me
I try my best to be friends
With the chain made of fame went straight to your head

As I wonder why I was born and raised in suburbia
Playin' the Jaguar
I wish I could have a big guitar
I wish I could be a
Post punk pop star
Oh take a ride with me
We'll follow the north star to stardom
Ooh yeah
...
Ba bada ba baa
Ba bada ba
Ba bada ba baa
Ba bada ba
Ba bada ba baa
Ba bada ba
Ba bada ba baa
Costa Mesa hates me
Yah"

Supertramp

Breakfast in America

Supertramp was an English rock band formed in 1969. This song is from the band's 1979 album "Breakfast in America."

"Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot

Take a jumbo across the water
Like to see America
See the girls in California
I'm hoping it's going to come true
But there's not a lot I can do

Could we have kippers for breakfast
Mummy dear, Mummy dear
They got to have 'em in Texas
'Cos everyone's a millionaire

I'm a winner, I'm a sinner
Do you want my autograph
I'm a loser, what a joker
I'm playing my jokes upon you
While there's nothing better to do

Don't you look at my girlfriend (girlfriend)
She's the only one I got
Not much of a girlfriend (girlfriend)
I never seem to get a lot (What she got, not a lot)

Take a jumbo cross the water
Like to see America
See the girls in California
I'm hoping it's going to come true
But there's not a lot I can do"

Supertramp

Gone Hollywood

This song is from the band's 1979 album "Breakfast in America."

"It's just heartbreaking
I should have known that it would let me down
It's just a mind aching
I used to dream about this town

It was a sight to see
The place to be,
Where the living is easy
And the kicks can always be found

It's such a shame about it
I used to think that it would feel so good
But who's to blame about it
So many creeps in Hollywood

I'm in this dumb motel
Near the Taco Bell
Without a hope in Hell
I can't believe that I'm still around

Ain't nothing new in my life today
Ain't nothing true it's all gone away

I've had too much cryin', seen too much grief
I'm sick of tryin,' it's beyond belief
I'm tired of talking on the telephone
They're trying to tell me that they're not at home

Ain't nothing new in my life today
I'm tired of walking from place to place
I've yet to come across a friendly face
And now the words sound familiar, as they slam the door
"You're not what we're looking for."

Ain't nothing new in my life today
Ain't nothing true it's all gone away

If we only had time, only had time for you
If we only had time, only had time for you
If we only had time, only had time for you

It was a heartbreaking
Now I ride in the big fine car
It was mind aching
I'm the talk of the Boulevard

So keep your chin up boy
Forget the pain
I know you'll make it
If you try again

There's no use in quitting
When the world is waiting for you"

Sure Sure

California High

According to their website: "Sure Sure is an indie band from the Eastside of Los Angeles, California. ... releasing music since 2014...." This song about tripping in the desert was released in 2022.

"In the desert I call home
There's a place I like to go
To feel less alone
Take a dive in the pool of time

In the shade of valley low
Where a maze of mushrooms grow
And the ocotillos glow
Lai di dai
That's when I get high
Oh I get

High
On nostalgia, my favorite drug, my faded life
Mojave winds, dust on our skin, sun in your eyes
Memories of us, lost in the dusk, California high

In my life of wandering
When I play guitar and sing
Everybody drinks to the Bedouin nights
And the world gone by

I've been trying to move on
Tip my hat and say so long
Sing a different song
Lai di dai
But then I get high
Oh I get

High
On nostalgia, my favorite drug, my faded life
Mojave winds, dust on our skin, sun in your eyes
Memories of us, lost in the dusk, California high
On nostalgia, my favorite drug, my faded life
Mojave winds, dust on our skin, sun in your eyes"

The Surfaris

Surfer Joe

The Surfaris were a surf rock band formed in Glendora, California in 1962. This song was released in 1963 as the B-side to their big hit "Wipe Out." Some people also put Wipe Out on their list of California songs, because it's such a well-known song from a California band that evokes the southern California surfing scene, and I don't disagree with that, but it's not on this list because the title doesn't mention the state, and neither do the lyrics, since it's mostly an instrumental, and because surfing and wiping out is not exclusively associated with California.

"Down in Doheny where the surfers all go
There's a big beach blondie, named Surfer Joe
He's got a green surfboard and a Woody to match
And when he's ridin' the freeway's
Man, is he hard to catch

Surfer Joe
Now, look at him go-o-o-o-o-o
Surfer, Surfer, Surfer Joe-o-o
Go man go-o-o
Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh, Surfer Joe

He went down to Huntington Beach one week
For the annual surfer's convention meet
Hangin' five and walkin' the nose
And when the meet was over
The trophy was Joe's

Surfer Joe
Now, look at him go-o-o-o-o-o
Surfer, Surfer, Surfer Joe-o-o
Go man go-o-o
Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh, Surfer Joe

Okay let's go!

Surfer Joe joined Uncle Sam's Marines today
They stationed him at Pendleton, not far away
They cut off his big blonde locks, I'm told
And when he went on maneuvers, Joe caught cold

Surfer Joe
Now, look at him go-o-o-o-o-o
Surfer, Surfer, Surfer Joe-o-o
Go man go-o-o
Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh, Surfer Joe

Ah, ah, oh - ah, ah, oh - ah, ah, oh
Poor Joe!"

Sufer Girl with The Hip Abduction

Two

Surfer Girl is a band from Wayland, Massachusetts. The Hip Abduction is a six-piece band from St. Petersburg, Florida that formed over a mutual appreciation for West African and early Jamaican reggae/dub music. This nice reggae jam that will remind you in a good way of Sublime, is from the album "Sunrise" released in 2022.

"If you didn’t want a war
You should’ve never shut the door on me
I ain’t fuming anymore
But I badly need to blow off steam

Replace my coffee with some Casamigos neat and then we’ll go
Hit the bricks, getting reckless, second trip to liquor store
Gasoline is awful cheap, cigarette burns on my seat
Dirty sneakers on my feet, but my reputation clean, girl

I won't sit here all day waiting for someone new
And I’ve been running into everyone except for you

No matter how far you go
I’ma still roll enough for two
And even if I run low
I’ma still roll enough for you

I miss your California sunshine love
I miss your California sunshine love

You know when the summer days come and go
it pulls your heart around
And that’s how I feel when I wake up
And see you can’t be found

I’m still addicted to your loving
When you're in my cloud
So I leave enough for two

And when you’re nearby feels like that
Pacific coast blues
Going 99 chasing the sunshine
'Till we break through

Even though I know you’re bad
You gimme all the reasons to
So I leave enough for you

I won't sit here all day, waiting for someone new
And I’ve been running into everyone, except for you

No matter how far you go
I’ma still roll enough for two
And even if I run low
I’ma still roll enough for you

I miss your California sunshine love
I miss your California sunshine love"

Surf Punks

Surf punks were a pop punk band formed in Malibu, active from 1976-1988. This song is from their album "Locals Only" released in 1982.

"People call them spoiled brats from Malibu
Hanging on the beach with nothing to do
Mommy give them BMW, brand new
Don't you wish that you can be like them, too

We don't got no bowling alley in the Bu
For the 27 mile scenic view
We got big coast highway, it runs right through
Turn around before this happens to you

They want to surf, surf,
They come to surf, surf
They have to surf, surf

Every thing is perfect here in Malibu
Move into your condo with an ocean view
You want some information, here's something for you
We don't swim in your toilet, please don't pee in our pool

They want to surf, surf
They come to surf, surf
They have to surf, surf

They want to surf, surf
They got to surf, surf
They have to surf, surf
Need to surf, surf
Must have surf, surf...."

Survivor

Survivor is an arena rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. It's the band that sang the theme song to Rocky 3. This song is from their album "Caught in the Game" released in 1983.

"When the wind decides that it's time to ride
To spread a little hell through the heartland
It takes a good long toke then it blows the smoke, through the desert night
And the wings of fire, keep climbin' higher
Flames cuttin' hard through the homeland
It takes a mighty strong will to strip the chill from the desert night
You waken from your dream, by a siren's scream
Trapped by the walls that surround you
Then it's will to will, and you wonder still can you struggle free
In a thousand ways, when you turn the phrase
The wind's like a love of a woman (woman, woman, woman)
It takes a mighty mean b**ch, some fire witch
To set the night on fire
And the Santa Ana wind's gonna have its way tonight
Nothing you can do's gonna change her mind
And ain't it a lot like love the way desire takes you in
And sparks the fire like the Santa Ana wind
Now the air is calm, and the heart grows numb
The ashes burnin' low in the heartland
Till again the wind starts closin' in to set the night on fire
And the Santa Ana wind's blowin' cross my heart tonight
Nothing you can do's gonna change her mind
And woman I want your love
I need that passion deep within
Like the ragin' fire needs the Santa Ana wind
And the Santa Ana wind's gonna take your life tonight
Nothing you can do's gonna change her mind
And ain't it a lot like love
The way desire takes you in
Swept away with the Santa Ana wind"

Kiefer Sutherland

Goodbye California

Kiefer Sutherland is an award-winning actor originally from Canada. He's also a singer and a songwriter who has released a few albums since 2016. This song isn't from an album, yet. So far it has only appeared in this YouTube video from Norman's Rare Guitars in Tarzana which is part interview, part live solo performance, and part commercial for the $5,000 acoustic Gibson guitar that he plays. They even left the price tag on it. This is not the sort of song I like to put on this list since it's only a live performance of a song that hasn't been officially released, but it's here because it's a song written by a Hollywood celebrity who moved out of the state, and that is something that a lot of celebrities are doing that we read a lot about in the news these days. Sutherland explains that he wrote it as a kind of "sad goodbye letter" when he moved to New York after living in California for 35 years. I have to wonder why he moved to New York instead of going back to Canada. He starts playing the song at about 3:33. If he ever records and releases an official version of the song, I'll replace this with it.

"Goodbye California
My fair weather home
Heading through these canyons all alone
I've got my memories packed away
Nothing left behind
A couple hundred stories on my mind

Sun-kissed diamonds dance on the sea
Waves hit the sand crash into me
As I turn around to leave
So goodbye California I'm rollin' on
Just a few more miles I'll be gone
Headed back to where I belong

Goodbye California
Goodbye my old friend
I always knew that one day this would end
You took me in when I was a boy
But now I've got to go
Hit the gas turn up that radio

Sun-kissed diamonds dance on the sea
The palm trees wave goodbye in the breeze
Don't it feel good to be free
Goodbye California I'm rollin' on
Just a few more miles I'll be gone
Headed back to where I belong
Headed back to where I come from

Drinkin' down at the Starlight
Those nights that wouldn't end
Raise a glass to all my closest friends
So goodbye California
It's time for me to go
Drop that top turn up that radio

Sun-kissed diamonds dance on the sea
Waves hit the sand crash into me
As I turn around to leave
Oh goodbye California I'm rollin' on
Just a few more miles I'll be gone
Headed back to where I belong
Heading back to where I come from"

Pat Suzuki

Grant Avenue

Pat Suzuki is a Japanese American singer and actress from Cressey, California. After she was imprisoned with her family in one of the Japanese internment camps (look it up if you don't know about them) she went to college then performed in musicals. She eventually got a part in the Rogers and Hammerstein Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song" for which she is best known for. This is from the original cast recording of the 1958 play, released in 1961. The 1961 movie version of the play starring Nancy Kwan who lip syncs the song, is also discussed under B. J. Baker, who does the actual singing.

"They call it
Grant Avenue, San Francisco
California, U.S.A.
Looks down from Chinatown
Over a foggy bay

You travel there in a trolley
In a trolley up you climb
Dong! Dong! You're in Hong Kong
Having yourself a time

You can eat, if you are in the mood,
Shark-fin soup, bean cake fish
The girl who serves you all your food
Is another tasty dish!

You know you
Can't have a new way of living
Till you're living all the way
On Grant Avenue
(Where is that?)
San Francisco, That's where's that!
California U.S.A.

A western street with eastern manners
Tall pagodas and golden banners
Throw their shadows through the lantern glow

You can shop for precious jade
Or teakwood tables or silk brocade
Or see a bold and brassy night club show
On the most exciting thoroughfare I know

You can eat, if you are in the mood
Shark-fin soup, bean cake fish
The girl who serves you all your food
Is another tasty dish!

You know you
Can't have a new way of living
Till you're living all the way
On Grant Avenue
(Where is that?)
San Francisco, That's where's that!
California U.S.A."

Swami 3

California Song (For Marlu)

Swami 3 is a trio of brothers from San Francisco, Rohan, Noah & Shaan Swaminathan, who started playing as a band in 2017. This song was released in February, 2025. Songs about going to the beach in southern California are common, but this one is unusual in that it's about beaches in San Francisco.

"It's early in the morning and it hurts my eyes
It's 8:15 AM and I cuss the clear blue skies
Better unmake all my plans today
Better make some time for fun
'Cause it looks like it's the perfect day
To walk right into the sun

We can drive real fast towards the ocean and the sun
'Till the sounds of the city are all gone
And we know it can't last but we won't let that get us down
'Cause the weekend's three days long and it's just day one

I've been up for 24 hours and it's been like this for weeks
If I fall asleep on Baker Beach I'll get sunburn on my cheeks
Gotta make my way down to the bay but I ain't getting very far
Nothing else to say it's just a regular day in California

School's out I'm feeling lazy
Got my car outside
Got a little spot up on Ocean Beach
Where I like to hide

Got a couple of friends and an old guitar
And some new songs ready to go
We're going far away, we're going to seize the day
Turn up the radio

We can drive real fast, keep the ocean in one eye
'Till you forget where you came from
And the world goes passing, no worries you know why
It's difficult to get lost on the 101

It's getting late and through the haze it all seems clear
That the city's starting to seem out of reach
And with city life comes hating, I'm so contented here
It's still 85 degrees looks like I'm sleeping on the...

I've been up for 24 hours and it's been like this for weeks
If I fall asleep on Baker Beach I'll get sunburn on my cheeks
Gotta make my way down to the bay but I ain't getting very far
Nothing else to say it's just a regular day in California"

Billy Swan

Billy Swan is a singer-songwriter originally from Missouri, active since 1962. Marlu was his wife, who was originally from California. This song is from the album "Four" released in 1977. Even though Swan is called a country music artist, this song uses electric piano and organ and has a slow jazzy feel, so I would not call it a country song.

"Take me back to California with you
Let me meet all your friends back there
I'm sure that I could get along with them
I can feel it every time I look at you
North or west east or southern California
Anywhere round em all would be just found
Don't know what it's known for, it slips me
But right now California's known for you

There's no way
Around this
It's love
What a sweet surprise
I found gold
When I looked in your eyes
California's got something for me

Now I never thought much about California
I've been so happy right here in Tennessee
Oh but since I've met you, you've changed things
I want to be where ever you're gonna be
And so now I plan on goin' to California
I'm so anxious to see that ocean behind you
And maybe we will grow closer in California
And I could have my dreams come true

Yes there's no way
Around this
It's love
What a sweet surprise
I found gold`
When I looked in your eyes
California's got something for me"

Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton)

I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version)

Taylor Swift is a best-selling singer-songwriter originally from Pennsylvania, active since 2004 (when she was 15.) She wins a lot of wards and so does Chris Stapleton, a singer-songwriter-producer from Kentucky, active since 2001. He won the Academy of Country Music award for the artist-songwriter of the decade (the 20-teens.) This song is from the album "Red (Taylor's Version) released in 2021. It was written for her 2012 album "Red" but didn't make the cut. I don't know if the silver-spoon guy from Beverly Hills she's roasting in the song is based on one of her real exes, but the next to last line makes me think it is. Ask the Swifties. They'll know.

"3 AM and I'm still awake, I'll bet you're just fine
Fast asleep in your city that's better than mine
And the girl in your bed has a fine pedigree
And I'll bet your friends tell you she's better than me, huh

Well, I tried to fit in with your upper-crust circles
Yeah, they let me sit in back when we were in love
Oh, they sit around talkin' about the meaning of life
And the book that just saved 'em that I hadn't heard of

But now that we're done and it's over
I bet you couldn't believe
When you realized I'm harder to forget than I was to leave
And I bet you think about me

You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community
Glamorous, shiny, bright Beverly Hills
I was raised on a farm, no, it wasn't a mansion
Just livin' room dancin' and kitchen table bills

But you know what they say, you can't help who you fall for
And you and I fell like an early spring snow
But reality crept in, you said we're too different
You laughed at my dreams, rolled your eyes at my jokes

Mr. Superior Thinkin'
Do you have all the space that you need?
I don't have to be your shrink to know that you'll never be happy
And I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes
I bet you think about me

Oh, block it all out
The voices so loud, sayin'
'Why did you let her go?'
Does it make you feel sad
That the love that you're lookin' for
Is the love that you had?

Now you're out in the world, searchin' for your soul
Scared not to be hip, scared to get old
Chasing make-believe status, last time you felt free
Was when none of that shit mattered 'cause you were with me

But now that we're done and it's over
I bet it's hard to believe
That it turned out I'm harder to forget than I was to leave
And, yeah, I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes
I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me when you're out
At your cool indie music concerts every week
I bet you think about me in your house
With your organic shoes and your million-dollar couch
I bet you think about me when you say
'Oh my god, she's insane, she wrote a song about me'
I bet you think about me"

Taylor Swift

London Boy

This pop song is from her album "Lover" released in 2019. She loves "SoCal" and not the rest of the state, but I'll try to forgive her. Co-songwriting credit is given to Cautions Clay because it "interpolated" something from his song "Cold War." I give credit to Swift for giving him credit and not waiting for a lawsuit like so many other songwriters do. The songwriting business is brutal now. Maybe all of the songs have been written already....

"...I love my hometown
As much as Motown
I love SoCal
And you know I love Springsteen
Faded blue jeans
Tennessee whiskey
But something happened
I heard him laughing
I saw the dimples first and
Then I heard the accent
They say home is where the heart is
But that’s not where mine lives

You know I love a London boy
I enjoy walking Camden Market
In the afternoon
He likes my American smile
Like a child when our eyes meet
Darling, I fancy you
Took me back to Highgate
Met all of his best mates
So I guess
All the rumors are true
You know I love a London boy
Boy, I fancy you Now I love high tea
Stories from uni and the West End
You can find me in the pub, we
Are watchin’ rugby
With his school friends
Show me a gray sky
A rainy cab ride
Babes, don’t threaten me with a good time
They say home is where the heart is
But God I love the English..."

Taylor Swift

White Horse

This is a pop country breakup song about a Prince who turned out to be not so charming, and a singer who realizes she's not living in a fairy tale or a Hollywood movie with a happy ending. It's from her best-selling Grammy-Award-winning album Fearless (2008).

"Say you're sorry
That face of an angel
Comes out just when you need it to
As I paced back and forth all this time
'Cause I honestly believed in you
Holding on
The days drag on
Stupid girl,
I should have known, I should have known

That I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale,
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down,
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around...."

Sweet

California Nights

Sweet (aka The Sweet) is a glam rock band from London England, active on and off since 1968. This pop rock song is from their album "Level Headed" released in 1978 when you could still call women chicks without getting cancelled.

"Them New York girls, they've gone down to California
Don't say they didn't warn ya
'Bout spending time in Miami F.L.A.
That ain't no place to be anyway
Ooh, looking for someone in their life
Waiting for love to shine its light

Everybody's dancing, California nights
Summer in the city, California nights
Boogie through to morning, California nights
California never go away, I'm here to stay

Those Vegas chicks have gone and thrown it all away
They're gonna settle down in L.A.
They've heard the stories of Hollywood and stars
Sunset Boulevard and custom cars
From roulette to room let, changing signs
Ceasars to Rainbow, life unwinds

Everybody's dancing, California nights
Summer in the city, California nights
Boogie through to morning, California nights
California never go away, I'm here to stay

Everybody's dancing, California nights
Summer in the city, California nights
Boogie through to morning, California nights
California never go away, I'm here to stay

Everybody's dancing, California nights
Summer in the city, California nights
Boogie through to morning, California nights"

Matthew Sweet

Come to California

Sweet released this one in 1997. It's got his typical high tenor and backed by rocking boogie guitars and bongos.

"Started with a rose, ended up a millionairess queen
In your new electric chair, sweetly sitting there building up steam
Watch your mind little bit, or you're gonna have to make believe

Flew into L.A., caught a screening of your lifelong dream
Blew it in L.A., now you're desperate to create your own scene
But watch your mind little bit, 'cause you're headed into the machine

Come to California (come to California)
Come to California (come to California)

ooooo oooooo ooooo

Come to California, baby let it all hang out
Come to California, tell us what it's all about
But watch your mind little bit, 'cause the future is beginning now."

Cole Swindell

She Had Me at Heads Carolina

Cole Swindell is a country music singer-songwriter from Georgia, active since 2013. This song is from his album "Stereotype" released in 2022. It's based on Joe Dee Messina's great 1996 song "Heads Carolina, Tails California" (also on this list) but with different lyrics and seen from the man's viewpoint instead of the woman's. The singer meets a girl in a bar karaoke singing the original song and wants to take her up on the coin toss. But since they talked until the lights came on, it sounds like they never flipped that quarter. It's a nice tribute to Messina's original and it even begins and ends with samples of it.

"(Heads Carolina, tails California)
I was out with the boys, catchin' up at a neon light
Didn't know 'til we walked in it was karaoke night
She was in a circle of girls, chasin' a shot with a lime
She was laughin', they were darin' her to get on the mic
One of 'em walked up and turned in her name
Next thing I knew, man, she was up on the stage, singin'

'Heads Carolina, tails California'
Maybe she'd fall for a boy from South Georgia
She's got the bar in the palm of her hand
And she's a '90s country fan like I am
Hey, I got a Chevy, she can flip a quarter
I'd drive her anywhere from here to California
When this song is over, I gotta find her
'Cause she had me at 'Heads Carolina'

Yeah, she knew every word by heart, didn't need no screen, no
I was raisin' my glass up for her, I saw her smilin' at me, yeah
She had me down in the front by the end of verse two
Like there wasn't no one else in the room, we were singin'

'Heads Carolina, tails California'
Maybe she'd fall for a boy from South Georgia
She's got the bar in the palm of her hand
And she's a '90s country fan like I am
Hey, I got a Chevy, she can flip a quarter
I'd drive her anywhere from here to California
When this song is over, I gotta find her
'Cause she had me at 'Heads Carolina'

Yeah, I bought her a round and we talked 'til the lights came on
I still see that girl every time I hear that song

'Heads Carolina, tails California'
Maybe she'd fall for a boy from South Georgia
She's got the bar in the palm of her hand
And she's a '90s country fan like I am
Hey, I got a Chevy, she can flip a quarter
I'd drive her anywhere from here to California
When this song is over, I gotta find her
'Cause she had me at 'Heads Carolina'

(Heads Carolina, tails California)
Yeah, she had me at 'Heads Carolina' (Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer)
(Heads Carolina, tails California)
Yeah (Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer)
(Heads Carolina)
(Somewhere together, I've got a quarter)
(Heads Carolina, tails California)"

Switchfoot

Switchfoot is a rock band from San Diego, active since 1996, named after a surfing term. This song is from their album "This is Our Christmas Album" released in 2022.

"Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba

Welcome to my California Christmas
Twinkling lights on all the fake palm trees
The only snow that falls is the fake stuff at the mall
Bathing suits in eighty-five degrees (Ah, ah)

Welcome to my California Christmas (Welcome to my California)
The skies are blue, the sun is warm and bright (The skies are blue, the sun is warm and bright)
When Santa Claus makes the drive, stuck in traffic on the 5 (Ba-ba-ba-ba)
It's a California Christmas Eve

So grab a Christmas tree, I'll meet you down the beach
Plant your mistletoes in the sand right next to me
'Cause that Pacific breeze is gonna set you free
I'll be wishing you a California, California

Welcome to my California Christmas (Welcome to the west coast Christmas)
The avocado groves and graffiti kings (avocados, avocados)
The gremmies fight for waves as the sunset melts away
Garage rock evening filled with broken strings (Ba-ba-ba-ba)

So jingle all the way from out in East L.A.
Down the coast in your Camaro Christmas sleigh
Ring the Christmas bell down at the Hotel del
And I'll be wishing you a California, California Christmas (Ah)

Put up a tree at your favorite beach with a smoothie
Throw your board in the car in case there's a Christmas swell
There'll be blue skies and sunshine and seagulls and maybe Jacuzzis
Strike up the band, toes in the sand, ringing the Christmas bells, yeah

(Santa hat and shades are so pasé)
(What a Californian thing to say)
The Día de los Reyes, the Pasadena Rose Parade
The best of west coast seasonal clichés

Throw your Christmas tree up on your SUV
Make your plans in the Pacific sand and set them free
Hang your Christmas lights and make the season bright
And I'll be wishing up a California Christmas for ya

(California, California)
(California, California)
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba"

SWMRS

Berkeley's On Fire

SWMRS is a punk rock band formed in Piedmont California in 2004. They changed their name from Emily's Army in 2014. This song is from the album "Berkeley's on Fire" released in 2028.

"My mama called me up because there's fire on the streets
Of all the Berkeley Police
And they're all slobs doing stupid jobs
And we're having indigestion in the belly of the beast
Because we're slobs doing stupid jobs

And you put your pom-poms down
You didn't wish it, go
Bail out your guilty ass
It's not your business uh
Put your pom-poms down
You didn't wish it, go
Bail your guilty ass out

Berkeley's on fire
Your TV lies
We'll be alright
Berkeley's on fire
Berkeley's on fire
I'm still alive
I don't know why
Berkeley's on fire

There's plenty different versions
On and off your TV screen
Of us at night
The property destroyed
Because TV news is bad for you
And bad TV is news for you
It's just a ploy, keep you under control
Too many, too many motherf**kers
Confusing this freedom speech with swastikas
Like Milo Yiannopolous
Okay, so we broke a little window
Little fight out in the street
But that's our job
Protect you from these slobs

And you put your pom-poms down
You didn't wish it, go
Bail out your guilty ass
It's not your business uh
Put your pom-poms down
You didn't wish it, go
Bail your guilty ass out

Berkeley's on fire
Your TV lies
We'll be alright
Berkeley's on fire
Berkeley's on fire
I'm still alive
I don't know why
Berkeley's on fire
Berkeley's on fire...."

SWMRS

California Wintertime

SWMRS (called Emily's Army before 2014) is a punk band formed in Piedmont, California in 2004. This song is from the album "BECKER" released in 2024. The Royal Tenenbaums was released back in 2001, but apparently Gwyneth Paltrow's quirky Margot Tenenbaum is still a style icon.

"She’s the queen of the karaoke bar
She sings Lucky Star - Madonna '83
And in my car it’s the greatest hits
She turns it up a bit and she begins to sing

Frozen on the beach
Dressed like Margot Tenenbaum
In Mary Janes and mink
She can’t wait ‘til spring
'Cause California wintertime is colder than you'd think
So come closer, and hold me tight
It’s cold baby, keep me warm tonight

We’re singing a Beatles song
She likes to sing along to Ob-La-Di Bla-Da
There’s a place for me in her mom’s garage
Where I can play guitar even when she goes to sleep

Frozen on the beach
Dressed like Margot Tenenbaum
In Mary Janes and mink
She can’t wait 'til spring
'Cause California wintertime is colder than you think
So come closer, and hold me tight
It’s cold baby, keep me warm tonight

Come closer, and hold me tight
It's cold baby, keep me warm tonight

na na na na na
na na na na na...."

Syamali

California Rain

Syamali (Wing) is a young singer-songwriter with an amazing voice. I can't find out much about her online, but I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from her. This pop torch song was put online in October, 2024.

"I'm a desert water
I'll always be out of reach
When you know I'll want you
Gonna cause a drought in me

Empty nights in Hollywood
Wanting what I never should
With you I'm alone

I'll wait for you but you're like California Rain
I know you'll take forever to give me one day
It shouldn't take a miracle for you to stay
Doesn't have to be this way
You're like California rain
Rain

Burning up and pouring from an empty cup
This is love
Won't you set my world on fire
Would you save me
Put it up baby save me
I've heard it all
Your mouth don't tell it, actions talk
You never change it
You're still draining how you runnin' off
Baby you got me going crazy

[Unknown] Hollywood
Wanting what I never should
[Unknown]

I'll wait for you but you're like California Rain
I know you'll take forever to give me one day
It shouldn't take a miracle for you to stay
Doesn't have to be this way
You're like California rain
Rain

You're clouding my mind
You're bleeding me dry
When it rains it pours
Just say I'm yours tonight
[Unknown]
I can brave the storm
Just say I'm yours

I'll wait for you but you're like California Rain
I know you'll take forever to give me one day
It shouldn't take a miracle for you to stay
Doesn't have to be this way
You're like California rain"

Peter J. Sykes

All the Gold in California

This was released in 2019.

"I dream of California

I remember our first kiss under the mistletoe
All the presents on your list and the places we would go
I want to travel back again to the place it all began
The sunny beach and sky, Pacific coast at night

I dream of California and California Christmas time
I dream of California and all the winters you were mine
How we loved to build a fire and hold each other tight
I dream of California and California Christmas time

I remember our last time before you went away
All the gifts you gave to me, the bitter wind that day
Now I don't have you like I did, but I still reminisce sometimes
I hold onto our photograph from last Christmas night

I dream of California and California Christmas time
I dream of California and all the winters you were mine
How we loved to build a fire and hold each other tight
I dream of California and California Christmas time

You're not here to share this year
So there's one way I can have you near

I dream of California
I dream of California
I dream of California and California Christmas time
I dream of California and all the winters you were mine
How we loved to build a fire and hold each other tight
I dream of California and California Christmas time"

System of a Down

Lost in Hollywood

System of a Down is a band formed in Glendale, California in 1994 that Wikipedia calls an "Armenian-American heavy metal" band. This not very heavy metal song is from their album "Mezmerize" released in 2005.

"Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah

I'll wait here, you're crazy
Those vicious streets are filled with strays
You should've never gone to Hollywood
They find you, two-time you
Say you're the best they've ever seen
You should've never trusted Hollywood

I wrote you and told you
You were the biggest fish out here
You should've never gone to Hollywood
They take you and make you
They look at you in disgusting ways
You should've never trusted Hollywood

(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
I was standing on the wall, feeling ten feet tall
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you maggots smoking fags on Santa Monica Boulevard
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
This is my front page, this is my new age
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you bi**hes, put your hands in the air
And wave them like you just don't care
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you maggots smoking fags out there on Sunset Boulevard
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you bi**hes, put your hands in the air
And wave them like you just don't care

(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
Phony people come to pray
(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
Look at all of them beg to stay
Phony people come to pray
(Ah, ah, we have gone to Hackensack)
The lines in the letter said
'We have gone to Hackensack'
Look at all of them beg to stay
Phony people come to pray

(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you maggots smoking fags on Santa Monica Boulevard
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you maggots smoking fags out there on Sunset Boulevard
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you maggots smoking fags out there on Hollywood Boulevard
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
You should have never trusted Hollywood
(Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah)
(Ah-ah-ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
You should have never gone to Hollywood
(Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah)
(Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ah)
All you bi**hes, put your hands in the air
And wave them like you just don't care

You should've never trusted Hollywood"

System of a Down

Old School Hollywood

This is another song from the album "Mezmerize" released in 2005. I had to look it up - Jack Gilardi was a casting director and actor who was married to actress, singer, and former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. But what does he have to do with baseball? I still don't know, even after reading some comments on Reddit that the song came out of an uncomfortable experience Daron Malakian (the songwriter) had when he participated in a Hollywood Stars Night celebrity baseball game at Dodger Stadium.

"Old-school
Hollywood
Baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball!

Tony Danza cuts in line
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Standing in the sun, I'm wasting my time
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood

Old-school Hollywood baseball
Jack Gilardi is ten feet tall
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Me and Frankie Avalon

Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood

Hey, man, don't you touch my belt
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Standing in the sun, I'm about to melt
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood

Old-school Hollywood baseball
Jack Gilardi is ten feet tall
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Me and Frankie Avalon

Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood

Old-school Hollywood baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Old-school Hollywood baseball

Old-school Hollywood baseball
Jack Gilardi is ten feet tall
Old-school Hollywood baseball
Me and Frankie Avalon

Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood
Old-school Hollywood, washed-up Hollywood"

Tancred

Bed Case

Tancred is the solo project of singer-songwriter Jess Abbott along with two other musicians. This is an upbeat power-pop song from her third Tancred album "Out of the Garden" released in 2016. There's only a brief reference to California in the song, but it really stands out, comparing someone to the state in an almost ecstatic moment.

"I remember touching down
I remember the smell and the sound
White flowers in the parking lot
With you I remember quite a lot

These days I've become quite the bed case
Feel like I'm 5 by 5
Do I want to save the world or just cut out its insides

You make me feel like God
Even when I'm down below
You make me feel so good
I think I'm gonna blow
I think I'm gonna blow

You look like California
Take me there
Take me there
You put me in a coma
But I don't scare
I don't scare

You make me feel like God
Even when I'm down below
You make me feel so good
I Think I'm gonna blow
I think I'm gonna blow

You make me feel like God
Even when I'm down below
You make me feel so good
I think I'm gonna blow
I think I'm gonna blow
I think I'm gonna gonna blow"

Nplaim Taws

Nplooj Siab California

I don't know anything about Nplai Taws. This Hmong song was originally sung by Nplooj Hawj but I can't find the original on Youtube. Most of the online Hmong to English translators show the title as "High California Pages," though one shows it as "Leaf Lord California." A translation of the original version's lyrics is shown below, but I don't know if this cover version uses the same lyrics.

"Kuv ncaim lawm mog tus kuv hlub
Thaum yuav ncaim koj kua muag teev yees
Yuav tseg koj nyob ib leeg kho siab
Nplooj siab quaj dhi xav tsoov koj xwb
Tsis xav ncaim koj California

Kuv ncaim lawm mog kuv me nplooj siab
Xav tsoov txoj koj lub me ntseg muag
Lub cev lam ncaim nplooj siab nrog koj nyob
Yog wb sib ntsib hauv kev npau suav
Cia ua chaw tshua California

Hauv kuv lub siab
Tsuas muaj koj xwb
Cua tuaj ntxuj ntxias kuv nco koj kawg
Cov lus qab zib thov khaws cia mog
Kuv me nkauj hmoob tus uas nco kuv mog

Nplooj siab yaj ntshi
Tseg tsis tau koj
Vim yog tshua koj ua chaw dai siab
California tus neeg uas kuv hlub aws….
Txoj kev sib hlub wb tau hais tseg
Puas yuav muaj tiag California

Kuv ncaim lawm mog kuv me nplooj siab
Xav tsoov txoj koj lub me ntseg muag
Lub cev lam ncaim nplooj siab nrog koj nyob
Yog wb sib ntsib hauv kev npau suav
Cia ua chaw tshua California

Hauv kuv lub siab
Tsuas muaj koj xwb
Cua tuaj ntxuj ntxias kuv nco koj kawg
Cov lus qab zib thov khaws cia mog
Kuv me nkauj hmoob tus uas nco kuv mog

Nplooj siab yaj ntshi
Tseg tsis tau koj
Vim yog tshua koj ua chaw dai siab
California tus neeg uas kuv hlub aws….
Txoj kev sib hlub wb tau hais tseg
Puas yuav muaj tiag California

Txoj kev sib hlub wb tau hais tseg
Puas yuav muaj tiag California"

"I left the one I love
When to leave your tears
To leave you alone
I want to touch you
Don't want to leave your California

I'm leaving, I'm very sad
Want to break your heart
The body is very sad to be with you
If we meet in a dream
Let's go to California

In my heart
There is only you
The wind makes me miss you
Sweet words please keep them
I love the one who misses me

The page is broken
Can't leave you
Because you are very happy
California the person I love...
The love we have mentioned
Will there be real California

I'm leaving, I'm very sad
Want to break your heart
The body is very sad to be with you
If we meet in a dream
Let's go to California

In my heart
There is only you
The wind makes me miss you
Sweet words please keep them
I love the one who misses me

The page is broken
Can't leave you
Because you are very happy
California the person I love...
The love we have mentioned
Will there be real California

The love we have mentioned
Will there be real California"

Huddy Taylor

Wake Up California

Huddy Taylor is a musician from Texas who was 18 when this song was released in 2022. This sleepy melancholy electronic song is from his first studio EP "Kingdom of Noise."

"Hollow feelings
Resign from your position that you hold
Abusing your role
Towers towering
Over me as I got nowhere to go
I told you on the phone

I ignite
I ignite
I ignite

Who got unlimited lives
Just a life
And I run away to the sky
Let it fly

Go
Around the day go
Lost in space though
Confrontational

Wake up California see the sun on the horizon you can't make up that
You got to see it fast
Goodnight New York City see the moon up in the galaxy a mighty sight
You got to see it fast
Wake up California see the sun on the horizon you can't make up that
You got to see it fast
Goodnight New York City see the moon up in the galaxy a mighty sight

I'm asking myself
What do you need
How do you sleep
I get caught up and out of control
Oh no
I don't know
So I'm still asking

Who got unlimited lives
Just a life
And I run away to the sky
Let it fly
Let it fly

Wake up California see the sun on the horizon you can't make up that
You got to see it fast
Goodnight New York City see the moon up in the galaxy a mighty sight

Wake up California
Wake up California
Wake up California...."

James Taylor

Honey Don't Leave L.A.

James Taylor is a best-selling Grammy-winning hall of fame-inducted folk-rock singer-songwriter originally from Boston, active since 1966. This is from his album "JT" released in 1977.

"That limousine
In which you made the scene
Suits you to a 't'
If all that you want to be
Is somebody that don't never walk nothin'

That big chateau
Where you wanna go
In the south of France
Going to end our big romance
Don't you do it

Honey, don't leave L.A.
That Riviera is so far away
Begging you s'il vous plait
They don't know nothing down in St. Tropez
That I say, baby don't you leave L.A.

I heard it said
That you had it made
With your movie star
But, oh how right you are
If that's really 'bout the best you can, do bi**h, come on

You moved my soul
So I played the role
Of your back door man
Yes and now I can't really complain
'Cause I love you

Honey, don't leave L.A.
That Riviera is so far away
Begging you s'il vous plait, begging baby
They don't know nothing down in St. Tropez, tres Beauvais
Baby don't leave L.A.

No, no, no, no, no
Mama, don't you drop out of sight on me, now, no
That Riviera's so far away
Begging you s'il vous plait
C'est vrai, baby
They don't know nothing down in St. Tropez
But I mean
Mama, don't you leave
Baby, don't you leave L.A., no"

Teena Marie

Where's California

Teena Marie was the professional name of Mary Brockert, an R&B and jazz singer-songwriter and producer from southern California with an amazing soprano voice, active 1964-2010. This song is from her album "It Must Be Magic" released in 1981.

"After I left you
I found I can't be so far
And so long away
And here I am, huh
Getting ready to get on this train
And I don't have anybody to talk to
But myself
You can't even hear me
And my words cannot convey my feeling

Manchester, England looks a lot like me today
Ain't no sunshine in the feeling
I thought about you as I got aboard the train
Ain't no truth in the believing

It's the natural thing to think of you
After all we've been through
Do you ever think of me at night
Wondering why I left your world undone

Where's California (Far from Liverpool)
So very far from you (Far from lovin' you)
Ooh, baby, did I warn ya (Baby, did I warn ya)
I'd take your love to Liverpool (Where's California)
Don't it make you wonder

I called your mama and I asked her what to bring
She said London fog would be the thing
I couldn't find the fog, the Beatles, or myself
This pain in my heart is above all I have felt

But it's the natural thing to think of you
After all we've been through
Do you ever think of me at night
Wondering why I left your world undone

Where's California (Far from Liverpool)
So very far from you (Far from lovin' you)
Ooh, baby, did I warn ya (Baby, did I warn ya)
I'd take your love to Liverpool (Where's California)
Don't it make you wonder

Don't it make you wonder why
Don't it make you wanna break down and cry
Don't it make you wonder why
Don't it make you wonder
Over and over and over again
Finding it hard to pretend

Where's California (Far from Liverpool)
So very far from you (Far from lovin' you)
Ooh, baby, did I warn ya (Baby, did I warn ya)
I'd take your love to Liverpool (Where's California)
Don't it make you wonder

And where's (Where's California) California (Far from Liverpool)
So very, so very far, so very far from you
Ooh... ooh... woo... ooh... ooh... (Far from you)

Oh, where's (Where's California) are you (Far from Liverpool)
Far away"

Terri Tarantula

Shaker Star

Terri Tarantula is Terri Moeller, a member of Seattle Band "The Walkabouts" since 1991 and also a member of Seattle band "The Transmissionary Six." She released a solo CD in 2010 that includes this song which she wrote. I'm assuming that the song "Death Valley Rain" she mentions is the 2001 song by Steve Wynn, but I don't know that for sure. Also check out Eef Barzelay's cover of this song.

"We could be unfettered
This I know for sure
Crystalize everything
Ignition contact with you

Shaker shaker, start the car
Shaker, shaker star

Let's fall in love with a song
Drums and guitar
Drive around singin'
Death Valley Rain

Sky might drench tomorrow
Flood the whole damn week
Biblical commandment
Ignition to contact with you

Shaker shaker, start the car
Shaker, shaker star

Let's fall in love with a song
Drums and guitar
Drive around singin'
Death Valley Rain

This might sound untethered
Rope's got two ends like we do
Take one I'll take one
Ignition to contact with you

Shaker shaker, start the car
Shaker, shaker star

Let's fall in love with a song
Drums and guitar
Drive around singin'
Death Valley Rain
Drive around singin'
Death Valley Rain
Drive around singin'
Death Valley Rain...."

Tesla

California Summer Song

Tesla is a rock band from Sacramento, California, active since 1981. This song is from the album "Shock" released in 2019.

"The only times I ever reminisce
Are those teenage years and my very first kiss
Summertime was that time for me
Sun-bleached sand hit up by the sea

I could dream and I could fly
I could watch the world go by
The universe for me to see
Right here now is the place to be

Take me back to where I come from
Where the skies are blue and the sun is strong
Spend all day and-a all night long
When we drift away to this summer song

Turn on up that radio
'Cause West Coast style is the way to go
Around a fire on a sunny beach
A slow dance in the summer heat
Take my hand, let's jump and swim
There's nothing goin' on but the love we're in
A memory of her embrace
Is a melody time can't erase

Take me back to where I come from
Where the skies are blue and the sun is strong
Spend all day and-a all night long
When we drift away to this summer song

I keep on wishin'
'Cause I know what I could be missin'
And I ain't leavin'
If I just keep on believin'
I could stay here in this warm, chill, sun-kissed day
From way down Cali' south
Yeah, to the Golden Gate

Take me back to where I come from
Where the skies are blue and the sun is strong
Spend all day and-a all night long
When we drift away to this summer song

Let me hear you sing
Let me hear you sing that song
We're gonna drift away
When we drift away to this summer song"

Thee Midnighters

Whittier Blvd.

This is a mostly instrumental blend of surf rock, r&b, and Mexican music from a Chicano band once called "East L.A.'s Beatles." It's an anthem to East L.A.'s famous cruising street in the 1960s.
There are no lyrics, but it begins with someone shouting
"Let's take a trip down Whittier Boulevard!"
Then we hear a parody of the Mexican mouse cartoon character Speedy Gonzales: "Arriba arriba!" followed by wild laughter.

The Texas Tenors

Wikipedia says: "The Texas Tenors are a three-time Emmy Award-winning classical crossover, trio vocal group formed in 2009 by country singer JC Fisher, pop singer Marcus Collins, and opera singer John Hagen."

This is the album version cover of the Gatlin Brothers song, from the album "Outside the Lines" released in 2021. You can see the lyrics there. They also do an excellent live version of the song on "Larry's Country Diner.

Theory of a Deadman

Santa Monica

Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band formed in 2001. This song is from their 2005 album "Gasoline." Wikipedia says that this song was used in the video game Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, which makes me wonder if video games will be releasing soundtracks some day. This is another song about a girlfriend who leaves for California (Santa Monica) presumably to find fame and stardom. In the song it's not clear what happens to her, but in the video she ends up as a hooker with a pink wig working on Santa Monica Boulevard. Maybe the song is actually named after the Boulevard and that's why the song is not named "Hollywood" or "L.A." or "California" like all the others.

"She fills my bed with gasoline
You think I wouldn't notice
Her mind's made up
The love is gone
I think someone's trying to show us a sign
That even if we thought it would last
The moment would pass
My bones will break and my heart would give
Oh, it hurts to live

And I remember the day when you left for Santa Monica
You left me to remain with all your excuses for everything
And I remember the time when you left for Santa Monica
And I remember the day you told me it's over

It hurts to breathe
Well every time that you're not next to me
Her mind's made up
The girl is gone
And now I'm forced to see
I think I'm on my way
Oh, it hurts to live today
Oh and she says "Don't you wish you were dead like me?"

And I remember the day when you left for Santa Monica
You left me to remain with all your excuses for everything
And I remember the time when you left for Santa Monica
And I remember the day you told me it's over

I wanted more than this
I needed more than this
I deserve more than this
But it just won't stop
It just won't go away

I needed more than this
I wanted more than this
I asked for more than this
But it just won't stop
It just won't go away

And I remember the day when you left for Santa Monica
You left me to remain with all your excuses for everything
And I remember the time when you left it all behind
And I remember the day you told me it's over

And I remember the day when you left for Santa Monica
You left me to remain with all your excuses for everything
And I remember the time when you left for Santa Monica
Yeah, I remember the day you told me it's over"

There I Ruined It & Red Hot Chili Peppers

What Red Hot Chili Peppers sound like to people who don't like Red Hot Chili Peppers

This parody of a Red Hot Chili Peppers California song was put on YouTube in September of 2023 with this description: "Lyrics by There I Ruined It, Vocal performance by There I Ruined It with A.I. assistance"

According to Wikipedia (3/27/24) "There I Ruined It is an ongoing music project created by Dustin Ballard [a Texas musician] during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the project, Ballard aims to ruin songs by making covers of them in styles very different to those of the originals. There I Ruined It distributes these covers via social media, such as TikTok, YouTube and Reddit". "There I Ruined It is a musical project 'with the simple goal of ruining as many beloved songs as possible before it's banned from the Internet'".

The YouTube page tells us: "I lovingly destroy your favorite songs." That loving destruction includes a mashup of Nickleback and Ray Charles, Simon & Garfunkel performing "Baby Got Back" a spot-on parody of Bro Country, and a lot more.

"Come Dua Lipa with the peppermint pig
The chalupa's in the 'frigerator
F**k a doorknob
California

Buttermilk pancakes in my eyes
Stepped on a toad
Broke a Navajo code
Now it's time to reiterate California
I got a thumbtack on my nutsack
Pi=3.1415

Heeeeeeeey oh!
I don't know what I saaaaaaaay, no

The more I sneeze the less I blow
Got frisky with a buffalo

Heeeeeeeey oh!
Wooooh woah

Jelly beans and nicotine
Are streamin' through my grandma's spleen
And I just stubbed my toe!

Stumblin' through the pages
Of a Webster's earns me wages
There's so many words to go

Tickle my bum with a mannequin thumb
On a bongo drum in California
Snuffleupagus ate my asparagus
Supernova toilet clog

Carjacked a nun on the 101
Gotta have some fun in California
There's a sunspot on my kumquat
Nancy Reagan bit my dog!

Heeeeeeeey oh!
I don't know what I saaaaaaaay, no, oh
I got your heeeeeeeey oh!
I don't know what I saaaaaaaay, no, no, no"

They Might Be Giants

Anaheim (Anaheim House of Blues)

They Might Be Giants, aka TMBG, is a rock band formed in New York in 1982. This song is from the band's 2004 album "Venue Songs" which is a compilation of songs they wrote at stops on their 2004 tour about venues they played.

"Oh I don't want to stay in tonight and watch Death Wish 3
Fall asleep with pizza crumbs on my clothes
So put away that hash pipe, the pornography, and the booze
'Cause tonight we're going to the Anaheim House of Blues

Don't do anything crazy
Like defecate in your pants because you're lazy Oh, put away that crack pipe
Put some makeup on that bruise
'Cause tonight we're going to the Anaheim House of Blues
Oh, take me down to the Anaheim House of Blues
Yes, drag me by my hair to the Anaheim House of...
Goodnight Mrs. Hitler."

They Might Be Giants

Hollywood (Down On Your Luck)

This song is another song from the 2004 album "Venue Songs."

"There's a band that's living in L.A.
But they never get to play
They're just working jobs all day
But their plan is to follow us around
As we go from town to town
They're copying our sound

And at the House of Blues in
West Hollywood
They're taking notes from the back row
And they're listening good

All you bands who are studying our grooves
And stealing all our truths
And coping all our moves

I know your plan's
To follow us around
As we go from town to town
You're copying our sound

And at the House of Blues in
West Hollywood
You're taking notes from the back row
Now listen good

All you bands who are studying our grooves
And stealing all our truths
And coping all our moves

I know your plan's
To follow us around
As we go from town to town
You're copying our sound
You're copying our sound
You're copying our sound"

They Might Be Giants

San Francisco (Fillmore)

This song is another song from the 2004 album "Venue Songs." It's the only song I know where every word of the lyrics is a place in California, specifically a street in San Francisco.

"Golden Gate
Divisadero
Turk
Fillmore!

Van Ness
Castro
Polk
Fillmore!"

They Might Be Giants

Santa Cruz (In Situ)

This song is another song from the 2004 album "Venue Songs." It's a live recording which must have been made at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. There's a spoken introduction that describes how they've been doing songs for each of the venues they play this loud, fast, retro-punk song.

"Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers
Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers
Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers
Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers
Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers
Somebody invented a gun that shoots flowers

But it's not as cool as
The part of the show
At The Catalyst
Where the guy goes
Ah!

If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked
If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked
If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked
If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked
If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked
If you close your eyes Darth Vader is naked

But it's not as cool as
The part of the show
At The Catalyst
Where the guy goes
Ah!

It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out
It doesn't cost anything to poke your eye out"

Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy is a hard rock band from Dublin, Ireland, active on and off since 1969. This song is from their eleventh studio album"Renegade" released in 1981.

"They say people out in Hollywood
Live their life out in black-and-white
They're living out a Technicolor dream
Next day they're a star overnight

Not like in New York
Man, it's tougher
Not like in London town
Boy, you suffer

Nobody give a break
(When you're down on your luck)
Everybody's on the take
(When you're down on your luck)
You can't make a mistake
(When you're down on your luck)

People out in Hollywood
They got a lot of class
You see the boys strutting down the boulevard
Trying to make a pass

Not like in New York
It's high rise, it's concrete and complex
Not like in old London town
It rains down on its subjects

Nobody give a damn
(When you're down on your luck)
Nobody understands
(When you're down on your luck)
Lady Chance, she won't dance
(When you're down on your luck)

People out in Hollywood
They can make it to the stars
They can reach the screen
Drive around in big expensive convertible cars

Not like in New York
All you've got is Broadway
Not like the West End of London
You can't make it no way

Nobody give a damn
(When you're down on your luck)
Nobody understands
(When you're down on your luck)
Lady Chance won't dance
(When you're down on your luck)

You've got to strut your stuff
(When you're down on your luck)
You can't take it easy, it ain't good enough
(When you're down on your luck)
Everybody's on the make
(When you're down on your luck)

Nobody give a fair deal
(When you're down on your luck)
Nobody understands my Uncle Sam
(When you're down on your luck)
I'm ready for the dance
(When you're down on your luck)

I gotta make a dollar holler
(When you're down on your luck)
Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama
(When you're down on your luck)"

Thirty Seconds to Mars

City of Angels

Thirty Seconds to Mars is a rock band from Los Angeles fronted by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who is also an Oscar-winning actor and film director. This song is from their 2013 album "Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams." Leto says that the song is the story of his brother (the drummer for the band) and his travels to Los Angeles to make their dreams come true. "It's a love letter to that beautiful and bizarre land."

"Lost in the City of Angels;
Down in the comfort of strangers, I...
Found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights.

Bought my fate
Straight from hell.
Second sight
Has paid off well for a mother, a brother and me.

The silver of a lake at night;
The hills of Hollywood on fire;
A boulevard of hope and dreams;
Streets made of desire.

Lost in the City of Angels;
Down in the comfort of strangers, I...
Found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights."

B. J. Thomas

Everybody Loves a Rain Song

B.J. Thomas is a singer from Houston, Texas, probably best known for his number one hit "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" from the 1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." This is an easy listening single from 1978. If everybody loved your hit song about rain, it makes sense to sing another one. And dig that sitar that comes out of nowhere in the middle of the song.

"I heard about it raining on a Georgia night
Never saw clearly in the morning light
I was walkin', just walkin' in the rain

She was a rainy day woman
She made me love her
Took my soul and I soon discovered
I was searchin', searchin' for rainbows

Everybody loves a rain song
Cause everybody's been rained on
It's like a shoulder you can lean on
One time or another
Stormy weather

Everybody loves a rainbow
From San Francisco to Chicago
And no matter where I go
It's still raining in my heart...."

Dante Thomas (featuring Pras)

Miss California

Dante Thomas is an American living in Germany, Pras is a rapper from New Jersey, formerly with the Fugees. This is a 2001 R&B song about a rich California Girl with a beach house, diamonds, a yacht, and a Ferrari Maranello. It was a bigger hit in Europe than in the U.S. and has been covered at least twice that I know about - by DJ Serg & Simon Blaze in 2020, and by Steve Pride and Scotty in 2023.

"She's Miss California
Hottest thing in West L.A.
House down by the water
Sails her yacht across the bay
Drives a Maranello
Hollywood's her favorite scene
Loves to be surrounded
With superstars that know her name

She's a rich girl
From the top of the food chain
Love and material things,
Kinda lonely
Till I met her at the Grammys,
10 mil on a diamond ring
She invites me
To spend a day on the jet skis
At first it didn't mean a thing
Then she told me
I'm the one that she's searched for
It was hard to believe

She's Miss California
Hottest thing in West L.A.
House down by the water
Sails her yacht across the bay
Drives a Maranello
Hollywood's her favorite scene
Loves to be surrounded
With superstars that know her name

In a couple a days
She had me a bracelet made
From Harry Winston's place
Went horseback up to the mountaintop
Showing me the land she's got
Well, it's all right,
But something else is on your mind
Looking past all that shines,
Now the tears are running through
All those things are nice,
But it's not why I'm here
I will wipe away your tears
simply by just loving you, you

She's Miss California
Hottest thing in West L.A.
House down by the water
Sails her yacht across the bay
Drives a Maranello
Hollywood's her favorite scene
Loves to be surrounded
With superstars that know her name...."

Leon Thomas (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)

Love Jones

Leon Thomas is a singer-songwriter, producer and actor who has produced albums for Drake, Ariana Grande, and Kodak Black. Ty Dolla $ign is Tyrone Griffin Jr., a singer-songwriter and producer from South Central Los Angeles, active since 2004. His father was a member of the great Ohio funk band "Lakeside." This soul/rap song song is from Thomas' album "Electric Dusk" released in 2023.

"One bite cost a whole meal
High class rich girl appeal
Moving big bags had to learn them rich girl skills, oh
Talking big s**t
Popping all them big girl pills
She’s a young thing
Popping, got herself a few deals
On a billboard
See it when you riding on your wheels
On Sunset, she just bought a place in the hills

Californication
Yeah, I love what we continue making
And I wanna get a little more
Need to get a little more
Californication
Yeah, I love what we continue making
And I wanna get a little more
Need to get a little more

Got you love jones, love jones right here
Girl, you stay warm like all damn year?
Californication

Tennis chain cost a whole wheel
Had to change my watch to match the whole feel, yeah
Moving too fast you ran traffic standing still, oh-ooh
Popping big s**t
Made another eight-figure deal
We on Sunset
She just bought a house in the hills
On a billboard
See it when you riding with your clique down Melrose
She just wanna play all day, yeah, yeah, yeah

Californication (California)
Yeah, I love what we continue making (Take)
And I wanna get a little more (Ooh, yeah)
Need to get a little more (More)
Californication (Ooh, yeah)
Yeah, I love what we continue making (Love)
And I wanna get a little more
Need to get a little more"

Three Dog Night

Never Been to Spain

Three Dog Night was an American rock band from L.A. who recorded a bunch of hit songs in the late 60s and early 70s, mostly written by other songwriters. This nonsense rock song, written by Hoyt Axton, was a top 10 hit in 1971. I just had to include it on this list because of the rare reference to Needles, even though the name was only used because it rhymes with Beatles. But if he only made it to Needles on his way to Las Vegas, then he must have made a wrong turn on the 40. Axton released his own version of this song years after Three Dog Night.

"Well, I've never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don't abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it

Well, I've never been to England
But I kinda like the Beatles
Well, I headed for Las Vegas
Only made it out to Needles

Can you feel it?
Must be near it
Feels so good
Oh, it feels so good

Well, I've never been to heaven
But I've been to Oklahoma
Oh, they tell me I was born there
But I really don't remember

In Oklahoma, not Arizona
What does it matter?
What does it matter?

Oh, I've never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don't abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it, oh, oh

Well, I've never been to heaven
But I've been to Oklahoma
Well, they tell me I was born there
But I really don't remember

In Oklahoma, not Arizona
What does it matter?
What does it matter?"

Three Doors Down

Be Like That

3 Doors Down is a rock band formed in Mississippi in 1996. This song is from the band's multi-platinum-selling debut studio album "The Better Life" released in 2000.

"He spends his nights in California,
Watching the stars on the big screen,
Then he lies awake and he wonders,
Why can’t that be me
Cause in his life he is filled
With all these good intentions
He’s left a lot of things
He’d rather not mention right now
But just before he says goodnight,
He looks up with a little smile at me,
And he says,

If I could be like that,
I would give anything
Just to live one day, in those shoes
If I could be like that,
What would I do,
What would I do

Now and dreams we run
She spends her days up in the north park,
Watching the people as they pass
And all she wants is just
A little piece of this dream,
Is that too much to ask
With a safe home, and a warm bed,
On a quiet little street
All she wants is just that something to
Hold onto, that’s all she needs
Yeah!

If I could be like that,
I would give anything
Just to live one day, in those shoes
If I could be like that, what would I do,
What would I do

I’m falling into this, dreams,
We run away...."

The Thrills

Big Sur

The Thrills are a pop band formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 2001. They took a summer vacation in Santa Cruz and ended up with some good songs about California which they put on their debut album "So Much for the City" released in 2003, including this 'baby please don't go' song.

"So much for the city
Tell me that you'll dance to the end
Just tell me that you'll dance to the end

Hey, hey you're the Monkees
People said you monkeyed around
But nobody's listening now

Just don't go back to Big Sur
Hangin' around, lettin' your old man down
Just don't go back to Big Sur
Baby baby please don't go

So much for the street lights
They're never gonna guide you home
No they're never gonna guide you home

Down at the steamboat show,
All the kids start spittin'
I guess it didn't live up to the billing.

Just don't go back to Big Sur
Hangin' around, lettin' your old man down
Just don't go back to Big Sur
Baby baby please don't go"

The Thrills

Hollywood Kidsyi

This is another song from their debut album "So Much for the City" released in 2003.

"Well they're sure keen on dancin'
Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made
When they act, big doors open
Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made
So let's party, Dustin Hoffman
Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made

Oh how the sun sets on my boulevard
But leaves quite a shadow to fill

Oh how the sun sets on my boulevard
But leaves such a shadow to fill

Oh the death of a fast life
Those Hollywood stars, those Hollywood stars got to pay
That's some will you've been drinkin'
Those Hollywood stars, those Hollywood stars got to pay

Oh how the sun sets on my boulevard
But leaves quite a shadow to fill

Oh how the sun sets on my boulevard
But leaves such a shadow to fill

So look closer, do you still think that,
Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made"

The Thrills

Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)

This is another song from their debut album "So Much for the City" released in 2003.

"Well tell me
Where it all went wrong
And tell me
Where you lost those damn songs
I can't say I was surprised
I heard a drink was involved

Oh you gotta be, oh you gotta be
Still living by the sea
Oh you gotta be, oh you gotta be

Cos Santa Cruz
You're not that far
Oh Santa Cruz,
No, you're not that far

But now and then here once in a while
Those August cowboys stole your style
Don't you know he feels blind
Well your train's just rolled in on time

Oh you gotta be, oh you gotta be
Still living by the sea
Oh you gotta be, oh you gotta be

Cos Santa Cruz,
You're not that far
Oh Santa Cruz,
No, you're not that far"

threedimensionsapart (featuring lieu) California

I can't find out anything about threedimensionsapart. Lieu is a rapper from Michigan born in 2007. This hyperpop song was released in 2022.

"I know and you know, it's not that easy
I can run from the past but it won't leave me
Do you like the way I look when I'm feeling?
I would say we'd never last but we're both the same
And I don't know what deterred you
You're from California but you're far from normal
But I don't want to
But you're leaving me behind (I'm giving up)
And it's making me cry
I know and you know, it's not that easy
I can run from the past but it won't leave me
Do you like the way I look when I'm feeling?
I would say we'd never last but we're both the same
And I don't know what deterred you
You're from California but you're far from normal
But I don't want to
But you're leaving me behind (I'm giving up)
And it's making me cry

When I walk 'round
Stop it now, you know that I won't learn
I been trying for a minute but I'll end up in the dirt
Don't they love to see me hurt
I'm so tired, girl I'm blemished
Y-You try to forget it but I'm worse
And she say she wanna talk (Dada-da-da)
On the ground you couldn't walk
I was right here
And I get it, I'm so dumb
I was walking with a gun, fall victim to what I fear
Get up, stay by me, not poison
I'd watch while you leave, so broken
I'd be what you need for a moment
And you watch as I bleed
B-but I'm over it

I know and you know, it's not that easy
I can run from the past but it won't leave me
Do you like the way I look when I'm feeling?
I would say we'd never last but we're both the same
And I don't know what deterred you
You're from California but you're far from normal
But I don't want to
But you're leaving me behind (I'm giving up)
And it's making me cry"

Tiësto (featuring A Boogie Wit da Hoodie)

Chills (L.A. Hills)

Tiësto is Tijs Michiel Verwest, a Dutch DJ and producer, active since 1994. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie is Julius Dubose, a rapper and singer from New York City, active since 2015. This electronic dance track was released in 2023.

"I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills, L.A. Hills
Dropped the chills
I'm a spaceship in the galaxy
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need
Twisted in my mind, we're in-between
In-between, lost at sea
Can you be my captain and rescue me?
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need

I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills, L.A. Hills
Dropped the chills
I'm a spaceship in the galaxy
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need
Twisted in my mind, we're in-between
In-between, lost at sea
Can you be my captain and rescue me?
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need

I'ma take my motorboat and drive it to the lake
You and I were speedin' off, keep away from fakes
You be feelin' solo, it's a no-no in my head
I will make you better, keep your demons all at bay

I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills
Come through, come talk to me
Give it all to me
You know what I want, you know what I need
Don't go too far from me
Life's short, get along with me
If you give me all of you
You got the rest of me

I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills, L.A. Hills
Dropped the chills
I'm a spaceship in the galaxy
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need
Twisted in my mind, we're in-between
In-between, lost at sea
Can you be my captain and rescue me?
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need

Baby, don't be phased, just say you love me to my face
In the Lamborghini, speedin' just to keep my mind off pain
I've been way too busy, ain't have time, don't go on dates
But time is money, so I spent enough time with you
I can't feel my face no more
On God, I swear, baby, you know what I want
Amiri what I wear, Lamborghini ain't fair
Shiny Moncler and my shoes Saint Laurent
Don't act crazy, girl, it's you that I want
I ain't gon' lie, girl, it's you that I need
So hypnotized, like glue, I was stuck to you, look

I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills
Come through, come talk to me
Give it all to me
You know what I want, you know what I need
Don't go too far from me
Life's short, get along with me
If you give me all of you
You got the rest of me

I'm at this party in the L.A. Hills, L.A. Hills
Dropped the chills
I'm a spaceship in the galaxy
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need
Twisted in my mind, we're in-between
In-between, lost at sea
Can you be my captain and rescue me?
You know what I want, yeah, you know what I need"

Tim Dog

F**k Compton

Tim Dog was a rapper from New York City. This savage 1991 diss track rips the entire L.A. gangsta rap scene - the artists, the music, and the fashion. It reflects the resentment some N.Y. hip-hop artists had for West Coast artists who had become very popular, many with connections to the city of Compton, notably N.W.A. whose album "Straight Outta Compton" released in 1988 was a huge hit. I don't know if this song started the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop wars that five years later contributed to the deaths of two of the biggest artists on each coast, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., but it certainly helped to fan the flames.

"Oh s**t motherf***ers step to the rear and cheer
'Cause Tim Dog is here
Let's get right down to the nitty gritty
And talk about a bulls**t city
Talkin' about ni**as from Compton
They're no comp and they truly ain't stomping
Tim Dog, a black man's task
I'm so bad I'll whip Superman's ass
All you suckers that riff on the West Coast
I'll diss and spray your ass like a roach
You think you're cool with your curls and your shades
I'll roll thick and you'll be yellin' out Raid
A hard brother that lives in New York
Where suckers are hard and we don't have to talk
Shut your mouth 'fore we come out stompin'
Hey, yo Eazy!
F**k Compton!

F**k Compton
F**k Compton (Yeah!)
F**k Compton (Oh Yeah!)
F**k 'em

(Why you dissing Eazy?)
'Cause the boy ain't s**t
Chew him with tobacco, and spit him in s**t
I'll crush Ice Cube, I'm cool wit Ice-T
But NWA ain't s**t to me
Dre, beatin' on Dee from "Pump it Up!"?
Step to the Dog and get f**ked up!
I'm simplistic, imperialistic, idealistic
And I'm kicking the ballistics
Having that gang war
We want to know what you're fighting for
Fighting over colors?
All that gang s**t's for dumb motherf**kers!
But you go on thinking you're hard
Come to New York and we'll see who gets robbed!
Take your jheri curls, take your black hats
Take your wack lyrics and your bulls**t tracks
Now you're mad and you're thinking about stomping
Well I'm from the South Bronx; f**k Compton!

F**k Compton
F**k Compton (Yeah!)
F**k Compton (Oh Yeah!)
F**k 'em

Tim Dog and I'm the best from the East
And all this Compton s**t must cease
So keep your eyes on the prize and
Don't jeopardize my rhyme 'cause that's not wise
You really think that you can rhyme
Well come and get some of this loaded Tec-9
Bo bo bo shots are cold gunning
And you'll really be a hundred miles and running
You wanna play go ride in a sleigh
I'm so large I f**ked Michel'le
In the bathroom we was bonin'
You shoulda heard how the b***h was moanin'
Do do do do dooo do do do do do do do
Shut the f**k up b***h, you can't sing
You sound like a kid playing on a swing ("F**k you!")
I'm the man at hand to run the band
That's in command
You know who the f**k I am
Tim Dog, what's my motherf**king name?
Tim Dog, that's my motherf**king game
So whether you think that I'm just a myth
The riff, the lift, the gift, the if, the fifth
The shift, the spliff, that's in control, to hold
To fold, to bold and make an ache and take and fake
Wooh! and I'm still too great

F**k Compton
F**k Compton (Yeah!)
F**k Compton (Oh Yeah!)
F**k 'em"

Louis Tomlinson

High in California

Louis Tomlinson is a singer and songwriter from England, active since 2020, and formerly with the band One Direction. This song is from his album "Faith in the Future" released in 2023. I hope that when he gets to California and smokes all that weed outside in the summertime he isn't so high that he forgets he shouldn't throw his roaches onto the ground, or the whole state will be smoking.

"Blue like the light surrounding me
It all seems so different when I'm around it
See all these waves and waves of green
Keep on coming like a dream
Until nothing is the same

Sun goes down and it changes
Never holding on
To anyone else
When you go
When you go, I can take you
Somewhere better than where you were before

I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime
They always said it's so bad for me
Everything I try makes me feel alive
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime

I could just roll the windows down
Let the golden hour wash through the room
I hope it always stays around
All the clouds of smoke come into bloom

When the sun goes down then it changes
Never holding on to anyone else
When you go, when you go
I can take you
Somewhere better than where you were before

I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime
They always said it's so bad for me
Everything I try makes me feel alive
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime

I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime
I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime
They always said it's so bad for me
Everything I try makes me feel alive
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
Spent my whole life just thinking I had to change
I wanna be in California
Smoke some weed
Outside in the summertime"

Jean Tonique

It Never Rains (In Southern California)

Jean Tonique is a French musician and producer. This funky dance song is from his album "Sunny Side Up" released in 2019.

"She fell in love with California
Driving down [? Iberian ] Avenue
This place is where your dreams come true

She wants to move to California
Then maybe she'll be living by the sea
She told me it was meant to be

(California)
(California)
(California)
(California)

California dreaming
California dreaming
California dreaming
California dreaming

(California)
(California)
(California)
(California)"

Tony! Toni! Toné!

Toni! Toni! Toné! is an R&B group from Oakland that had its biggest success in the 80s and 90s. This was a #1 R&B hit from 1990. The title is almost the same, but it's not a cover of the Albert Hammond song.

"I haven't seen your face in a year
I can't wait till I get there
Just to kiss and squeeze and hug
Girl you know the rest 'cause they tell me

It never rains in southern California
It never rains in southern California

Maybe I'll take the flight out tonight
And you can pick me up about 8
I don't know what airline girl
But I know it won't be late 'cause they tell me

It never rains in southern California
It never rains in southern California

Now I can't sleep at night
Without your eight by ten by my side
That day will come
For us to be together
I'm not worried 'bout a thing
Not even stormy weather...

Oh it may be cold on the East Coast
But on the other side of town it never rains...

We have so much to talk about
A lot of catchin' up to do
I'll bring the diamond girl
Because I'm so into you

'Cause they tell me...

It never rains in southern California
It never rains in southern California...."

Tool

AEnema

Tool is a progressive metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1990. This is the title track from their very popular 1996 album. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998. They don't have much good to say about their home town in this song, which is described as "...a great big festering neon distraction..." a "...hopeless f**king hole..." and "...a bulls**it three ring circus sideshow...." If they added something about smart phones in the lyrics, you would hardly know the song is more than 25 years old. Nevertheless, the people in Yuma are still waiting for their beachfront property.

"...Some say the end is near
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon
Certainly hope we will
I sure could use a vacation from
This bulls**t three ring circus sideshow

Of freaks here in this hopeless f**king hole we call L.A.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away
Any f**king time, any f**king day
Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay

Fret for your figure and fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your Prozac and fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and fret for your car
It's a bulls**it three ring circus sideshow

Of freaks here in this hopeless f**king hole we call L.A.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away
Any f**king time, any f**king day
Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay

Hey, hey, hey, ...

Some say a comet will fall from the sky
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves
Followed by fault lines that cannot sit still
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dips**ts
And some say the end is near
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon
I certainly hope we will
I sure could use a vacation from this
Stupid s**t, silly s**t, stupid s**t
One great big festering neon distraction
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim
'Cause Mom's gonna fix it all soon
Mom's coming 'round to put it back the way it ought to be

Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim

F**k L. Ron Hubbard, and f**k all his clones
F**k all these gun-toting hip gangster wannabes

Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim

Yeah, f**k retro anything, f**k your tattoos
F**k all you junkies, and f**k your short memory

Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim

Yeah, f**k smiley glad-hands with hidden agendas
F**k these dysfunctional insecure actresses

Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim

'Cause I'm praying for rain
I'm praying for tidal waves
I want to see the ground give way
I want to watch it all go down
Mom, please flush it all away
I want to see it go right in and down
I want to watch it go right in
Watch you flush it all away

Yeah, time to bring it down again
Yeah, don't just call me pessimist
Try and read between the lines
And I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend
I want to see it come down
Bring it down
Suck it down
Flush it down...."

Too $hort

Blow the Whistle

Too $hort is a rapper from Los Angeles who moved to Oakland, active since 1983. This song, considered his signature song, is from his album "Blow the Whistle" released in 2006.

"....Blow the whistle
Blow the whistle
Blow the whistle
Blow the whistle

Where you get that from?
Grab the mic, spit one, let me hit that blunt
Pimp-C, 8-Ball, and MJG
Keep spittin' that P to the I-M-P
Bun-B that's Texas baby
Ball and G that's Memphis baby
$hort Dog that's Oakland baby
Ain't nothin' but pimpin' these days G
My n***a C got locked up
But these real hoes still know they gots to f**k
Give a f**k nigga what you say
$hort Dog f**k with UGK
Do you really wanna be like me?
Spit game like Snoop and TIP
Pretty girls in the VIP
They came with drank they don't need ID

Blow the whistle....

Your mind is gone
Your brain is blazed
You've been wide awake for the last 3 days
Poppin' pills
It goes down for real
Don't stop, just keep rollin' down hill
Crash and burn, can't stand, fall back
You're doin' too much you can't handle all that
Man it's been way too long
Time to let the whole world play your songs
Like me my s**t gets around
Leave the country come back and hit The Town
I'm in Miami, New York, and ATL
Houston and L.A. ask Dave Chappelle, about my rich b***h
He got her from me
And made 50 million dollars
I'm proud of you D
But I'm crazy you don't wanna be like me
I come from East Oakland where the yougstas get Hyphy
Blow it!...."

Mel Tormé

L. A. (California Suite)

Mel Tormé was an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and author whose singing career spanned 65 years. His album "Mel Tormé's California Suite" was released in 1957 though it was first written in 1949. I have included only a few songs from the album below, but I'll add more. They are some of the most unintentionally funny songs about California I've heard. The whole project feels like it was commissioned by the California Chamber of Commerce as a recruiting tool. (The organization is even mentioned in the song "La Jolla" seen below.) It's hard to believe that 60 years ago people were still trying to encourage immigration into the state where "La Jolla won't annoy ya" and "La Mesa, what a place-a...."

Sammy Davis Jr. also recorded a 24 minute version of the California Suite in 1964.

"There's an old familiar bromide
That says home is where the heart is
If they let me choose my home I'd surely choose L.A.
Listen that's not just an axiom
I am here to state the facts see 'em as I do
And you'll settle here to stay
In Beverly Hills, Huntington Park, Brentwood, Westwood or Hollywood

Hollywood!

Musicians, technicians, and electricians on the job
Directors, producers, the cronies, the phonies who hob nob
With the singers and the dancers and the agents with the answers
And the actors who climb up the ladder just to get knocked down
The terribly funny awfully witty sayings of the town

Don't call us
We'll call you
Let's have lunch, some day
Glad ta see ya
Can't use ya
But glad ta see ya, anyway"

Mel Tormé

La Jolla (California Suite)

This is another song from "Mel Tormé's California Suite" released in 1957.

"La Jolla won't annoy ya
La Mesa what a place-a
Salinas is as keen as it can be
You'll feel better in Murietta
Stomp your feet over Montecito
Go insane for the lovely terrain wait and see

Think about all the fun you've missed
Come on out here and get sunkissed
If you wanna really live and not just exist
You better get across our old state line
You better get across that line

(Woman)

West Coast schmest coast
What a lot of rot hey
What makes it Paradise?
Who says it's so?
What has it got that the East ain't got hey?
As a residing citizen of the Eastern seaboard I would like to know

(Mel)

We got colleges
UCLA
Where knowledge is
LACC
.... ?
.... ?

We've got title bouts
And talent scouts
To prove that you're
A budding actor

Dreary days are so very few
When the clouds won't disperse
That isn't smog it's just heavy dew
As the California Chamber of Commerce

We got West Coast by far the most
We got West Coast jazz

And California has everything conducive to fun

(Woman)

Well are you done with your list?

(Mel)

No, I've only just begun

Arrowhead and Catalina
And those redwood trees
Where on earth could you find beauty like Yosemite?

We think the West Coast is the best coast in the land
We got the bluest water and the whitest sort of sand
We got the kind of neighbors who lend each other a hand
If there ever was a California rooter, I'm it
It's the climate

We love Diego, San Francisco, San Jose

There's not a thing about them I would change in any way
Oh this may be hard for you to understand
But we think the West Coast is the best coast
Is the best coast in the land."

Mel Tormé

San Fernando Valley
(California Suite)

This is another song from "Mel Tormé's California Suite" released in 1957. This very strange song starts with a long instrumental with horse clomping sounds, a banjo, and a string orchestra that sounds like it strayed out of an old western. Then there are a few lyrics, and the music inexplicably changes to sexy jazz saxophone until the very end when it returns to the old west now with a female chorus.

"If you're tired of dodging taxis on the city streets
And you crave elbow space
There's a restful valley that with your approval meets
Sunday night is the time San Fernando's the place"

Mel Tormé

They Go to San Diego

This jazzy song with a Latin rhythm is another song from "Mel Torme's California Suite" released in 1957, when San Diego was a playground for the rich.

"When a couple of Russian dignitaries
Are on vacation from their land
If they want to live in a style they're used to
Which they claim is very grand
Do they go to Marseille or the Rue de la Pays
Or some far away archipelago
Nah, they go to San Diego

Dan dan dandy San Diego
Where the sweet perfume of the waterfront fills the air

When those widows you read of with lots of dough
Realize it's getting late
If they want to splurge on a final fling
With some young and handsome mate
Do they motor to France or do they find romance
With a square from Tierra del Fuego
Nah, they go to San Diego

Han han handy San Diego
There are four Marines to each widow gal in the land

When a gal and guy from Oswego N-Y
Are in love and losing hope
She's got a strict papa he's got a stern mama
So they've decided to elope
Do they see Minnesota or hit North Dakota
Why certainly not here's where they go
Decidedly, delightedly
They go, they go, they go
They go to San Diego

(San Diego, San Diego
They go down to San Diego)"

Mel Tormé

We Think the West Coast is the Best (California Suite)

This is another song from "Mel Tormé's California Suite" released in 1957.

"I think the West Coast is the best coast in the land
We got the bluest water and the whitest sort of sand
We got the kind of neighbors who lend each other a hand
If there ever was a California rooter, I'm it
It's the climate

Love San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose
I like the small town feeling of that big town called L.A.
Oh if you could see it then you'd understand
Why we think the West Coast is the best coast in the land

Palm Springs, Vallejo, Modesto, hoo-ray
Oh that beautiful Malibu shore
Fresno and Barstow and San Bernardino
Encino and we know some more

Love Santa Barbara
We kind of harbor a
Soft spot for Monterey

We are quite sure a few
Days in Ventura would
Make you see things our way."

Tower of Power

East Bay! Oakland Style!

Tower of Power is an American horn-based funk band formed in Oakland in 1968 and probably best known for the 1973 song "What is Hip." Their horn section has also recorded with lots of other bands. This very short song is from their album "Soul Side of Town" released in 2018. There's another even shorter song on the album called "East Bay! All Day!

"Gonna get back to the East Bay
All day!
Huh
Oakland all the way
Oakland style
East Bay
All day!
Yeah, Oakland all the way!"

Tower of Power

Oakland Stroke

This song is from their 1974 album "Back to Oakland." When I lived in Oakland I was not aware that there was a stroke or that it was missing, but I'm glad someone found it.

"They done found the stroke
Done found the Oakland stroke

They done found the stroke
Done found the Oakland stroke

They done found the stroke
Done found the Oakland stroke

They done found the stroke
Done found the Oakland stroke"

Pete Townsend

Exquisitely Bored

Pete Townshend is a singer and songwriter and guitar hero active since 1962. in 1964 he formed the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century. This song is from his third solo album "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" released in 1982, when people still played radios in the street. No earbuds, no smart phones, no internet, no Twitter or TikTok, no Netflix, no YouTube, no wonder he's bored....

"The tissue box is empty
No coffee for my cream
Dogs howl in the alley
Crazy women scream
Some kids shout from their pickup truck
They're stoned on life and beer
Fifty radios playing in this street
But I'm still hardly here

Exquisitely bored in California
We take our trouble to the crest
Exquisitely bored in California
Exquisitely bored, just like all the rest

When the sun shines, things'll get moving
You feel close to the stars
There are good times walking in Laguna
But it rains in my heart

The peasants here are starving
They look like barrels out in space
Pray TV looks like pay TV to me
It's just a curse on the human race
I take a drive up to L.A.
In my gas-guzzling limousine
There's a whole lot of crazy people up there
Living out a life in sweet ennui

Exquisitely bored in California
We take frustration to the crest
Exquisitely bored in California
Exquisitely bored, just like all the rest

When the sun shines, things'll get moving
You feel close to the stars
There are good times walking in Laguna
But it rains in my heart

Exquisitely bored in California
We take our trouble to the Crest
Exquisitely bored in California
Exquisitely bored, just like all the rest"

Umberto Tozzi

A song from 1994 from an Italian pop rock singer. He sings the song in Italian and you can see the Italian lyrics on genius.com. I put the the Italian lyrics into a web translator to get an idea of what he's singing about and this is what came out:

"Lights on you, California
It is an America if you are there
I only fly for you, California
Dreaming of those avenues of heaven downwards
(Music box ... you are like a music box ... you are like a music box)

Boats with your name from Mississippi
You remind me
Hippy photos talk about you
Those were the years of blue hair

Those years of peace were in me
From Hawaii up
Take me to you, you are my light
I don't believe in the newspapers anymore
So many lies sell more

Lights on you, California
It is an America if you are there
I only fly for you, California
Dreaming of those avenues of heaven downwards
(Music box ...)

Today I'm here amidst space races, signs of madness
There is no more cheerfulness in the eyes of the children
Only yawns from eighteen and up

I saw you there among a thousand memories with dark glasses
My bitter tears speak of you
You were dreaming from Europe down
Like a satellite I miss you

Lights on you, California
It is an America if you are there
I only fly for you, California
Dreaming of those avenues of heaven downwards

Lights on you, California
It is an America if you are there
I only fly for you, California
Dreaming of those avenues of heaven downwards
(Music box ... you are like a music box ... you are like a music box)

[Repeated 4 times]
Lights on you, California
It is an America if you are there
I'm flying just for you, California
Dreaming of those avenues of heaven downwards"

Train

California 37

Train is a rock band formed in 1993 in San Francisco. This song is from Train's sixth studio album "California 37" released in 2012. Finally somebody wrote a song about Highway 37 - which runs 21 miles between Vallejo and Novato! I hope this means that Highway 94 will finally get a song written about it, and then maybe Highway 168, too, along with Highways 20, 50, 120, and the mighty 395.

"Knock knock, who's there?
2012 is a brand new year
Cleaning house, singing songs
Shedding light and righting wrongs
Ding dong the witch ain't dead
She's still trying to take my bread
Four more years 'til my girls all grown
Then the b**ch gotta have to leave me alone
It's all good 'cause I'm as happy as a flea
On a mountain of dogs you see
A little music cured all the hurt and put hate in six feet of dirt

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door

Here's to those who didn't think Train could ever roll again
You were the fuel that I used when inspiration hit a dead end
San Francisco got it done 415 took the 911
Thank you all for believin' in
We won't let you down again
Truth is, it was attitude
Replaced greed with gratitude
Then replaced a pretty key dude
It's all truth not being rude
Making love now, not mistakes
Working hard instead of looking for breaks
Came all the way from the eighth Great Lake
And found 37 reasons to stay

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door"

Train

Drive By

This upbeat pop rock song, the lead single from Train's sixth studio album "California 37" released in 2012, peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"On the other side of a street I knew
Stood a girl that looked like you
I guess that's déjà vu
But I thought this can't be true
'Cause you moved to West L.A.
Or New York or Santa Fe
Or wherever to get away from me

Oh but that one night
Was more than just right
I didn't leave you 'cause I was all through
Oh I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell
Because I really fell for you

Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by
Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply
Hefty bag to hold my love
When you move me everything is groovy
They don't like, it sue me
Mmm, the way you do me
Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by

On the upside of a downward spiral
My love for you went viral
And I loved you every mile you drove away
But now here you are again
So let's skip the 'how you been?'
And get down to the 'more than friends' at last

Oh but that one night
Is still the highlight
I didn't need you until I came to
And I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell
Because I really fell for you

Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by
Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply
Hefty bag to hold my love
When you move me everything is groovy
They don't like it, sue me
Mmm, the way you do me
Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by

Please believe
That when I leave
There's nothing up my sleeve
But love for you
And a little time to get my head together too

On the other side of a street I knew
Stood a girl that looked like you
I guess that's déjà vu
But I thought this can't be true
'Cause

Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by
Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply
Hefty bag to hold my love
When you move me everything is groovy
They don't like it, sue me
Mmm, the way you do me
Oh I swear to you
I'll be there for you
This is not a drive by"

Train

Half Moon Bay

This is from Train's album "Save Me, San Francisco (Golden Gate Edition)" released in 2009.
Half Moon Bay is a small coastal community between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

"This ain't a threat, but I think I better warn ya
Gonna fall in love if you go to California
I did, and this is how I know

By the beach, north of San Jose
Met the right girl, and it sounds cliche but
We decided not to take it slow
I said, 'Why wait? You're my soulmate'
Took her by the hand in the Golden State
Now that you're mine, things are gonna be fine
First came love, then a baby carriage
Hardly knew the people at my own damn marriage
But an open bar can open your mind

You save my life with every word you say
You shine your light for me to find the way
Just hold me tight and cross your heart to stay
Here with me, born to be
Every part of you in Half Moon Bay

Up in Tiburon where the girls are warm
We stay inside while the rain clouds form
And thank God for rainy days like these
And just when the time has come to retire
Baby starts crying, so we dance by the fire
Always does the trick, you better believe

You save my life with every word you say
You shine your light for me to find the way
Just hold me tight and cross your heart to stay
Here with me, born to be
Every part of you

Why go slow if it's nice and steady?
We all know it's in the stars already
Oh-oh, oh-oh oh
Why say no if yes feels right?
You just got to go where it feels like home
(Oh-oh, oh-oh oh)

This ain't a threat, but I think I better warn ya
Gonna fall in love if you go to California
I did, and this is how I know

You save my life with every word you say
You shine your light for me to find the way
Just hold me tight and cross your heart to stay
Here with me, born to be
Every part of you

You save my life with every word you say
You shine your light so I can find my way
Just hold on tight and cross your heart to stay
Here with me, born to be
Every part of you in Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay
Half, hm, hm
Half Moon Bay"

Train

Save Me San Francisco

This song is from Train's 5th studio album. Save Me, San Francisco, released in 2009. It charted as a top 10 single. It's another song that rhymes "disco" with "San Francisco" but it gets a pass because it also rhymes "calypso" with the city by the bay.

"I used to love The Tenderloin
Until I made some tender coin
And then I met some ladies from Marin
We took the highway to The One,
Up the coast to catch some sun
That left me with these blisters on my skin
Don't know what I was on,
But I think it grows in Oregon,
So I kept on goin' going on right through
I drove into Seattle rain
Fell in love then missed the train
That could have took me right back home to you

I've been high, I've been low,
I've been yes, and I've been oh, hell no!
I've been rock 'n roll and disco,
Won't you save me San Francisco?

Oh, oh
(Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh)

Every day so caffeinated
I wish they were golden gated
Fillmore couldn't feel more miles away
So wrap me up return to sender
Let's forget this five day bender
Take me to my city by the bay!

I never knew all that I had,
Now Alcatraz don't sound so bad
At least they have a hella fine merlot
If I could wish upon a star
I would hitch a cable car
To the place that I can always call my own

I've been up, I've been down,
I've been so damn lost since you're not around,
I been reggae and calypso
Won't you save me San Francisco?"

Transplants

California Babylon

Transplants are a punk rock/rap rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1999 by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freman from Rancid and Operation Ivy, Lars Frederiksen from Rancid, Vic Ruggiero from The Slackers, and Travis Barker from Blink-182. This song is from the group's first studio album "Transplants" released in 2002.

"Waitress out dressed like nurses in bondage
Brought me the check, said I want you to sign this
Union boy standing next to the rastas
There’s gonna be a strike and you ain’t gonna stop us
Three men standing and they love what they do
You won’t see it coming, cause they wanna surprise you
Consider it done, they’re gonna stand right by you
American punks don’t care about you
Hollywood what you gonna do?
Hollywood what you gonna do?

Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man
Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man
Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man

You can take away the nights, the sights with bright lights
Seeks still ride, engage in street fights
Two to the head, pull around, he's dead
Suspect fled, caught up in bloodshed
No sign of hope, we fight and sling dope
Junkies to our left, no fix, they can't cope
Violence won't cease, hand me the chrome piece
No peace or sleep, we fight with police
(This is the city that'll make all your dreams come true, so pay attention)

Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man
Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man
Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man

At last she had arrived, we turned in exhausted
Cocaine in her pocket, she can get busted
Once again she passes, now she's gone
Now she's with her friend, her beautiful young
She showed up on the scene, she was seventeen
Now she's 21, she does some more coke
She does some more coke
She drinks some whiskey and she smokes some dope
She thinks she's a star
She thinks she's a star
She thinks she's a star
She thinks she's a star
Do you know who you are?
Do you know who you are?
Do you know who you are?
Do you know who you are?

Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man.
Don’t say that you don’t understand
Don’t say that you can’t comprehend
Don’t say that you don’t understand, this is California Babylon, my man...."

Oliver Tree

I Left My Wallet in El Segundo

Oliver Tree is a singer and comedian from Santa Cruz, California, active since 2010. This is from his album "Cowboy Tears" released in 2022.

"Take me back to California
West Coast, I’m coming home
Take me back to California
Right where I started from

California, that’s where I lived my whole life
California, bury me there when I die

Take me back to California
That’s where my body will lie
Take me back to California
That’s where I’ll go when I die

I’ve been sticking it out
For one thousand miles on the 101 South
The distance feels like it kills
From San Francisco to the Hollywood Hills

California, that’s where I lived my whole life
California, bury me there when I die

Take me back to California
West Coast, I’m coming home
Take me back to California
Right where I started from

I’m coming home to Cali
From the red wood trees all the way to The Valley
The distance feels like it kills
From San Francisco to the Hollywood Hills

California, that’s where I lived my whole life
California, bury me there when I die

Take me back to California
West Coast, I’m coming home
Take me back to California
Right where I started from

California, bury me there when I die"

A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest was a group from New York City, active on and off from 1985-2017, that were pioneers of alternative hip-hop. This is the debut single from their debut album "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" released in 1990. It's a road trip fantasy song about losing a wallet. I read somewhere that they used El Segundo in the song because Q-Tip, one of the songwriters enjoyed Redd Foxx making jokes about the city on Sanford and Son.

Left my wallet in El Segundo
Left my wallet in El Segundo
Left my wallet in El Segundo
I gotta get, I got-got ta get it

I left my wallet in El Segundo
Left my wallet in El Segundo
Left my wallet in El Segundo
I gotta get, I got-got ta get it

My mother went away for a month-long trip
Her and some friends on an ocean-liner ship
She made a big mistake by leaving me home
I had to roam so I picked up the phone
Dialed Ali up to see what was going down
Told him I pick him up so we could drive around
Took the Dodge Dart, a '74
My mother left a yard but I needed one more
Shaheed had me covered with a hundred greenbacks
So we left Brooklyn and we made big tracks
Drove down the Belt, got on the Conduit
Came to a toll, we paid and went through it
Had no destination, we was on a quest
Ali laid in the back so he could get rest
Drove down the road for two-days-and-a-half
The sun had just risen on a dusty path
Just then a figure had caught my eye
A man with a sombrero who was four feet high
I pulled over to ask were we was at
His index finger he tipped up his hat
'El Segundo,' he said, 'my name is Pedro
If you need directions, I'll tell you pronto'
Needed civilization, some sort of reservation
He said a mile south, there's a fast food station
Thanks, señor, as I start up the motor
Ali said, 'Damn, tip, why you drive so far for?'

(Well describe to me what the wallet looks like)

Anyway a gas station we passed
We got gas and went on to get grub
It was a nice little pub in the middle of nowhere
Anywhere would have been better
I ordered enchiladas and I ate 'em
Ali had the fruit punch
When we finished we thought for ways to get back
I had a hunch
Ali said, 'Pay for lunch'
So I did it
Pulled out the wallet and I saw this wicked beautiful lady
She was a waitress there
Put the wallet down and stared and stared
To put me back into reality, here's Shaheed,
'Yo, Tip, man, you got what you need?'
I checked for keys and started to step
What do you know, my wallet I forget

Yo, it was a brown wallet, it had props numbers
Had my jimmy hats I got to get it man

Lord, have mercy
The heat got hotter, Ali stars to curse me
I fell bad but he makes me feel badder
Chit-chit-chatter, car stars to scatter
Breaking on out, we was Northeast bound
Jettin' on down at the speed of sound
Three days coming and three more going
We get back and there was no slack
490 Madison, we're here, Sha
He said, 'All right, Tip, see you tomorrow'
Thinking about the past week, the last week
Hands go in my pocket, I can't speak
Hopped in the car and torpe'ed to the shack
Of Shaheed, 'we gotta go back' when he said
'Why?' I said, 'We gotta go
Cause I left my wallet in El Segundo'

I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I gotta get it, I got, got to get it
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I gotta get it, I got, got to get it..."

A Tribe Called Quest

World Tour

This song is from the album "Midnight Marauders" released in 1993.

"We on Award Tour with Muhammad my man
Going each and every place with the mic in their hand
New York, NJ, N.C., VA
We on Award Tour with Muhammad my man
Going each and every place with the mic in their hand
Oaktown, L.A., San Fran, St. John

People give your ears so I be sublime
It's enjoyable to know you and the concubine
Ni**as, take off your coats ladies, act like gems
Sit down, Indian style, as we recite these hymns
See, lyrically I'm Mario Andretti on the mo-mo
Ludicrous, we speedy, or infectious with the slow-mo
Heard me in the eighties, J Beez on the promo
On my never ending quest to get the paper on the caper
But now, let me take it to the Queens side
I'm taking it to Brooklyn side
All the residential Questers to invade the way
Hold up a second son, 'cause we almost there
You can be a black man and lose all your soul
You can be white and blue but don't crap the roll
See my s**t is universal, if you got knowledge and dolo
Of delf for self, see there's no one else
Who can drop it on the angle, acute at that
So, do that, do that, do do that that that(come on)
Do that, do that, do do that that that(OK)
Do that, do that, do do that that that
I'm bugging out, so let me get back 'cause I'm wettin ni**az
So run and tell the others 'cause we are the brothas
I learned how to build mics in my workshop class
So give me this award, and let's not make it the last...."

Trippie Redd

Topanga

Trippie Redd is a rapper from Ohio. This melodic sung rap song is from his third mixtape "A Love Letter to You 3" released in 2018. Topanga is a bohemian community in the Santa Monica Mountains which has been home to plenty of musicians and filmmakers and other artists.

"....Don't talk to strangers
Since a youngin' I've been totin' bangers
I might take that lil' b***h to Topanga
I said, "Stop, little b***h, you in danger"
Yeah-eah, you in danger
I might take your lil' ass to Topanga
Just don't move like no m******f**in' stranger
Know I tote bangers, boom-boom-boom-boom
Stop, you in danger
I can take you to Topanga
Open my hand like Jesus and save ya
Know I'm known to tote bangers
Said, "Boom-boom-boom, you in danger"
Stop that now, you in danger
Stop right now, you in danger
Stop that now, you in danger
Stop right now, you in danger, yeah...."

Trizz (featuring Glasses Malone)

New West

Trizz is Arthur "Tre" Lea III, a rapper from the Inland Empire. Glasses Malone is a rapper from Los Angeles. This is from "New West" released in 2016.

[Trizz]
California ni**a this is what I represent
Hailing from the southern side
But I'm heaven sent
Red rags
Blue flags
We affiliated
Gang bang where I'm from
This is where it originated
They call me Young Trizz
Newest artist from the west
I'm so sure about my rep
Tat it on my flesh
If you don't know about me yet
You technically in debt
So pay the price and buy my album
To produce my check
The youngest on my coast
Same chronic different smoke
Seventeen with a style
Unpredictable
I'm invincible to those with no principles
To serve a purpose in this game
Serve you critical
Compton's in my veins
That's how I got the heart in me
The elements to
I feel it in my arteries
Touch down in my state past the line of scrimmage
You won't make it out alive without a death sentence
Propose a toast where I represent
And do the most
The far left
Better known as the west coast
This is life
Not a fad, fashion, or a trend
We ain't kidding
New west let the games begin
...
[Glasses Malone]
We re-up
So go on
Let the fiends in
The only star
From the California king pin
Watts California king fam
I was ran by Watts California king Cam
My motherf**king kingdom is the East
Ni**gas gotta play every time he try and eat
It's not a threat
More like protection
Wolf gets buried without the pack leaders blessing
So real s**t
Take heed to the message
Because if they start attacking
Ain't no coming to the rescue
They going to rip you up something special
And if that don't do it
Heart will cardiac arrest you
West coast better known as the jungle
Service I provide
On the side
Gonna run you
Or you can take a gamble like some do
And end up the main story on the channel 1 news

Propose a toast where I represent
And do the most
The far left
Better known as the west coast
This is life
Not a fad, fashion, or a trend
We ain't kidding
New west let the games begin

[Trizz]
I was born in this west life
Consider it the best life
Money taking over
I'm a victim to the stressed life
Still hold my own
Keep it G like Malone
Getting gangster on these song lyrics
Killing off the dome
Raised to carry a chrome
If you violate my zone
Shoot first
Ask last
California is my home
Cold on the track
But I'm hot as Arizona
The west ain't dead
It's just in a slight coma
Got a word for the East
The Midwest, and the South
With all do respect
Keep the west out your mouth
I'm here to kill this gang
With this mic that I chose
Signed Young Trizz
On a homicide note"

Trizz (featuring Roc$tedy)

Sleepless in California

Trizz is Arthur "Tre" Lea III, a rapper from the Inland Empire. Roc$tedy is a rapper from Long Beach. This is from "Case 17" released in 2012.

[Trizz & Roc$tedy]
Trizz, $tedy
I got my ni**a with me this time
Uh huh
Yeah
Ah
They not ready for this s**t you know what I'm saying
No sleep, eyes wide open on some s**t
Hah
We sleepless b**ch
Hahaha
West west
Case 17
Get em (what up)

[Trizz]
F**k wrists, I'll cut up your pajamas (yup)
Money don't sleep, so why should I, I gotta count it (you feel me?)
If you don't know the system, better work your way around it (straight up)
Shtick the government for they cheese, that's what it's bout f**ch
Broke is not a option, get old for the profit (gimme that)
Ni**as say they got it, but don't really got s**t (nah)
M-O-B like this gill without a b**ch (yeah)
But if she guapped out and got a whip, I'm on some faithful s**t (hahaha)
Willing and able s**t
Grind till I make it s**t
Stunt on all my exes with a dime-piece labeled chick (yeah)
On some grateful s**t (okay)
Like thank you b**ch
Brag to all the homies how I'm pimping this unstable b**ch (check this out)
Cali raised me, hip-hop saved me
Banging Pac and Biggie, something game that they gave me (Trizz)
I'm f**king raw
Flow crack like the '80s (ah)
Sold my first album at the simple age of eighteen

Sleepless in California, you know we gotta stay up
Never told to wake up, steady getting our cake up
Keep up our defenses for any that's trynna fade us
Ni**as can't fade us
How dare they come and face us
Cause we gon' ride till we die, stay focused
Known to stay blowing on sticky, who wanna smoke it? (dab)
Bloods stay folking while Crips stay Loccing (yeah)
Ni**as stay on it
California owns it

[Roc$tedy]
Rise and grind
It's time to shine, no ...? harder
I hit the boulevard
Hands in the fu**ing cookie jar
Chips ahoy (b**ch)
So you can dab a jar
While I'm out to get a boy (ride)
Still on my board s**t
No Chicago, Illinois (damn day)
I'm outta killer Cali, where they out to kill a boy (boy)
Long Beach chair, Raiders and the Steelers boy (help me)
City bout to see, watch your ship get destroyed
It's going down (down)
Aye Trizz, what it is bro
Wearing, they know the program
I'm out to get money and smoke grams
Watch a chick get low, do it with no hands
So like a point-guard I passed and our rides go dash (I'm gone)
C-A in my veins like a IV (Vee)
It's Roc $tedy, they ain't even gotta ID the city behind me (me)
Like a transport
Find me at the airport, this fly s**t times three

[Trizz]
Sleepless in California, you know we gotta stay up
Never told to wake up, steady getting our cake up
Keep up our defenses for any that's trynna fade us
Ni**gas can't fade us
How dare they come and face us
Cause we gon' ride till we die, stay focused
Known to stay blowing on sticky, who wanna smoke it? (dab)
Bloods stay folking while Crips stay Loccing (yeah)
Ni**as stay on it
California owns it

Midnight flow to the crack of dawn, I'm ready (yeah)
Couldn't get this joint done without my ni**a ($tedy)
Keep the beat steady while we give this track a blessing (okay)
Gotta get the money so to rap I am investing (tell me)
Equity loans and studios, check the real estate
Management behind me so I know what kinda deals to make
Real in my nerves, so I'm sensing when I feel a fake (yeah)
It was in the nineties, but I'm still considered ill today (ooh)

[Roc$tedy]
These b**ch ni**as got bills to pay
And I'm at they door
I'll keep it raw, get your fish filleted
Sautéed I'mma renegade
You are now witnessing a grenade (boom)
No pen now
I'mma monster, they've been afraid
Don't bi**h out
Don't act like we bringing the West back, it's been out (it's West)
Chuck Taylor's laced when I'm in the place
Just came from space, turnt up by my weight, yeah

[Trizz]
Sleepless in California, you know we gotta stay up
Never told to wake up, steady getting our cake up
Keep up our defenses for any that's trynna fade us
Ni**as can't fade us
How dare they come and face us
Cause we gon' ride till we die, stay focused
Known to stay blowing on sticky, who wanna smoke it? (dab)
Bloods stay folking while Crips stay Loccing (yeah)
Ni**as stay on it
California owns it"

The Tubes

White Punks on Dope

The Tubes are a rock band based in San Francisco. This is from their 1975 debut album "The Tubes." The Pacific Heights the singer comes from was a very affluent neighborhood in 1975, but that was when much of the city was still affordable. Now the whole city is probably more expensive than Pacific Heights was then. The song was also covered by Motley Crue in 2000.

"Teenage had a race for the night time
Spent my cash on every high I could find
Wasted time in every school in L.A.
Getting loose, I didn't care what the kids say

We're white punks on dope
Mom & Dad moved to Hollywood
Hang myself when I get enough rope
Can't clean up, though I know I should
White punks on dope
White punks on dope

Other dudes are living in the ghetto
But born in Pacific Heights don't seem much betta

We're white punks on dope
Mom & Dad live in Hollywood
Hang myself when I get enough rope
I can't clean up, though I know I should
White punks on dope
White punks on dope

I go crazy 'cause my folks are so f***ing rich
Have to score when I get that rich white punk itch
Sounds real classy, living in a chateau
So lonely, all the other kids will never know

We're white punks on dope
Mom & Dad live in Hollywood
Hang myself when I get enough rope
Can't clean up, though I know I should
White punks on dope
White punks on dope"

Tuffy

The First Time I Fell in Love

Tuffy is a German producer, from what I have deduced. This heavily auto-tuned single released in 2023 could be described as German hip-hop or R&B. I'm not sure exactly what genre it is, but neither does Tuffy, according to this Google translation of his YouTube comments: "For as long as I can remember, I've made a wide variety of music. from a reggae band with my big bro to hip hop to what i'm doing now. no idea what that is exactly, but my friends and a few others are celebrating"

"I wanna be yours
Gib mir eine Chance
Und wir gehen nach California
Bin immer noch auf Tour
Doch I‘ll be back for sure
Und wir fliehen in deine Träume, ja
You are stuck inna me mind
Du warst viel zu lang allein
Also komm in meine Zone, ja
Ich hol dich ab daheim
We could get high
Burn some good marihuana

Steig ein
In den Tesla
Haben zehn Gramm
Auf‘m Rücksitz

Träumen
Seit der Kindheit
Von California’s
Küsten

Sonne scheint und
Wir sind high
Du guckst rüber und küsst mich

Prime time
Ich will dein sein
Du willst mein sein
Wir sind glücklich

Babygirl, wießt du wo wir gestern noch war’n?
Heute sind wir hier, haben Sex am Strand
Alles is‘ so easy, f***in‘ blessed, oh man
Und es hört einfach nicht auf

I wanna be yours
Gib mir eine Chance
Und wir gehen nach California
Bin immer noch auf Tour
Doch I‘ll be back for sure
Und wir fliehen in deine Träume, ja
You are stuck inna me mind
Du warst viel zu lang allein
Also komm in meine Zone, ja
Ich hol dich ab daheim
We could get high
Burn some good marihuana

Dieser Lifestyle
Diese Aussicht
Unser Auto
Wird zum Raumschiff

Fly, fly
Wie du aussiehst
Wenn du baust, babe
Is‘ unglaublich

Eis rein
In den Weißwein
Alles zieht vorbei in Slow Motion

Berauschend
Diese potion
Viben in der Nacht zu Frank Ocean

Babygirl, du weißt ja
Ich bleib an deiner Seite
Penn ruhig in mei‘m Arm ein,
Ich lass dich nicht allein, nein

I wanna be yours
Gib mir eine Chance
Und wir gehen nach California
Bin immer noch auf Tour
Doch I‘ll be back for sure
Und wir fliehen in deine Träume ja
You are stuck inna me mind
Du warst viel zu lang allein
Also komm in meine Zone, ja
Ich hol dich ab daheim
We could get high
Burn some good marihuana"

"I wanna be yours
give me a chance
And we're going to California
I'm still touring
But I'll be back for sure
And we escape into your dreams, yes
You are stuck in my mind
You've been alone for far too long
So get in my zone, yeah
I'll pick you up at home
We could get high
Burn some good marijuana

Hop in
Into the Tesla
Have ten grams
In the back seat

Dream
Since childhood
From California's
Coast

Sun is shining and
We're high
You look over and kiss me

Prime time
I want to be yours
You wanna be mine
We are happy

Baby girl, do you know where we were yesterday?
Today we are here having sex on the beach
Everything is so easy, f***in' blessed, oh man
And it just doesn't stop

I wanna be yours
Give me a chance
And we're going to California
I'm still touring
But I'll be back for sure
And we escape into your dreams, yes
You are stuck in my mind
You've been alone for far too long
So get in my zone, yeah
I'll pick you up at home
We could get high
Burn some good marijuana

This lifestyle
That view
Our car
Becomes a spaceship

Fly, fly
The way you look
When you build babe
It's unbelievable

Ice in
In the white wine
Everything passes by in slow motion

Intoxicating
This potion
Vibing in the night to Frank Ocean

Baby girl you know
I stay by your side
Fall asleep in my arm,
I won't leave you alone, no

I wanna be yours
Give me a chance
And we're going to California
I'm still touring
But I'll be back for sure
And we flee into your dreams yes
You are stuck in my mind
You've been alone for far too long
So get in my zone, yeah
I'll pick you up at home
We could get high
Burn some good marijuana"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Castilleja

Molly Tuttle is a singer-songwriter and a banjo and guitar virtuoso and teacher, originally from Palo Alto, California, active since 2006. Golden Highway is the band that accompanies her. This is from her album "Crooked Tree" released in 2022. Castilleja is a flower known as Indian paintbrush or prairie fire, and flower references are definitely throughout this song, but I have to believe that she's also singing about a person because nobody could be so obsessed with a native wildflower. Unless it's sticky monkey-flower. That's a floral obsession I could understand.

"Oh Castilleja
You’re a prairie fire dancing in the wind
But you’re cold as the High Sierra
Every time I try to bring your flower in

I promised you the gold in California
On a painted horse with reins of silver thread
But if I can’t steal your heart Castilleja
I’ll end up with a price upon my head

You were bold Castilleja
When I saw you at Mojave’s drinking slow
Full of poison like an arrow
Was just trying to say how much I love you so

I promised you the gold in California
On a painted horse with reins of silver thread
But if I can’t steal your heart Castilleja
I’ll haunt you like a fugitive instead

Two strangers make one darkened shadow
That moved against the papered wall
When suddenly there loomed another
And Castilleja came to fall

So I lit out east of Inyo
To where the highway turns to sand
And there I met that heartless devil
Your desert flower in his hand

But I was quick like a streak of lightning
I fired first and then he fell
Now I dream of Castilleja
Whose secret I will never tell

I promised you the gold in California
On a painted horse with reins of silver thread
But if I can’t steal your heart Castilleja
I’ll ghost this world long after I’m dead
Oh Castilleja
Oh Castilleja
Oh Castilleja"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

El Dorado

Molly Tuttle is a singer-songwriter originally from Palo Alto, California, active since 2006. This gold rush saga is from the album "City of Gold" released in 2023, which won a Grammy Award for the best bluegrass album. El Dorado is not specific place in California, it's a legendary city or kingdom of gold. Coloma is a town in the gold rush country located in the county of El Dorado, so I'm assuming that's the El Dorado that Gold Rush Kate is singing about.

"I'm Gold Rush Kate from the Golden State with a nugget around my neck
I keep the red lights burning bright from here to Hell and back
I've dug for silver and for gold from Boulder up to Haines
When I hit Coloma, boys, I made my final claim

Crossed the High Sierras in the spring of '48
And every man with a shovel and pan has stumbled through my gate
Behind these doors whiskey pours and lovin' flows like wine
Miners boast of mother lodes they'll dig or else die trying

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

They come from far and wide to quell the fever in their souls
It haunts their brain, they've gone insane for the glimmer of the gold
The devil must have drug 'em here down a one-way path
'Cause when you hit Coloma, boys, you never make it back

There's Redwood Bill, he can drink his fill, so can John the Rover
Bad Luck Dave is in his grave, his gold dust days are over
They fill their pans with blood and sand and call to God upstairs
But in the golden country, boys, the Lord don't hear your prayers

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

Cross yourself on Hangman's Hill if you run into Reno Maria
When the sky is dark, she can read the stars from Mars to Cassiopeia
She comes around when the sun comes down with fortunes to be told
For a copper penny, she'll tell you plenty, except where to find the gold

Stay away from Snake Oil Jake, he'll fool you with a fountain pen
One look in his eyes, you'll be hypnotized, he's got that slight of hand
He's sleek and fat like an old tom cat, they say he has nine lives
Snake Oil Jake sure met his fate when they shot him down ten times

Don't stake your claim with the Dogtown Gang or the boys from Rough and Ready
Don't thumb your nose at the Sydney Cove, 'cause the hammer comes down heavy
On every jack who tries to hack his way to fortune fair
And comes to find he's last in line to be a millionaire

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo
El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools

Heard the news from Siskiyou, the rush is moving on
Leaving old Coloma boys and bound for Oregon
Here in town the tailing piles have all gone to rust
One day you boom, but pretty soon, your booming days are bust

So now I sweep the empty streets and boarded up saloon
Seen 'em fade from golden days to ghost towns left to ruin
Was it worth the blood and dirt to dig our lives away?
But life goes quick, so come get rich in Californ-I-A

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo
El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools
Has the fever got a hold on you?

I've seen it, all the rise and fall, and now I take my rest
I'm Gold Rush Kate from the Golden State and I'm the last one left"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Grass Valley

This autobigraphic folk acoustic song about the folk music scene in Grass Valley (a Gold Country city in the western foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada mountains, known for its music festivals) is from Tuttle's album "Crooked Tree" released in 2022.
("Dawg music" refers to the great jazz/bluegrass style pioneered by David Grisman in the late 1970s.)

"I remember when I first drove with my dad up to Grass Valley
Four hours north of San Francisco, just outside Nevada City
The road winding through those dried brown hills of gold country
I was ten years old and happy
Out of school a week early

We drove past the welcome sign, people playing 'neath the pines
Heard the music floating from a stage
Pitch dark town and walked around
My heart opened to the sound
I didn't know it then, but my life turned a page

Standing 'round jamming to the sound of Little Annie
Baptized in the campgrounds of Grass Valley

Deadheads and tie-dye array
Dawg music devotees
Like nothing I had ever heard or seen
It was Jamgrass for the hippies
Old stuff from the fifties
Just about nothing in between
I stood and tried to play along
Boy, I only knew a couple songs
While bolder kids sat in with the bands
I watched and envied from afar
Head bowed down over my guitar
Praying to catch that magic in my hands

Standing 'round jamming to the sounds of Little Annie
Baptized in the campgrounds of Grass Valley

Some years have passed, now I'm back here in the foothills of gold country
Same songs being played, the singing in the shade of the pine trees
A shy kid with a mandolin, I could see her on the sideline staring at me
She looks just like I did the first time that I came to Grass Valley

Standing 'round jamming to the sounds of Little Annie
Baptized in the campgrounds of Grass Valley"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (featuring Dan Tyminski)

San Francisco Blues

This is another song from Tuttle's 2022 album "Crooked Tree." Dan Tyminski is a bluegrass musician, singer & songwriter active since 1988, but he's not listed as a writer on this song, which is credited to Ketch Secor, Melody Walker, and Molly Tuttle. The singer is not the only person who can no longer afford San Francisco, but that's not a new story. The gold rush "days of '49" first transformed San Francisco from a small town to an expensive boomtown and before that I'll bet the native American residents cursed the Spanish for ruining their neighborhood.

"In the town where I was born, here on the coast of California
By the dock of the Bay they often tell
A tidal wave just hit the shore and folks like me, we can't afford
To stick around here in this town we love so well

I got the San Francisco blues
Now there's nothin' left to lose
I can't afford the dues and so I'm leavin'

I miss the stars that used to shine and the days of '49
But most of all I miss the California dreamin'

Before the fires before the quake
Before the crash of '08
There was magic, you could feel it in your heart
But raise the rent and scrub the street
It gets so hard to make ends meet
Now I can't even pay to ride the cable cars

I got the San Francisco blues
Now there's nothin' left to lose
I can't afford the dues and so I'm leavin'

I miss the stars that used to shine and the summer of '69
But most of all I miss the California dreamin'

I swore I'd make it back to stay to my home across the Bay
And how I've rambled every way just like the wind blows
But now I'm lost here on my own in a world that was my home
I must have left my broken heart in San Francisco

I got the San Francisco blues
And my heart is broken too
I can't pay the dues and so I'm leavin'

I miss the stars that used to shine and the days of '49
But most of all I miss the California dreamin'
Most of all I miss the California dreamin' "

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

San Joaquin

Molly Tuttle is a singer-songwriter originally from Palo Alto, California, active since 2006. This ode to drug smuggling in the days before legalization is from the album "City of Gold" released in 2023, which won a Grammy Award for the best bluegrass album. I think the San Joaquin refers to the San Joaquin Valley Railroad which operates in the Central Valley around Fresno and Bakersfield. She would have needed another mode of transportation to smuggle her sticky icky bud reefer weed grass herb pot kush chronic Mary Jane from Humboldt county. (How are there so many slang names for cannabis?)

"Riding on the San Joaquin
Bringing in some Humboldt green
Watch out for that bully, he'll pick your pockets clean
Toss you in Tehachapi
When I get to Richmond, I'll be gold
Soon as this suitcase is sold
'Til then I'm rolling down the line
Just looking for the next high time
Riding on the San Joaquin

Well, the San Joaquin is a mighty good line
There's a mighty good chance she'll blow your mind
Each time you hear that whistle blow
I'm smugglin' in another load

Riding on the San Joaquin
Bringing in some Humboldt green
I'm just rolling down the line
Looking for the next high time
Riding on the San Joaquin

Police banging on the boxcar door
Brakeman threw me overboard
Hit the ground and I clicked my heels
Hopped back on in Bakersfield

Riding on the San Joaquin
Bringing in some Humboldt green
Watch out for that bully, he'll pick your pockets clean
Toss you in Tehachapi
When I get to Richmond I'll be gold
Soon as this suitcase is sold
'Til then I'm rolling down the line
Just looking for the next high time
Riding on the San Joaquin

Well, the railroad queen, she wants to ride
But I ain't ready to go
Just got a few more hearts to break
'Til I reach the end of the road

Riding on the San Joaquin
Fastest you ever seen
And when my riding days are o'er
Just toss me in a baggage car
Put that reefer in my mouth
Spark it up and send me south
Riding on the San Joaquin"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

This ode to self-awareness is from the album "City of Gold" released in 2023, which won a Grammy Award for the best bluegrass album. The California connection is that Molly Tuttle grew up in Palo Alto, California where Palo Alto Senior High School is commonly referred to locally as "Paly" High. She also mentions watching the movie Golden State, but I don't know what movie that could be. The only film with that title I can find was made in 2018 which can't be it. Maybe it was the 1948 animated short film about California called "The Golden State."

"I was only seventeen
Watching Golden State upon the silver screen
The first time I fell in love
Second Saturday of July
In the parking lot of Paly High
The first time I fell in love
It was rollerblades and cigarettes
EDM dubbed on cassette
Just me and nobody else

On this topsy-turvy wild and whirly in a hurry
Full of worry rollercoaster ride
The first time I fell in love with myself

There were morning glories trailing up the vine
Like a kelp forest that otters climb
The first time I fell in love
The coffee shop was cranking punk rock
The marching band played down the block
The first time I fell in love
It was Fandangos on the stage
Where I sang the Alabama Getaway
Just me and nobody else

On this topsy-turvy wild and whirly in a hurry
Full of worry rollercoaster ride
The first time I fell in love with myself

I always thought love was for somebody else
A mother, a brother, a friend
But it came to me so easily
The kind that comes from within

Now looking back at the photographs
I just have to laugh when I think of that
First time I fell in love
And all through the years, all the wasted tears
All the hopes and fears I can see so clear
The first time I fell in love
So if you're wise just step inside
Close your eyes and hold on tight
It's just you and nobody else

On this topsy-turvy wild and whirly in a hurry
Full of worry rollercoaster ride
The first time you fell in love with yourself"

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (featuring Dave Matthews)

Yosemite

Molly Tuttle is a singer-songwriter originally from Palo Alto, California, active since 2006. Dave Matthews is a singer-songwriter best known for his work with the Dave Matthews Band, which he formed in Virginia in 1991. This road trip breakup song is from the album "City of Gold" released in 2023, which won a Grammy Award for the best bluegrass album. I miss those days when you could just get in the car and drive to Yosemite National Park any time you wanted. These days you need a reservation just to drive through the park.

"You said a road trip would do us some good
Despite every instinct I said that I would
It's been six years since you put on that ring
Maybe the road will fix everything

When all that remains is the gas in the tank
The tread on the tires and what's left in the bank
Sometimes the road is the best remedy
How many more miles to Yosemite?

I'm riding shotgun through prairies and plains
You say, "How pretty" I'm thinking how strange
It feels to follow this sinking ship down
Maybe the mountains will turn us around

When all that remains is the gas in the tank
The tread on the tires and what's left in the bank
Sometimes the road is the best remedy
For a love that's grown old try some new scenery
So how many more miles to Yosemite?

Two hours to go, I broke down in Modesto
You told me, 'Don't make a scene'
We're damned if we make it, we're damned if we don’t
And we're somewhere stuck in between

Now we're running on fumes it’s an uphill climb
Drove right past all the danger signs
And I just can't wait to tell you goodbye
Cut a new trail, leave our love behind
Sometimes the road is the best remedy
For two broken hearts that need setting free
So how many more miles to Yosemite?
How many more miles to Yosemite?"

TWNTY8

TWNTY8 (not to be confused with the duo TWENTY88) is a hip-hop artist from Cleveland. This is from "A Rabbit In Dark" released in 2021.

"Tell you when it rains here
I go
Back to California
Back to California
Tell you when it rains here
I go
Back to California
Back to California

Don't tell me I can't wait
Don't tell me I ain't patient
You call me right away
You call me on the day shift
Said I needed space
But only when it's rainin'
You said you needed space
And even more today

I been on my way the whole time
I take my time
But that was never good enough
That was never good enough for you
Said I been on my way the whole time
I take my time
But that was never good enough
That was never good enough for you

Tell you when it rains here
I go
Back to California
Back to California
Tell you when it rains here
I go
Back to California
Back to California...."

Tyga

Goddamn

Tyga is a rapper from Compton California. (There must be something in the water there that creates so many great rappers.) When this song was released in April 2019, Georgia rapper Lil Nas X was on top of the pop charts with his country trap song "Old Town Road." The video for this song is similar to that kind of "Yeehaw Challenge" with Tyga rapping to old guys with tin foil grills playing banjos and dancers sliding their boots on the floor of a country bar. The song is basically just a dirty sex rap, but with a great catchy hook. And how come all rappers don't rhyme Lamborghini with bikini? There oughta be a law...

"...Slide to the left, slide to the left
Take a lil' step, ay, slide to the left
Slide to the right, slide to the right
Move your panties to the side, I be in it all night

Make a loyal b***h unloyal
Tryin' to get up in my section, I don't know you (be gone)
Ay, n***as that make diamonds, that's for you
Big platinum plaques but they ain't for you (Nah)

I’m a California n***a in a yellow Lamborghini
When I take off the top, take off your bikini...."

Tyga (featuring The Game)

It Neva Rains

This is from Tyga's 2013 album "Hotel California."
For the record, the average annual rainfall total in Los Angeles based on the average for 1981-2010 was almost 15 inches. It must rain sometime...

It neva' rains in Southern California
It neva' rains in Southern California, it neva' rains
It neva' rains in Southern California
It neva' rains in Southern California

Uh fresh off the runway, today gon' be a good day
Her first time in L.A., she heard 'bout Secret Sunday
Party on roof top, convertible drop top
Want the Axel Foley life, talkin Beverly Hills cop
Two shots, we sip a lot, one shot, that's all you got
She just wanna be on the scene, stuntin' in parking lots
First time she feel at home, second time did it wrong
Third time's a charm, now she ready for it all
I place my bets high, no time for actin' shy
Startled by the lights on stage, don't close yo' eyes
Thinkin' Rodeo Drive, sweets at the Lama Ties
Oh she fly but it's gon' take more booty and thighs
Hoping that they gon' come, she's saving up her ones
Saying she love to hustle, champagne for fun
A New York stripper, said she left her n***a
L.A. won't tip 'er, she runnin' back to that n***a, I told er

... ... ... ...

It neva' rains in Southern California oh
It neva' rains in Southern California, it neva' rains here
It neva' rains in Southern California, Southern California

To live and die in L.A.
Shout out my n***a Game
West Coast s**t
Shout out to Power 106
Supportin' the movement, yea
Shout out to all the west coast rappers
Keepin this L.A. s**t alive one day at a time baby
I see y'all
Ain't no place I'd rather be
I'm right here with y'all in L.A.
Yea it's real s**t
Shout out to everybody on they fashion tip
Make sure you check out that Last King store on Fairfax baby
Yea, we doing it big (We doing it big)

It neva' rains in Southern California,
it neva' rains
It neva' rains in Southern California
It neva' rains in Southern California,
it neva' rains in Southern California
It neva' rains in Southern California"

California
(There is No End to Love)

U2 is a rock band formed in 1976 in Dublin Ireland that has made a gazillion dollars and won a bazillion awards. (Feel free to quote those statistics.) This song is from the album Songs of Innocence released in 2014. Yes, that's the album that suddenly showed up on everybody's iTunes which caused a lot of complaints, but not from me.

"Barbara, Santa Barbara (x10)

California, then we fell into the shining sea
The weight that drags your heart down
Well that's what took me where I need to be
Which is here
Out on Zuma
Watching you cry like a baby
California, at the dawn you thought would never come
But it did
Like it always does

I didn't call you
Words can scare a thought away
Everyone's a star in our town
It's just your light gets dimmer
If you have to stay
In your bedroom, in a mirror
Watching yourself cry like a baby
California, blood orange sunset
Brings you to your knees
I've seen for myself
There's no end to grief
That's how I know

That's how I know
And why I need to know
That there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love
All I know and all I need to know
Is there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love

Barbara, Barbara
There is no end to love

Oh oh-oh all I know and all I need to know
Is there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love, whoa oh oh oh
We come and go
But stolen days you don't give back
Stolen days are just enough

U.K. Subs

All Change For Hollywood

U.K. Subs are a punk rock band from England, one of the first, active since 1976. This song is from their album "Huntington Beach" released in 1986.

"Sun was shining early over Hollywood
No sign of smog when we got off the bus
Gonna have a cry
... a little sound advice
... small town ...

All change for Hollywood
Get off the bus
All change for Hollywood
You better come along with us
It's a different world
It's a different world
It's a different world
It's a different world

All my friends they think that I'm a fool
You can't always be an exception to the rules
But if there was any doubt
I had to leave to find out
Or spend my life just wishing by the pool

So it's all change for Hollywood
Get off the bus
All change for Hollywood
You better come along with us
To a different world
To a different world
To a different world
To a different world...."

The Undisputed Truth

California Soul

A 1971 Motown psychedelic soul cover of the Marlena Shaw song mentioned above.

The Unemployed

Funky Thing Part 1 and
Funky thing Part 2

I don't know anything about this band. The song was recorded in Jackson Mississippi, so maybe that's where they were from. The record was released in 1970 in two parts, both of which mention California.

The song lyrics refer to L.A. in Part 1 and California in Part 2 in a list of locations where some unidentified persons referred to only as "they" are doing something that is only described as "a funky thing." The exact nature of the thing that is funky that is being done by the unidentified persons is not revealed in the lyrics, but instead, the music appears to be intended to communicate the thing that is funky and to induce the listener to do the thing. At the end the little brother of one of the singers comes out to explain how to do the funky thing, which involves picking up a foot, putting it down, and shaking everything from the waist all down.

We are also informed in the lyrics about some chickens that get funky after dark and we hear one of the finest chicken solos in all of funkdom. But that's beyond the scope of this list. It's more appropriate for this list of funky chicken songs.

Funky Thing Part 1

"They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing
Down in L.A.
They're doin' a funky thing
Out in the streets
They're doin' a funky thing
On the sidewalk
They're doin' a funky thing
The chickens get funky
After dark
They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing
...
Young and the old
They all got soul
Some like it hot
Some dig it cold

They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing...."

Funky Thing Part 2

"They're doin' a funky thing
They're doin' a funky thing
New York City
They're doin' a funky thing
Washington D.C.
They're doin' a funky thing
Baltimore
They're doin' a funky thing
California
They're doin' a funky thing
Detroit City
They're doin' a funky thing
Philly PA
They're doin' a funky thing
Augusta GA
They're doin' a funky thing
Back in the alley
They're doin' a funky thing
Hit it
Funky
Funky
Funky
Funky
(etc.)"

Unified Theory

Unified Theory is a rock band formed in Seattle made of ex Blind Melon and Pearl Jam musicians. This song, from an album released in 2020, is about the downside of the good life in the Golden State.

"Blue skies have chased me away from a simple life
Now I'm eating paper that's tasting funny
Out here in complicated
California
Slow, down, good, times
A cigarette and tea is all I had to eat
A metal band at scream was all I heard for weeks
Man this ain't easy, but I wish all my friends could see me
In California"

The United States of America

The American Way Of Love

The United States of America was an experimental rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1967, known for their early use of electronic instruments. This is a three-part piece from their only studio album "The United States of America" released in 1968. It's a riotous mix of noise and instruments and samples of other music that sounds years ahead of its time.

Part I: Metaphor for an Older Man

"Cripple Sam and Joo McGoo
Will join you at the subway
Take a trip downtown
To the 42nd Street Ballet
At the sidewalk supermart
The customers assemble
Look around and see what
The meat department has today

And watch the queens do their thing
Hum-boy, listen to the rhythm
Yes, they do know how to sing
And you can take one home for money
Who will not think you are funny
When you explain the delicate attentions you require

And a dollar ninety-five
Takes you to the movies
With the secret sins
Of nymphomaniacs unveiled
Later on an indiscreet
Encounter in the men's room
And you tell yourself
That a natural urge prevailed

And every night you will find
Sittin' and sippin' on a Burgie
Men who've found piece of mind
For a minimum of payment
There is topless entertainment
That men above the age
Of thirty-five can understand

Part II: California Good Time Music

Hmm-hmm, we can make California good-time music
In the back seat of my car
Hmm-hmm, later I will tell you
What it's like to be a star

Now you know I'm not the first one (California good-time music)
And I cannot be the last (Califonia good-time, yeah)
To kiss your apple cheeks (California good-time music)
And run away into your past, but (Califonia good-time, yeah)

We'll have good-time music (Good-time music)
Electric good-time music (Good-time music)
California good-time music (California good-time music)
Hmm-hmm, yeah

Part III: Love Is All

Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?

If I should meet you on the streets someday (streets someday)
The price is right
How sweet to be a cloud
Taste of you sweet in my mouth
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
You will find them in her eyes
In her eyes, in her eyes
Good-time music
Good-time music
California music
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
Love? Love? Love? Love?
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
How much fun it's been
Joo McGoo (love)
Waiting for an answer (love)
Sweet in my mouth (love, love)
In time (love)
So if you want -- the looking glass
When it is (love, love)
California (love, love, love, love)
In her eyes, in her eyes, in her eyes"

Uncle Kracker

I Hate California

Uncle Kracker is Matthew Shafer, a musician and singer from Michigan, active since 1987. This kinda country rock song is from the album "Happy Hour" released in 2009. He doesn't really hate California, he hates the fact that the girl he likes loves California. The line about wishing she'd meet Phil Spector (so he would take her home and murder her, I guess) is both hilarious and disturbing.

"She's probably in a Bentley
Showing off her new fake boobies
Tryin' to break into the movies
With some producer
Who seduced her
With some sushi and cologne

She's probably down on Sunset
Doin' all the things that she ain't done yet
With some actor she calls Hector
Man I wish she'd meet Phil Spector
And he'd ask to take her home

She's lovin' Californ-i-a
She loves the beach
She loves to party everyday
Pina coladas on the sidewalk in L.A.
Ever since she went away
I hate California

Maybe she's livin' in a commune
Dancin' with hippies under the moon
It's all free love, weed and patchouli
And there's a guru named Visuli
And he's doin' her for sure

Maybe she's scummin' some big rap star
Drinkin' pink cosmos at the Sky Bar
Those Hollyweirdos with their tofu avocado
I bet she thinks she won the Lotto good for her

She's lovin' Californ-i-a
She loves the beach
She loves to party everyday
Pina coladas on the sidewalk in L.A.
Ever since she went away
I hate California

I think I seen her on TV
Last night on TMZ
With the pretty people on parade
She's sellin' Scientology with John, Tommy and Katie
Man I guess she's really got it made

She's lovin' Californ-i-a
That string bikini and the sunshine on her face

She's lovin' Californ-i-a
She loves the beach
She loves to party everyday
Pina coladas on the sidewalk in L.A.
Ever since she went away
I hate California...."

Unwritten Law

California Sky

Unwritten Law is a punk band from Poway, active since 1990. This song is from their third studio album "Unwritten Law" released in 1998.

"Imagine the dreams we've had since we were children are real
It's magic to see their minds filled with the music we feel

Well here's your message from above
And if you wanna make push come to shove, alright
This ain't no lullaby and
We're right at home in the California sky

Illusions are taking part of the confusion in me
Tomorrow, there will be no heroes left to follow
You'll see

Bright lights they flash across the sky
It may be the reason why were all insane
And I don't want to get away
Were right at home in the California sky

Live from the mansion on the hill
Reminds you of the way we used to feel, right?
Orion's aligned now
Turn back the time
The California sky"

Usher (featuring Tyga)

Usher is a Grammy-Award-winning singer/songwriter/actor, etc. from Texas/ Tennessee/Georgia. Tyga is a rapper from California. This song comes from the June, 2020 season finale of Songland, a songwriting competition TV series.

"They done opened Atlanta
I ain't goin' out, though (Yeah)
Usher, Usher, Usher

It's been a while now, hope you don't hate me
Ain't been on beast mode, I been in the house down south goin' crazy
Ain't been droppin' pins like I used to
Ain't been on savage like I'm used to
Not really tryna say it, but I miss you lately (I miss you)
Wish you was on my time, wish you was by my side (My side)
We be gettin' lit right now, sippin' D'USSÉ right now
Babe, can you forgive me? Stuck in the city
But if we wasn't locked down right now, we be turnin' up right now

How they doin' it in California?
Wanna change the scene, lemme come and join ya
Stretched out at the Hotel California
Girl, I'm tryna meet, I'm a pull up on ya
How's the view from California?
I'm on my way to come and join ya
Stretched out at the Hotel California
If you're tryna see me, I'm a pull up on ya"

Geo Valentine

This R&B love song was released in January, 2025.

"Ooh, yeah yeah, yeah yeah
Yeah yeah, yeah
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh, yeah

Said, it's somethin' I can get behind
Now you got me crossin' all the lines
And your body's one to hypnotize
Hear it callin' with that look in your eyes

You want that Hollywood, no California
I know I'm gonna make you feel alright
And if there's anythin' I can assure you
Is that you're stayin' with me tonight
Baby, can we make love in California?
Feel it in your bones when I do you right
Let you see how much I adore you, Yeah yeah

I can't deny it's in my blood, I knew you were my type
You prolly heard some things about me that you didn't like
Promise I'll change your life
I know that peach is ripe
You don't gotta worry, baby, you know I'll eat it right
You know I'll beat it, Mike
Come keep me up all night
Don't waste no time with it, no, you ain't gotta ask me twice
That nine to five can wait, been thinkin' 'bout you all day
We in the west coast, said, I need your ocean like bay
I want it (on) on (me) me
(Like) like (this) this
(I want it) come and (get it) get it
(Yeah) you need it? (need it) I got it
(I got it yeah)
And you know I don't care about no kiss and tell
They gon' see it on your face, how I do it so well
Well, well, well

You want that Hollywood, no California
I know I'm gonna make you feel alright
And if there's anythin' I can assure you
Is that you're stayin' with me tonight
Baby, can we make love in California?
Feel it in your bones when I do you right
Let you see how much I adore you, Yeah yeah

Said, baby, can you lean back and recline? ('cline)
Said, baby, I just want you to unwind (wind)
Give you somethin' different every night
'Cause I want your la-la-la-love
I'll do anything to make you mine (mine)
All them other guys? You gon' be blind (blind)
We could just be like this every night
'Cause I want your la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-love

('Cause I want your la-love, want your la-la-la-la-love)
('Cause I want your la-love, want your la-la-love)"

Suzanne Vallie

Morro Bay

Suzanne Vallie is a singer-songwriter who lives in Big Sur. This upbeat song is from her 2020 album "Love Lives Where Rules Die" which Night Bloom Records describes as "...a driving record rich with sympathy, high romance, and dedicated to the magic of good-timing."

"I went down to Morro Bay to see how it goes
I’ve been talking to myself and I think that it shows
Got in my car but sat in the back
Getting low, feet up to switch a towel for pants
When you feel like trash, there’s nothing to stand on
But the sand in your shoes and the colors of heaven
Coconut oil on the steering wheel
Almost slid out the window with no last meal
Get a good picture to remember me by
There’s a chance by magic I’ll turn to moonlight
Keeping it cold and my boundaries steady
Saying, hi, to strangers
We gotta be friendly

Midwesterners in Cali
Remembering the corn times
How deep did your basement go
I’ve been sleeping in a pickup and I think that it shows

Wet to the bone, drying off in the afterglow
Bragging I’ll name my boat Infinite Slo-Mo
Laughing is easy
Our words are grim
Walking through fire while singing a hymn
You took off your shoes to connect with the Earth
I looked in your eyes because I liked how it hurt
You’re not my man but I’m gonna wanna beg
I’ve got plenty of that if you’re still into legs

Midwesterners in Cali
Remembering the corn times
How deep did your basement go
I lost my cherry in a barn and I think it still shows

Holding on to my girl careful of her sunburn
Hot at the waist
Beer going in for the cure
Learn how to share and you won’t need to fight
Learn how to dance and kick out the string lights
I bring all my money when I go to town
There’s no need to save for a wedding gown
'94 Civic, real buttons and levers
Dent on the side, wheels dusty forever
This fiver is my last and it lasts twenty miles
I’ll never give up on selling you smiles
Ripped a hole in my shirt
I wanted to win
I never let go if there’s a medal to pin

Midwesterners in Cali
Remembering the corn times
Remembering the basement shows
I gave my soul to a wizard now I got perfect flow

I went down to Morro Bay to see how it goes
I’ve been talking to myself and I think that it shows
Why would you laugh at a thing like that
The world is mean enough, but so are those tight pants
A love that’s in pieces is the pieces of life
With a beautifully sharpened Japanese knife
You can cut it in half and then again twice
Remembering rain how it tastes so nice
I’ll take what I get I’ve never been so picky
God’s milk gets around and it makes everything sticky
I want you, and I love you, and I gotta get even
Tonight is my first as a runaway kitten

Midwesterners in Cali
Remembering the corn times
Remembering the basement shows
I gave my cherry to a rich boy so my kisses make gold
I’ve got perfect love and I think you should know
I got kicked in the nose and I think it still shows"

Vampire Weekend

California English

Vampire Weekend is a rock band formed in 2006 in New York City. This is a nice upbeat tune with Afro pop guitar and drums and crazy use of autotune on the vocals from the 2010 album "Contra." You'll have to figure out yourself what "California English" means because I don't know. "Gage me with a spoon," alluded to in the first line, is "Valley Girl" talk, so I suspect the woman of the song is a California girl. Contra Costa is a county in California, but it could mean something else in the context of the song.

"Wouldn't ever gag you with a spoon, my only true love
Never really heard you speak that way, it's unworthy of...
Funny how that little college girl called language corrupt
Funny how the other private schools had no Hapa Club

Someone took a trip before you came to ski in the Alps
Your father moved across the country
Just to sunburn his scalp
Contra Costa, Contra Mundum, contradict what I say
Living like the French Connection, but we’ll die in L.A.

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they’ll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English

No one sits inside a freezing flat and stays there 'til May
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK
Waiting with the wind against your face
And gel in your hair
Shivering in little undershirts, but don't seem to care

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English

Sweet carob rice cake
She don't care how the sweets taste
Fake Philly cheese steak
But she use real toothpaste

Cuz if that Tom's don't work
If it just makes you worse
Would you loose all of you faith in the good Earth

And if it's all a curse
And we're just getting worse
Baby, please don't lose your faith in the good earth

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English"

Vampire Weekend

Step

Another good song from the band's 2013 release "Modern Vampires of the City." I remember people selling those Communist readers on the streets when I lived in Berkeley. I bet they're still selling them.

"Every time I see you in the world, you always step to my girl

Back back way back I used to front like Angkor Wat
Mechanicsburg Anchorage and Dar es Salaam
While home in New York was champagne and disco
Tapes from L.A. slash San Francisco
But actually Oakland and not Alameda
Your girl was in Berkeley with her Communist reader
Mine was entombed within boombox and walkman
I was a hoarder but girl that was back then

The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse,
I can't do it alone, I can't do it alone...."

Vampire Weekend

This Life

The poor guy singing this song thought that there was no pain and no rain in California.A nother reference to the scarcity of precipitation in The Golden State. Florida's "The Sunshine State. So where are the songs about no rain in Florida? Oh right ... hurricanes. Whatever, the song is from the long-awaited 2019 album "Father of the Bride" from this band from New York, The Empire State, where apparently they're only concerned with money and power, not the weather.

"Baby, I know pain is as natural as the rain
I just thought it didn't rain in California
Baby, I know love isn't what I thought it was
'Cause I've never known a love like this before ya

Baby, I know dreams tend to crumble at extremes
I just thought our dream would last a little bit longer
There's a time when every man draws a line down in the sand
We're surviving, we're still living I was stronger

You've been cheating on, cheating on me
I've been cheating on, cheating on you
You've been cheating on me
But I've been cheating through this life
And all its suffering
Oh Christ,
Am I good for nothing?...."

Sharon Van Etten

Nco Nkauj Hmong California

Sharon Van Etten is a singer-songwriter originally from New Jersey. It's not easy to describe her music. I really don't like genre categories because they're never consistent. On her albums the genre is listed as either Alternative, Alternative Rock, or Indie Rock, but some people call it Indie Folk. I've been a fan since her first record so I just file it under great music. There were rumors she was going to retire from music after her 2014 album, but fortunately five years later she released another album "Remind Me Tomorrow" (including this song) which adds more electronic instruments to her sound. "The 1" is highway 1 which gets you to Malibu, or, as I prefer it, gets you out of there.

"We held hands as we passed the truck
Just a couple of dudes who don't give a f**k
Tap the brakes and we slow down
Just a couple of jokers on the edge of town
In Malibu
In the little red car that don't belong to you
Yeah, that little red number
Driving down the 1

I walked in the door
The Black Crowes playing as he cleaned the floor
I thought I couldn't love him any more
In that little red number
Driving down the 1

Yeah, that little red number
Driving down the 1
In a little red car that don't belong to you
Yeah, that little red number
Driving down the 1
In a little red car that don't belong to you
Yeah, that little red number
Driving down the 1"

Pong Vang

I don't know anything about Pong Vang except that he has a YouTube channel. This song was released in 2023. He writes this comment on the YouTube page: "Hello everyone! This is my first song to kick off 2023. I miss California so I had to write one about Cali! "

There's a karaoke version of this song that has lyrics. I put a few of the lines into some Hmong translators and got these translations:

The title:

Nco Nkauj Hmong California

Ua cas yuav nco koj npaum no
Nkauj hmoob California
Thaum twg kuv mm rov pon koj
leej muam zoo nkauj tus ua kuv nco

The title:

Miss California Hmong Song

Why miss you so much
California music
When will I see you again?
The beautiful sister makes me miss you

Vaven

California Love

Vaven is Gianluca Dossena, a DJ and producer from Switzerland, active since 2003. This upbeat pop/dance song is a single released in May 2023. The singer sounds female, but there is no singer listed. One of the composers and lyricists is Gigi Lopes, so maybe she's singing,

I'm not sure if the line "Malibu to Santa Fe" is correct. It could be my mistake, or maybe the songwriters are not clear about the geography, since there is no Santa Fe in California and driving almost 900 miles to Santa Fe New Mexico seems a a bit extreme for the spontaneous California road trip the singer is proposing.

"I call you up
Baby let's escape from this place
Go pack your stuff
I need to take a break for some days
Don't think too much
'Cause I can see the fear in your face
Light it up
Oh baby let's escape from here

One, and two, so many things we can do
I mean three, and four, let's go for some more

California love
Right down the highway with my
California love
We do it our way
Malibu to Santa Fe
San Francisco to L.A.
With my California love, love
My California love
Ho ho ho ho
My California love
My California love
My California love
Ho ho ho ho
My California love, oh

Oh, no need to rush
Baby we got plenty of time
Don't ever stop
We can leave the sunset behind
Let's fall in love
Would you let me take you to mine
[? Play this part]
Oh baby let's escape from here

One, and two, so many things we can do
I mean three, and four, lets' go for some more

California love
Right down the highway with my
California love
We do it our way
Malibu to Santa Fe
San Francisco to L.A.
With my California love, love
My California love
Ho ho ho ho
My California love
My California love
My California love
Ho ho ho ho
My California love, oh

My California love
My California love"

Vengaboys

Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)

Vengaboys is a Eurodance group from the Netherlands that had some big hits in Europe in the '90s. This song, supposedly sung by a computer, is from "The Platinum Album" released in 2000. It shamelessly rhymes San Francisco with "disco," and then they do it again in the song below, but nobody expects Eurodisco to be original.

"Shake your ass dance with me

I saw you in the disco
Last night in San Francisco
The way you used your joystick
It really makes my mouse click

Come sit down on my laptop
Let's do a little hip hop
Let's go into the chat room
And do a little boom boom

Cheekah bow bow
Cheekah bow bow
Cheekah bow bow
Cheekah bow bow

1, 2, 3,
Shake your ass and dance with me
1, 2, 3,
Shake your ass and dance with me
1, 2, 3,
Shake your ass and dance with me
1, 2, 3,
Shake your ass and dance with me

I saw you in the disco
Last week in San Francisco
The way you used your joystick
Has really made me feel sick

The doctor checked my hard drive
A virus in my archive
My disc was not protected
And now I am infected...."

Vengaboys

We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

This hit Eurodisco single is from the band's debut album "Up & Down - The Party Album" released in 1998

"We like to party
We like, we like to party
We like to party
We like, we like to party
We like to party
We like, we like to party
We like to party

I've got something to tell ya
I've got news for you
Gonna put some wheels in motion
Get ready 'cause we're coming through

Hey now, hey now, hear what I say now
Happiness is just around the corner
Hey now, hey now, hear what I say now
We'll be there for you

The Vengabus is coming
And everybody's jumping
New York to San Francisco
An intercity disco
The wheels of steel are turning
And traffic lights are burning
So if you like to party
Get on and move your body

We like to party
We like, we like to party
We like to party
We like, we like to party

Hey now, hey now, hear what I say now
Happiness is just around the corner
Hey now, hey now, hear what I say now
We'll be there for you

The Vengabus is coming
And everybody's jumping
New York to San Francisco
An intercity disco
The wheels of steel are turning
And traffic lights are burning
So if you like to party
Get on and move your body...."

Victor & Leo

Não vá pra California

Victor & Leo are a Latin-Grammy-Award winning Brazilian sertanejo duo of two brothers from Brazil. Sertanejo is a style of Brazilian country music that has become the most popular style of music of the 21st century, so far. There are several versions of this song on YouTube. I like this one best, which I think is a promo cd version.

"Espere um pouco
Pra que pressa de partir
Espere um pouco
Fique mais um tempo aqui

Amor, não vá pra California

Não pense, não espere que vou impedir
Também não posso ir, só posso te pedir

Amor, não vá pra California

Antes do seu avião subir, saudade vai chegar
Amarrando meu sorriso só pra ver
Só pra ver alguma lágrima querendo se soltar
Dos meus olhos quando a hora de dizer adeus chegar"

"Wait one moment
Why hurry to leave
Wait one moment
Stay here for a while

Love, don't go to California

Don't think, don't wait, I'll stop
I can't go either, I can only ask you

Love, don't go to California

Before your plane goes up, nostalgia will arrive
Tying my smile just to see
Just to see a tear wanting to break free
From my eyes when the time to say goodbye comes"

Village People

In Hollywood (Everybody Is a Star)

Village People is a disco band created in 1970s New York City, named after Greenwich Village, home to a large gay population. The band targeted the gay disco audience with the band members dressing in costumes depicting macho male stereotypes. "Macho Man" and "YMCA" were two of their biggest hits. This song is from the group's self-titled first album, released in 1977.

"Take a bus, a train or a plane to Hollywood
Go there and then change your name
You die your hair out there, it's part of the game
You're gonna be a star, a big star
Tell the bank that you need a loan
Go sell your house and every little thing that you own
You'll make your dream, forget what you've ever known
You're gonna be a star, a big star
Now you're set, so follow the rules
Don't need a house unless it comes with the pool
Buy some new clothes and then you've got to be cool
You're gonna be a star, a big star
In sty-y-y-yle (get in style) L. A. Sty-y-y-yle
Say hi-i-i-i (saying hi-i-i) as you cruise by-y-y-y
(Listen here) 'cause everybody is a star in Hollywood (well)
Everybody is a star in Hollywood (alright)
Let's go to (Holly-Hollywood) Hollywood (Holly-Hollywood) so good
(Holly-Hollywood, Holly-Hollywood) come on
Now it's time to get a new car
You know the kind that has a phone and a bar
You'll soon forget the person you really are
You're gonna be a star, a big star
Tell your friends you walked off the stage
Then slip outside and call and have yourself paged
Get on the phone and scream as though in a rage
You're gonna be a star, a big star...."

Village People

San Francisco (You've Got Me)

This is another song from the band's eponymous 1977 album. This song is about gay culture and the Folsom St., Polk St., and Castro St. neighborhoods where gays congregated in San Francisco, which was one of the few relatively gay-tolerant cities in the USA in the 1970s. (Relatively - don't forget the assassination of Harvey Milk.)
don't forget

"(Folsom), Folsom Street, on the way to (Polk and Castro)
(You don't find them finer)
(Freedom), freedom is in the air, yeah
(Searching for what we all treasure .. pleasure)
(Cycles), cycles in the night shining bright
(Brightly on nights tell a glory story)
(Leather), leather, leather, leather baby
(Levi's and T's are the best now all right)

Dress the way you please and put your mind at ease
It's a city known for its freedom, (freedom)
Cycles shining bright break the silence of the night
Inhibitions, no, you don't need them, (no),no,(no)

(San Francisco), San Francisco
(San Francisco), City by the Bay yeah
(San Francisco), he he he he hey
(You've got me)

(San Francisco), San Francisco
(San Francisco), take me to the water
(San Francisco), he he he he hey
(You've got me), (got me got me, baby)...."

Spencer Vincent

Of Fires and Floods (California Fire & Mudslide Song)

This song was put on YouTube in January 2018 with a message at the end about the Thomas Fire, a massive wildfire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties that burned from December 2017 until January 2018 when heavy rainfall caused flash flooding and mudslides.

"I’ve been painting rainbows over monochrome skies
Just waitin' for rain, watercolors come to life
Oh the beauty of a Technicolor tree, yeah that’s how it should be

And through the fires from afar I can see those embers glow
And how the ash from those trees falls like snow
So send love to people who’s houses are gone
Those nights were bright before the dawn

And now the hills are all painted black
And how the air burns from old photographs
And when the sun shines its red in the sky
And it’s hard to look forward cause it’s stinging my eyes
And when the wind blows it’s furious and fast
And when that fire moved it was vicious and vast
And heroes in yellow clothes
And all we can say is
Thank you, thank you

But then the rain came too hard, it poured all night
From the fire came the flood and from the flood came fright
Of another disaster ahead
Rushing down the mountains and they were all sleeping

And now our canvases are covered with dirt all around
What once was black is now all brown
So send love to the families and help them be strong
That day stayed dark after the dawn

And now tears fall a somber shade of blue
And you wanna eat it up, but it’s hard to chew
And the streets vanished under our feet
And those lost now dance in fields of reeds
And we’ll stand tried and true
And sometimes we wont know what to do
And heroes with hearts of gold
Reaching out a hand to hold
Thank you, Thank you

I’ve been painting with green on the mountains of my mind
My brush flows like a leaf down a stream and time
Is on our side, out comes the silver lines
Cause the love you create, you can give you can take

And through the forests from afar I can see those seedlings grow
And how the waves on the beach, ebb and flow
We’ll get more colors for pictures to be drawn
The night is dark, but it’s a beautiful dawn

And now the grass is reaching up to the sky
And old homes have new designs
And it’s clear oh the wild blue yonder
And through the gloom we grew fonder
And the love you gave is not gone
And the light that you shed carries on
And heroes brave and bold
To make it a safer world
Thank you Thank you."

Virginia to Vegas & NOTD

Virginia to Vegas is the music project of Derik Baker, a singer-songwriter fro Toronto, Canada, active since 2013. NOTD is a Swedish music production duo active since 2017. This dance pop track is from "Remember That Time We" released in 2021.

"I must've called you
Called you thirty times, need you to pick up
Before I lose my mind because I want you
I want you in my life
And I still miss you when I think about that time

We went down to Malibu, ooh-ooh
In my BMW, ooh-ooh
I didn't care about the view, ooh-ooh
All I could do was look at you, ooh-ooh

In your scuffed-up Chucks with your hair tied back
In a white tank top and your nails jet black
Got a Louis V bag with and an XO tat, just me and you
Your sky blue eyes, I could die inside
Wanna dive right in, f**k it, I just might
When I'm here with you everything's alright, in Malibu (In Malibu)

I should've told you
Told you every time that you were perfect
'Cause you're still perfect in my mind
And I still want you, want you
Want you in my life
And I still miss you when I think about that time

We went down to Malibu, ooh-ooh
In my BMW, ooh-ooh
I didn't care about the view, ooh-ooh
All I could do was look at you, ooh-ooh

In your scuffed-up Chucks with your hair tied back
In a white tank top and your nails jet black
Got a Louis V bag with and an XO tat, just me and you
Your sky blue eyes, I could die inside
Wanna dive right in, f**k it, I just might
When I'm here with you everything's alright, in Malibu (In Malibu)

Malibu, ooh-ooh (Malibu, ooh-ooh)
Malibu, ooh-ooh (Malibu, ooh-ooh)

We went down to Malibu, ooh-ooh
In my BMW, ooh-ooh
I didn't care about the view, ooh-ooh
All I could do was look at you, ooh-ooh"

Jake Vroon

Jake Vroon is a singer-songwriter from Michigan who works in Nashville. This is from his first album "On to California" released in 2014.

"I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue
Now and then
I just want to go out west some time and
Get lost inside my dreams
Maybe I'll find a love to call my own
And bring her home to my family

I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue
I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue

And I'll just sit there
And wonder why
Don't you ever just sit there
And wonder why

I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue
I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue

I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue
Yeah, [?]
I just wanna go to California
Where the ocean is so blue

I just want to go to California
With you"

Vulfpeck

Christmas in L.A.

Vulfpeck is a funk band from Michigan, active since 2011. This song is from their album "Thrill of the Arts" released in 2015.

"On Christmas morning, on Christmas day
Kris Kringle's driving a Chevrolet
He left his reindeer, he went down south
He just had to see what it's all about

Wrapping presents out in the sun
Stuffing stockings, having some fun
Reading, writing, Christmas is here
California, Yuletide cheer

All the little children and all the big children, it's Christmas (in L.A.)
All the ladies and all the little babies, it's Christmas (in L.A.)
Even the gentlemen, every single one of them, Christmas (in L.A.)
In L.A.

Oh, everyone around the world
Every boy and every girl
It's time to say
It's time to say
It's time to say

All the little children and all the big children, it's Christmas (in L.A.)
All the ladies and all the little babies, they were singing in the room (in L.A.)
Even the gentlemen, every single one of them, Christmas (in L.A.)
In L.A.

All the little children and all the big children, it's Christmas (in L.A.)
All the ladies and all the little babies, it's Christmas (in L.A.)
Even the gentlemen, every single one of them, Christmas (in L.A.)

You gotta get down to Los Angeles
Cause this year, that's where Santa is

You gotta get down to Los Angeles
Cause this year, that's where Santa is

You gotta get down to Los Angeles
Cause this year, that's where Santa is

You gotta get down to Los Angeles
Cause this year, that's where Santa is, yeah

You gotta get down to Los Angeles
Cause this year, that's where Santa is, yeah (Yeah!)"

Vulfpeck (featuring Joey Dosik)

LAX

This funky song is from Vulfpeck's album "The Joy of Music, The Job of Real Estate" released in 2020. Picking someone up at LAX (L.A. International Airport) is the worst. She's a keeper.

"I love my baby
I love my baby

Wheels up and I'm on my way
Been three weeks since I've seen my baby
Send a text as we're touching down
But she's already circlin' round on the ground

Waiting
She's waiting just for me

I won't forget it
I won't forget it, get it, get it
You won't regret it
I won't forget this, baby
Hey

I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX
What gets me through the longest flight
(From Cape Town through Dubai)
My baby, baby, she's the best
She keeps me cool when I get stressed
Can't wait to hold my honey pie
(I can't wait to kiss and hug her)

Won't be long now, I'm on my way (I'll be)
All over you, like I'm TSA (TSA)
Brought you something back from a distant land
She brought fajitas from a taco stand (Understand)

It's waiting
It's waiting just for me

I won't forget it
I won't forget it, get it, get it (No, I won't forget it)
You won't regret it
I won't forget this, baby
Hey

I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX
What gets me through the longest flight
(From Cape Town through Dubai)
My baby, baby, she's the best
She keeps me cool when I get stressed
I'm gonna make it up tonight
(I can't wait to kiss and hug her)

Baby, got my bags
Headed out to the street
Now you saved my life
It means everything

I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best
She picks me up at LAX

I love my baby, she's the best (Picks me up)
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best (Picks me up)
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best (Picks me up)
She picks me up at LAX
I love my baby, she's the best (Picks me up)
She picks me up at LAX"

Loudon Wainwright III

Grey in L.A.

Loudon Wainwright III is a folk singer-songwriter born in North Carolina, and the father of all those other Wainwright singers, including Rufous below. This is from his album "Strange Weirdos: music from and inspired by the film "Knocked Up" from 2007

"When it's grey in L.A. I sure like it that way
Cause there's way too much sunshine round here
I don't know about you I get so sick of blue skies
Whenever they always appear

And I sure love the sound of the rain pouring down
On my carport roof made out of tin
If there's a flood then there's gonna be mudslides
We all have to pay for our sin

And I suppose that they'll close canyon roads
And the freeways will all start to clog
And the waters will rise and you won't be surprised
When your whole house smells like your wet dog

When it's grey in L.A. it's much better that way
It reminds you that this town's so cruel
Yeah it might feel like fun when you're sportin' sunglasses
But really you're one more fool..."

Rufus Wainwright

Diamonds On My Windshield

Rufus Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter born in New York and active since 1988. This is from his second studio album "Poses" released in 2001.

"California, California
You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed
Big time rollers, part time models
So much to plunder
That I think I'll sleep instead

I don't know this sea of neon
Thousand surfers, whiffs of freon
And big nights back east with Rhoda
California please

There's a moment
I've been saving
A kind of crucifix around this munchkin land
Up north freezing, little me drooling
'That's Entertainment's' on at eight
Come on Ginger slam
I don't know this sea of neon
Thousand surfers, whiffs of freon
And my new grandma Bea Arthur
Come on over

Ain't it a shame that at the top
Peanut butter and jam they served you
Ain't it a shame that at the top
Still those soft skin boys can bruise you
Yes I fell for a streaker

I don't know this sea of neon
Thousand surfers, whiffs of freon

Ain't it a shame
That all the world can't enjoy your mad traditions
Ain't it a shame that all the world
Don't got keys to their own ignitions
Life is the longest death in California
California

You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed
So much to plunder that I think I'll sleep instead
You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed
So much to plunder that I think I'll sleep instead"

Tom Waits

Tom Waits is a singer-songwriter-composer-actor who was born and raised in southern California. Active since 1971, he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 greatest songwriters by Rolling Stone magazine. He has never achieved a lot of mainstream commercial success, but he has influenced many other musicians and has a large international following. His music has also no doubt inspired millions of middle class college students to hang out in dive bars and diners. This song is from "The Heart of a Saturday Night" released in 1974. The line "The eights go east and the fives go north" refers to the numbers and directions of two freeways that intersect in San Diego. This line is true for most of us: "Late nights and freeway flying always makes me sing."

"Well, these diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well, I'm pulling into town on the Interstate
I got a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
And it's these late nights and this freeway flying
It always makes me sing

There's a Duster trying to change my tune
He's pulling up fast on the right
Rolling restlessly by a 24-hour moon
And a Wisconsin hiker with a cue-ball head
He's wishing he's home in a Wisconsin bed
But there's fifteen feet of snow in the east
Colder than a well-digger's ass
And it's colder than a well-digger's ass

Oceanside, it ends the ride
With San Clemente coming up
Those Sunday desperados slip by and cruise with a dry back
And the orange drive-in, the neon billing
And the theatre's filling to the brim
With slave girls and a hot spurned bucket full of sin
Metropolitan area with interchange and connections
Fly-by-nights from Riverside
And out-of-state plates running a little late

But the sailors jockey for the fast lane
So 101, don't miss it
There's rolling hills and concrete fields
And the broken line's on your mind
The eights go east and the fives go north
And the merging nexus back and forth
You see your sign, cross the line, signaling with a blink
And the radio's gone off the air and it gives you time to think

And you hear the rumble
As you fumble for a cigarette
And blazing through this midnight jungle
Remember someone that you met
And one more block, the engine talks, whispers 'home at last'

It whispers 'home at last'
Whispers 'home at last'
Whispers 'home at last'
Whispers 'home at last'

And the diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well I'm pulling into town on the Interstate
I got me a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
Late nights and freeway flying
Always makes me sing

It always makes me sing
Hey, look here, Jack
Okay"

Tom Waits

Emotional Weather Report

This fake nightclub jazz poetry song is one of Waits' best. It's from his third studio album "Nighthawks at the Diner" released in 1975. The intersection of Sunset and Alvarado in Hollywood was the home of Burrito King, a famous burrito stand frequented by musicians when the song was written, (and it's still there almost 50 years later) so maybe the line about gusty winds at that location is meant to be a beans-powered fart joke. The Ivar Theater was a strip club when Waits wrote the song which explains the ticket taker's cold smile. Dr. George Fishbeck was an L.A. TV weatherman when this song was written.

"What we're talking about is late night and early morning low clouds
With a chance of fog, chance of showers into the afternoon
With variable high cloudiness and gusty winds
Gusty winds at times around the corner of Sunset and Alvarado

Yeah, I know, things are tough all over
When the thunderstorms start increasing over the
Southeast and south central portions of my apartment, I get upset

And a line of thunderstorms was developing in the early morning hours
Ahead of a slow moving cold front, cold-blooded
With tornado watches issued shortly before noon Sunday
For the areas including the western region of my mental health
And the northern portion of my ability to deal rationally
With my disconcerted precarious emotional situation
It's cold out there
Colder than the ticket taker's smile at the Ivar Theatre, on Saturday night

Flash flood watches cover the southern portion of my disposition, yeah
There was no severe weather well into the afternoon
Except for kind of a lone gust of wind in the bedroom

A high pressure zone covering the eastern portion of a small
Suburban community with a 1034 millibar high pressure zone
And a weak pressure ridge extending from my eyes down to my cheeks
'Cause since you left me baby and put the vice grips on my mental health
Well, the extended outlook for an indefinite period of time
Until you come back to me, baby, is high tonight, low tomorrow
And precipitation is expected

That wraps up the weather for this evening
Now back to the eleven o'clock blues
Doctor George Fishbeck ain't got nothing on me!"

Tom Waits

Get Behind the Mule

This is from the album "Mule Variations" released in 1999. I like a song that mentions towns not usually found in song lyrics (rock on Placerville (but who stirs their brandy?

"Molly be damned smote Jimmy the Harp
With a horrid little pistol and a lariat
She's goin to the bottom
And she's goin down the drain
Said she wasn't big enough to carry it

[Chorus]
She got to get behind the Mule
In the morning and plow
She got to get behind the Mule
In the morning and plow
She got to get behind the Mule
In the morning and plow
She got to get behind the Mule
In the morning and plow

Choppity chop goes the axe in the woods
You gotta meet me by the fall down tree
Shovel of dirt upon a coffin lid
And I know they'll come lookin for me boys
And I know they'll come a-lookin for me

[Chorus]

Big Jack Earl was 8'1
He stood in the road and he cried
He couldn't make her love him
Couldn't make her stay
But tell the good Lord that he tried

[Chorus]

Dusty trail from Atchison to Placerville
On the wreck of the Weaverville stage
Beaula fired on Beatty for a lemonade
I was stirring my brandy with a nail boys
Stirring my brandy with a nail

[Chorus]

Well the rampaging sons of the widow James
Jack the cutter and the pock marked kid
Had to stand naked at the bottom
Of the cross
And tell the good lord what they did
Tell the good lord what they did

[Chorus]

Punctuated birds on the power line
In a Studebaker with the Birdie Joe Joaks
I'm diggin all the way to China
With a silver spoon
While the hangman fumbles with the noose, boys
The hangman fumbles with the noose

[Chorus]

Pin your ear to the wisdom post
Pin your eye to the line
Never let the weeds get higher
Than the garden
Always keep a sapphire in your mind
Always keep a diamond in your mind...."

Tom Waits

Hang On Saint Christopher

This song is from the album "Frank's Wild Years" released in 1987. It's a great driving song that name checks Mount Baldy, a mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains near his home town of Pomona, and the Grapevine, a steep and curvy section of interstate 5 where it winds through the Tehachapi mountains.

"Hang on St. Christopher through the smoke and the oil
Buckle down the rumble seat and let the radiator boil
Got an overhead downshift and a two-dollar grill
Got an eighty-five cabin on an eighty-five hill
Hang on St. Christopher on the passenger side

Open it up tonight the devil can ride
Hang on St. Christopher with a barrelhouse dog
Kick me up Mount Baldy, throw me out in the fog
Tear a hole in the jackpot, drive a stake through his heart
Do a hundred on the Grapevine, do a jump on the start

Hang on St. Christopher now don't let me go
Get me to Reno and bring it in low, yeah

Hang on St. Christopher with the hammer to the floor
Put a highball in the crank case, nail a crow to the door
Get a bottle for the jockey gimme a two-ninety-four
There's a seven-fifty Norton bustin' down January's door

Hang on St. Christopher on the passenger side
Open it up tonight the devil can ride
Hang on St. Christopher now don't let me go
Get me to Reno got to bring it in low
Put my baby on the flat car, got to burn down the caboose
Get 'em all jacked up on whiskey, then we'll turn the mad dog loose

Hang on St. Christopher on the passenger side
Open it up tonight the devil can ride, oh, yeah
Oh, yeah"

Tom Waits

Heartattack and Vine

This song is from the album by the same name, released in 1980. (The song refers to the intersection of Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood. The RTD is the old name for the Los Angeles bus system.)

"Liar, liar with your pants on fire
White spades hangin' on the telephone wire
Gamblers reevaluate along the dotted line
You'll never recognize yourself on Heartattack and Vine

Doctor, lawyer, catch my eggarman, thief
Philly Joe Remarkable looks on in disbelief
If you want a taste of madness you'll have to wait in line
You'll probably see someone you know on Heartattack and Vine

Boney's high on China white, Shorty found a punk
Don't you know there ain't no devil? There's just God when he's drunk
Well this stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line
What you say you meet me down on Heartattack and Vine

See that little Jersey girl in the see-through top
With the pedal pushers, sucking on a soda pop
Well I bet she's still a virgin but it's only twenty-five 'til nine
You can see a million of 'em on Heartattack and Vine

Better off in Iowa, against your scrambled eggs
Than crawling down Cahuenga on a broken pair of legs
You'll find your ignorance is blissful every goddamn time
You're waitin' for the RTD on Heartattack and Vine...."

Tom Waits

Hold On

This song is from Waits' 1999 Grammy-award-winning album "Mule Variations." In this moody and beautiful song (one of his best IMHO) another young woman took that California trip.

"They hung a sign up in our town
'if you live it up, you won't live it down.'
So, she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun.
With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip.
Oh, the moon was gold, her
Hair like wind
She said don't look back just
Come on Jim

Oh you got to hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You gotta hold on

Well, he gave her a dime store watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone's looking for someone to blame
When you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said, "baby, I still love you"
Sometimes there's nothin' left to do

Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on and take my hand
I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on

Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken China voice
How I wish you were still here with me
Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down
Then you burn your mansion to the ground
Oh, there's nothing left to keep you here
But when you're falling behind in this big blue world

Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on

Down by the Riverside motel
It's ten below and falling
By a ninety-nine cent store
She closed her eyes and started swaying
But it's so hard to dance that way
When it's cold and there's no music
Oh, your old hometown's so far away
But inside your head there's a record that's playing

A song called "Hold On," hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on...."

Tom Waits

Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come

This rambling jazz poem is about Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy is from the album "Foreign Affairs" released in 1977. The ending is from the 1924 Al Jolson song "California Here I Come."

"Jack was sittin' poker faced with bullets backed with bi**hes
Neal hunched at the wheel puttin' everyone in stitches
braggin' bout some nurse he screwed while drivin' through Nebraska
and when she came she honked the horn and Neal just barely missed a
truck and then he asked her if she’d like to come like that to Californy
You see a red head in a uniform will always get you horny
with her hair net and those white shoes and a name tag and a hat
she drove like Andy Granatelli and knew how to fix a flat
And Jack was almost at the bottom of his MD 2020 Neal was yellin'
out the window tryin to buy some bennies from a Lincoln
full of Mexicans and their left rear tire blowed and the sonsobitches
prit near almost ran us off the road
well the nurse had spilled the Manoshevitz all up and down her dress
then she lit the map on fire Neal just had to guess
should we try to find a bootleg route or a fillin' station open
the nurse was dumpin' out her purse lookin' for an envelope and
Jack was out of cigarettes we crossed the yellow line and
the gas pumps looked like tombstones from here
and it felt lonelier than a parking lot when the last car pulls away
and the moonlight dressed the double-breasted foothills
in the mirror weaving out a negligee and a black brassiere and
the Mercury was runnin' hot was almost out of gas
just then Forence Nightingale dropped her drawers and
stuck her fat ass half way out the window to a
Wilson Pickett tune
and shouted get a load of this and gave the finger to the moon
[Scat singing]
countin' one eyed jacks and whistling Dixie in the car
Neal was doin' least a hundred when we saw a fallin' star
Florence wished that Neal would hold her stead of chewin' on his cigar
Jack was noddin' out and dreamin' he was in a bar
with Charlie Parker on the bandstand and not a worry in the world
and a glass of beer in one hand and his arms around a girl
and Neal was singin' to the nurse
underneath a Harlem moon
and somehow you could just tell we’d be in California soon
open up your Golden Gate
California here I come
I said, California here I come
look out California here I come"

Tom Waits

Kentucky Avenue

This song is from the album "Blue Valentine" released in 1978. Tom Waits was born in Whittier and lived there on Kentucky Avenue when he was a boy before moving to San Diego. The street is only mentioned in the title but in interviews Waits has talked about how the people and images in the song reflect his childhood.

"Well Eddie Grace's Buick got four bullet holes in the side
And Charlie DeLisle is sittin' at the top of an avocado tree
Mrs. Storm will stab you with a steak knife, if you step on her lawn
I got a half a pack of Lucky Strikes, man, so come along with me
Let's fill our pockets with macadamia nuts
And go over to Bobby Goodmanson's and jump off the roof\

Well Hilda plays strip poker when her mama's 'cross the street
Joey Navinski says she put her tongue in his mouth
And Dicky Faulkner's got a switchblade and some gooseneck risers
That eucalyptus is a hunchback, there's a wind down from the south
So let me tie you up with kite string, I'll show you the scabs on my knee
Watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on
And come along with me

Let's follow that fire truck, I think your house is burnin' down
And go down to the hobo jungle and kill some rattlesnakes with a trowel
And we'll break all the windows in the old Anderson place
We'll steal a bunch of boysenberries and I'll smear 'em all in your face
I'll get a dollar from my mama's purse and buy that skull and crossbones ring
And you can wear it round your neck on an old piece of string

Then we'll spit on Ronnie Arnold and flip him the bird
And slash the tires on the school bus, now don't say a word
I'll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials in my arm
And I'll show you how to sneak up on the roof of the drugstore
I'll take the spokes from your wheelchair and a magpie's wings
And I'll tie 'em to your shoulders and your feet
I'll steal a hacksaw from my dad and cut the braces off your legs
And we'll bury them tonight out in the cornfield
Just put a church key in your pocket, we'll hop that freight train in the hall
We'll slide all the way down the drain to New Orleans in the fall"

Tom Waits

San Diego Serenade

This is from Tom Waits' second album "The Heart of Saturday Night," released in 1974. It never mentions the city except in the title, but his "hometown" at one time was San Diego.

"I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song.

I never saw the white line, 'til I was leaving you behind
I never knew I needed you 'til I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke 'I love you' 'til I cursed you in vain,
I never felt my heartstrings until I nearly went insane.

I never saw the east coast 'til I move to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off your breast
I never saw your heart 'til someone tried to steal, tried to steal it away
I never saw your tears until they rolled down your face."

Tom Waits

The One That Got Away

This is from Waits' fourth studio album "Small Change" released in 1976. Ben Frank's was a 24-hour restaurant in West Hollywood favored by celebrities. "Behind the Ivar in the sewers" refers to a gay bar in Hollywood named The Sewer of Paris located in an alley behind a strip club named the Ivar Theater.

"The gigolo's jumpin' salty
Ain't no trade out on the streets
Half past the unlucky
And the hawk's a front row seat
Dressed in full orchestration
Stage door Johnny's got to pay
And send him home
Talking bout the one that got away

Could'a been on easy street
Could'a been a wheel
With irons in the fire
And all them business deals
But the last of the big time losers
Shouted before he drove away
I'll be right back as soon as I crack
The one that got away

The ambulance drivers don't give a s**t
They just want to get off work
And the short stop and the victim
Have already gone berserk
And the shroud tailor measures him
For a deep six holiday
The stiff is froze, the case is closed
On the one that got away

Jim Crow's directing traffic
With them cemetery blues
With those peculiar looking trousers
And them old Italian shoes
The wooden kimono was all ready
To drop in San Francisco bay
But he's mumbling something
All about the one that got away

Costello was the champion
At the St. Moritz Hotel
And the best this side of Fairfax
Reliable sources tell
But his reputation is at large
And he's at Ben Frank's every day
Waiting for the one that got away

He's got a snake skin sport shirt
And he looks like Vincent Price
With a little piece of chicken
And he's carving off a slice
But someone tipped her off
She'll be doing a Houdini now any day
She shook his hustle
The Greyhound bus'll
Take the one that got away

Andre is at the piano
Behind the Ivar in the Sewers
With a buck a shot for pop tunes
And a fin for guided tours
He could of been in Casablanca
He stood in line out there all day
But now he's spilling whiskey
And learning songs about the one that got away

Well I've lost my equilibrium
My car keys and my pride
The tattoo parlor's warm
And so I huddle there inside
The grinding of the buzzsaw
What you want that thing to say?
Just don't misspell her name, buddy
She's the one that got away"

Charlie Walker

Charlie Walker was a country musician from Texas, active 1952-1979. This song is a single released in 1968. Do shoes really get homesick for streets? Mine can't wait for me to take them off.

"San Diego, San Diego
Adventure called, a whistle blew
A train took me away from you
And every mile I traveled soon became a mile too far
I had to leave to realize
That home is there beneath your skies
And the greenest grass is grownin' there in your front yard

San Diego, San Diego
The days have been too many
And the nights have been too long
San Diego, San Diego
My shoes are homesick for your streets
And I'm comin' home

My memories take me to your beach
Where palm trees used to wave at me
Where pretty girls are walkin' up and down your silver sands
My rainbow chasing days are through
When I get home I promise you
I'll never leave your city limit signs again

San Diego, San Diego
The days have been too many
And the nights have been too long
San Diego, San Diego
My shoes are homesick for your streets
And I'm comin' home

San Diego, San Diego
My shoes are homesick for your streets
And I'm comin' home
San Diego, San Diego
My shoes are homesick for your streets
And I'm comin' home"

Jerry Jeff Walker

California Song

Jerry Jeff Walker was a folk and country music singer-songwriter from New York, active 1967-2018. This song is from his last album "It's About Time" released in 2018. He settled in Austin in the 1970s, becoming a part of the outlaw country scene there, so this song is probably autobiographical.

"Well, I always thought that I might live out in California
Where the weather's great and the sun shines all the time
Probably'd live somewhere north of San Francisco
In the redwoods where they make the wine

I was headed that way once, when I stopped off in Austin
To see an old friend from long ago
One night at a party I met her and I knew that
She's the one who's going to lead me home

And I fell in love with a girl born and raised in Texas
She stole my heart, I lost my rambling ways
And the years flew by so quickly, raising up a family
Where you fall in love is where you stay

And I always thought that I might live up in Colorado
Where the snow stays on the peaks all summer long
And I'd river raft the canyons, Idly fish Roaring Fork
By a campfire, sing some cowboy songs

But I fell in love with a girl born and raised in Texas
She stole my heart, I lost my rambling ways
And the years flew by so quickly, raising up a family
Where you fall in love is where you stay

And you know I'm not complaining, our life has been so special
And Texas has been everything, I know
But every now and then I think what might have been
If life had pulled me down a different road

Well, I'm still dreaming 'bout the mountains, 'bout the rivers and the ocean
The way the waves pound down around Big Sur
Makes me wonder why I don't already live there
Huh, I ain't goin' nowhere without her

'Cause I fell in love with a girl born and raised in Texas
She stole my heart, I lost my rambling ways
And the years flew by so quickly, raising up a family
Where you fall in love that's where you stay
And I always thought that I might live out in California"

Jerry Jeff Walker

L.A. Freeway

This song was written by Guy Clark in 1970 and originally recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker for his self-tiled album released in 1972. Then Clark released his version from his album "Old No" in 1975. You can see the lyrics under Guy Clark.

Jerry Jeff Walker

South Coast

This is a version of the song sung by the Kingstron Trio, with a complicated history. You can see their lyrics here. It's from Walker's album "It's About Time" released in 2018.

Walk Off The Earth

California Trees

Walk Off The Earth is an indie rock band from Burlington, Ontario, Canada active since 2006. This song is from the band's fourth studio album "Sing It All Away" released in 2015.

"All the leaves have fallen
Still I'm heading down this road
Kind of wish it wasn't such a long, long way to go
So I keep on calling, calling out to those who know
Where the leaves aren't falling
I'm heading down to Californ
'Cause when it get hot
We can get higher, we can get louder
We can get louder, we can get louder

So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
'Till we grow so high that we never come down
You won't know, you won't know
'Till you find your California
So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
Till we just let go and we figure it out
You won't know, you won't know
Till you find your California

Ten down the highway, where the stars are white as snow
You pull me out of somewhere, somewhere I was far below
I haven't even noticed if the time is right to go
Where it is I'm going, just get me close to a windy [road?]
'Cause when it gets hot
We can get higher, we can get louder
We can get louder, we can get louder

So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
Till we grow so high that we never come down
You won't know, you won't know
'Till you find your California
So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
'Till we just let go and we figure it out
You won't know, you won't know
'Till you find your California

Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh

Hey, sometimes you never know
When the tide goes out we let it flow
Hey, these days you never know
Only keep the good times with you though, oh

So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
'Till we grow so high that we never come down
You won't know, you won't know
'Till you find your California
So we run to the trees when we wanna grow up
'Till we just let go and we figure it out
You won't know, you won't know
'Till you find your California

Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
'Till you find your California
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
'Till you find your California"

Alice Wallace

Hollywood the Second Time

Alice Wallace is an Americana singer-songwriter born in California and based in Nashville.
This is a single from her album "Into the Blue" released in 2019. It's a California fire song that's also about the Santa Ana winds, which make fire season extra deadly. Probably not a very good time to light a candle to St. Barbara.

"Out on the horizon there's a wicked orange glow
While a neighbor sprays her rooftop with a garden hose
Heard they couldn’t save the horses so they had to let them go
While the Santa Ana winds just blow

The news man, he keeps talking like he thinks that you don't know
And the shelters, they're all stocked up with prayers and with hopes
And it’s, get out now and on your way with whatever you can hold
While the Santa Ana winds just blow

We come from dust and ashes and to such we may return
Light a candle to St. Barbara and watch it burn

Now the helicopter's leaving, turning eddies into smoke
And it's hot and thick and black and it's hanging in your throat
The flames that lick your neighborhood eat you out of house and home
While the Santa Ana winds just blow

We come from dust and ashes and to such we may return
Light a candle to St. Barbara and watch it burn

While the Santa Ana winds just blow
Oh the Santa Ana winds just blow
The Santa Ana winds just blow"

Wall of Voodoo

Wrong Way to Hollywood

Wall of Voodoo is the L. A. new wave group that brought us the hit song "Mexican Radio" in 1983. They also did a nice cover of "Ring of Fire" the Johnny Cash song. This song is a b-side to "Far Side of Crazy" and it was also on their album "The Ugly Americans in Australia" recorded live in Australia in 1987. It's another look at the dark side of the Hollywood dream as it degenerates into drugs and prostitution.

"He walked into a Mexican restaurant
Looking for some pills
She shivered on Cahuenga and Yucca
She couldn't shake the chills
An old man walked out of the Greyhound station
Where did my wallet go
And Jimmy searching lost and last seen
His mother will never know
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood
A Babylon place where blondes die young
It's a g-string girl's revenge
Young boys baiting on S&M and Highland for family men
The old soft shoe goes on and on
And the chumps are down for the count
And the ones who last the longest get their screen test at Paramount
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood
A flash of nausea a trembling hand
Falling where we stood
In a shallow doorway grave
Lay me down in Hollywood
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood
He took the wrong way, the wrong way to Hollywood"

Wall of Voodoo

This is from Wall of Voodoo's 1987 album "Happy Planet."

"I-65, Illinois moon.
A voice in my ear saying,
"You're the fool".
No-it's all in your mind...
Well, I'm not moving forward tonight...
I'm falling behind.
Snow on the cornfields,
Silver and blue.
It's probably raining
On her house, too.
I know she won't wait,
I know I know, I know-

Hollywood the second time,
Hollywood the second time.

West lane is choked,
Time moving slow, arm hurting bad.
Don't say where you're going
'Cause they won't understand...
Move your own way through.
It's got my heart cold.
I was walkin',
Walkin' in the rain...

Hollywood the second time,
Hollywood the second time.

Thanks for the ride,
Thanks for the loan.
It was windy in Reno,
He was walking alone.
There's a chill in his eyes,
And he asked himself
When the bus came,
Would he be all right?
How long will it take?
How long will it take
'Til the valley rolls by
And he's home...

Hollywood the second time,
Hollywood the second time."

Morgan Wallen

More Than My Hometown

Morgan Wallen is a country singer-songwriter from Tennessee.
This song is a single from his as yet unreleased second album to be released some time in 2020.

"Girl, our mamas are best friends and so are we
The whole town's rooting for us like the home team
Most likely to settle down
Plant a few roots real deep and let 'em grow
But we can't stop this real world from spinnin' us
Your bright lights called, I don't blame you for pickin' up
Your big dream bags are all packed up and ready to go
But I just need you to know

That I love you more than a California sunset
More than a beer when you ain't twenty-one yet
More than a Sunday morning Lord
Turnin' some poor lost souls 'round, Hallelujah bound
Yeah, I love you more than the feeling when the bass hits a hook
When the guy gets the girl at the end of the book
But, baby, this might be the last time I get to lay you down
'Cause I can't love you more than my hometown

I ain't the runaway kind, I can't change that
My heart's stuck in these streets like the train tracks
City sky ain't the same black
Ain't that a map dot shame, man, to think that

I love you more than a California sunset
More than a beer when you ain't twenty-one yet
More than a Sunday morning Lord
Turnin' some poor lost souls around, Hallelujah bound
Yeah, I love you more than the feeling when the bass hits a hook
When the guy gets the girl at the end of the book
But, baby, this might be the last time I get to lay you down
'Cause I can't love you more than my hometown...."

The Wallflowers

Back To California

This is an uptempo rock song from the roots rock band formed in L.A. in 1989 by frontman Jakob Dylan. It's off their Rebel, Sweetheart album released in 2005. This one's not about coming to California, or leaving the state, but returning to its sanctuary from what seems to be some kind post-apocalyptic war zone. The younger Dylan has his father Bob's talent for poetic imagery in a song, for sure.

"Feels like a ghost here in this room
Not the kind that rides a saddle in a costume
All around me, all around you
In from the window for a drag of your perfume

Let's move back to California
Let's make a promise, baby
Let's both be there
Put our feet deep in the sand
This garden's only got four corners
Back to your trenches, back to California

The days keep coming and the years overlap
Been crawling all over each other like wet cats
I hear the rebels yelling out in the dunes
And I don't think it's half as funny as I used to

Let's move back to California
Let's make a promise, baby
Let's both be there
Put our feet deep in the sand
Let's leave behind these maps and handguns
We're on our way back to California

We've got California in our eyes
Come on and catch us if you can
With California in our eyes...."

The Wallflowers

This is from the album "The Wallflowers" released in 1992.

"You talk so loud, you talk so much and you talk so funny
But honey, what are you talkin' about?
Something 'bout being, being reimbursed
For every unregistered virus

Drainpipes are filled up with dirty rain
And the leisure train is speeding in the diamond lane
With electricity shut off again
Leaving the night-life only for the madmen

Oh my God
They've sold Hollywood
Burned down my neighborhood
Even shot Robin Hood

And oh my God
I guess it was never understood
To understand brotherhood
Right from wrong
And the bad from the good

Well, everybody's got their own smoke-screens
With personal armies for everyone in between
With plastic rifles given to every team
What a beautiful dream, even bullets have guarantees

And oh my God
They've sold Hollywood
Burned down my neighborhood
Even shot Robin Hood

And oh my God,
I guess it was never understood
To understand brotherhood
Right from wrong
And the bad from the good

There's the sweetest evil image detector
As sweet as nectar, an overrated candy dispenser
She don't give food to eat or anybody, anyplace to sleep
But she can tell you, what you can and what you can't create

And oh my God
They've sold Hollywood
Burned down my neighborhood
Even shot Robin Hood...."

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh is a singer-songwriter born in Kansas, active since 1965 and probably best known for his work with the Eagles. His work on "Hotel California" has been called one of the best guitar solos of all time. This song is from his solo album "Got Any Gum?" released in 1987.

"Malibu will get ya
Malibu
Malibu will get ya
Malibu
It'll get ya!

Private gates
Prime rates
Unreal estates
How do you do?

Malibu will get ya
Malibu
Malibu will get ya
Malibu
It'll get ya!

Yacht clubs
Hot tubs
Back rubs
How do you do?
Mud slides
High tides
Free rides
You're never through --
In Malibu

Bridges get burned
Lessons get learned
No one's concerned

Malibu will get ya
Malibu
Malibu will get ya
Malibu
It'll get ya!
Three piece suits
Cowboy boots
Dress designer jeans
Gucci-goo
High style
Everybody else looks just like you
In Malibu
How do you do?

Bridges get burned
Lessons get learned
No one's concerned
In beautiful downtown Malibu
Malibu
It'll get ya
Malibu
It'll get ya!"

Wang Chung

To Live and Die in L.A.

Wang Chung is a new wave band formed in 1980 in London. This song is from William Friedkin's great 1985 genre-bending crime movie also titled To Live and Die in L.A.

"In the heat of the day
Every time you go away
I have to piece my life together
Every time you're away
In the heat of the day
In the dark of the night
Every time I turn the light
I feel that God is not in heaven
In the dark of the night
The dark of the night

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the room I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in L.A.
To live and die in L.A.

I wonder why we waste our lives here
When we could run away to paradise
But I am held in some invisible vice
And I can't get away
To live and die in L.A.....)

War

L.A. Sunshine

War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is a band with influences of rock, funk, and Latin styles that was formed in Long Beach in 1969. This song is from their 1976 album “Platinum Jazz.”

"... L.A. is my home town
It's a funky town
L.A. is my home town
It's a funky town

Get on down, get on down, get on down
Get on down, get on down, get on down
In my funky town, in my funky town

Me get high off the sunshine
Me gettin' high off the sunshine
Me get high off the sunshine
Me gettin' high off the sunshine

L.A. is my home town
It's a funky town
L.A. is my home town
It's a funky town

Get on down, get on down, get on down
Get on down, get on down, get on down
In my funky town, in my funky town..."

War

Low Rider

This is from the album "Why Can't We Be Friends?" released in 1975. There are no lyrics that specifically mention California, and lowriding can be practiced anywhere, but the band was formed in southern California and the lowrider car culture of the song began in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Wikipedia describes lowriding as "...the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars." In the '90s low riders also became part of the West Coast hip hop and G-Funk culture. That makes this very much California song.

"All my friends know the low rider
The low rider is a little higher

Low rider drives a little slower
Low rider is a real goer

Low rider knows every street, yeah
Low rider is the one to meet, yeah

Low rider don't use no gas now
Low rider don't drive too fast

Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip and see

Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip with me"

War

Summer

War had many big hits, including this one, which was the only new track from their 1976 "Greatest Hits" record, which seems kind of prescient. I enjoy the shout-outs to Disneyland and Malibu, but better yet are the mentions of Eight-tracks and CB Radios. Only in the 70s.

"Ridin' 'round town with all the windows down
Eight track playin' all your fav'rite sounds
The rhythm of the bongos fill the park
The street musicians tryin' to get a start

'Cause it's summer
Summer time is here
Yes, it's summer
My time of year
Yes, it's summer
My time of year

Stretched out on a blanket in the sand
Kids of all ages diggin' Disneyland
Rappin' on the C B radio in your van
We'll give a big "ten four" to the truckin' man

'Cause it's summer
Summer time is here
Yes, it's summer
My time of year

In Atlantic City or out in Malibu
Or any where between, I'm telling you
When you feel those balmy breezes on your face
Summer time is the best time any place

Cause it's summer
Summer time is here
Yes, it's summer
My time of year"

Jordan Ward

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Jordan Ward is a dancer and singer from St. Louis based in Los Angeles. This song is from his first full-length album "Valley Hopefuls released in 2019.

"Well I appreciate the call, how you check in on me, your warm familiar energy, like the San Diego sun
Remember driving down the highway, living endlessly, forever in a memory, the San Diego sun

Ohhhh, said I will never find a love like you gave me
Ohhhh, said I will never find a love like you gave me
(one, two, three, go)

Well I appreciate the call, how you check in on me, your absence took 4 centuries, like the San Diego sun
(like the San Diego sun)
What is was is what it is and what it needs to be, forever hold a piece of me, untill my days are done

How can you hold me down, still take me higher?
Keeping your cool while standing in my fire
How can you hold me down, still take me higher?
All of the love I ever need, inside you, is inside you

Ohhhh, said I will never find a love like you gave me
(I'll never find)
Ohhhh, said I will never find a love like you gave me
I may never find
Wait for me baby
(wait for me)
I won't be long
(I'll wait for you)"

M. Ward

Girl From Conejo Valley

M. Ward is a singer-songwriter who also works with the groups She & Him and Monsters of Folk. This is from Ward's 2016 album More Rain. It's indie folk with some vintage synth sounds thrown in. Conejo Valley stretches from Ventura to L.A. County so maybe he knows the area since he grew up in Ventura County.

"Slow bring winter heart,
first name Ralo,
walks on good behavior from his self.
And my old girlfriend used to not to
but now knows him well.
Slow-thinkin' Lincoln,
nicknamed needles,
used to call me deep down from his
little corner of hell.
And my old girlfriend
used to not to but now knows him well.
So I say
Ooo ooo ooo
Helicopter, throw me a line;
The girl from Conejo Valley
used to be mine.
Motorcycle wilson,
last name's a mystery,
charges for rides in his sidecar seat.
And my old girlfriend,
used to not to but now rides for free.
So I say
Ooo ooo ooo
Helicopter, throw me a line;
The girl from Conejo Valley
used to be mine.
Helicopter, throw me a line
'Cos the girl from Conejo Valley
used to be mine."

Leon Ware

Why I Came to California

Leon Ware was a producer and songwriter as well as a solo performer, born and raised in Detroit. Starting in 1967 he wrote songs for Motown before releasing his first solo album in 1972. This song is from his album "Leon Ware" released in 1982, which was recorded in L.A. Ware sings the song with Janis Siegel, a jazz vocalist from New York City, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. She also co-wrote the song with Ware. There's also a 2019 cover of this song by Dent May.

"Zuma,
Oh I'd like to walk the beach on Zuma
Watching all those pretty girls
Venice,
It gets really strange going through Venice
There's a different attitude

On a many a summer evening
Found me searching for the fire
The elusive sea of childhood
Then became my one desire

There were places in the Valley
Where they said that I could find it
There were rhythms in the distance
In the ancient elder forest

That is why I came to California
It's the strangest groove that I have ever known
All the youth seekers come to California
Following the fountain in their mind

San Francisco
Catch a cable car to where your dreams go
There's a lot of make believe
San Diego
From L.A. you'll find out where your dreams flow

From the hillside to the desert
Following the map inside me
I can the feel the road is leading
To the treasure that will guide me

There were places in the Valley
Where they said that I could find it
There were rhythms in the distance
In the ancient elder forest

That is why I came to California
It's the freest groove that I have ever known
All the youth seekers come to California
Following the fountain in their mind, in their mind

Zuma
Oh I'd like to walk the beach on Zuma
Watching all those pretty girls
Venice
It gets really strange going through Venice
There's a different attitude

That is why I came to California (California)
It's the purest groove that I have ever known
All the youth seekers come to California
Following the fountain in their mind

That is why I came to California (California)
It's the strangest groove that I have ever known (California)
All the youth seekers come to California
Following the fountain in their mind"

Anna Waronker

California Fade

Anna Waronker is a singer/songwriter from Los Angeles. This is from her album "California Fade" released in 2011.

"Things move slowly
I work at my own pace
I won't be lonely
On this California fade

We'll go together
I'll take you on the ride
Into my future
Into the rest of my life

Oh, this mess of mine
Oh, this mess I made
I won't be satisfied until the California fade

I'm just hoping
I'm just on my knees
I think I'm begging
I think I'm begging please

Let me out there
Let me see the world
Through the eyes of a stranger
Through the eyes of a girl

Oh, this mess of mine
Oh, this mess I made
I won't be satisfied until the California fade"

Alex Warren

Carry You Home

Alex Warren is a singer-songwriter and YouTube creator from Carlsbad, California.
This stomp and holler love song with a touch of California dreaming was released in early June 2024, just in time for it to be played at lots of weddings during the peak season.

"Oh, I hope you know, I will carry you home
Whether it's tonight or fifty-five years down the road
Oh, I know there's so many ways that this could go
Don't want you to wonder, darling, I need you to know

We were talking to the sunset
Throwing dreams against the wall (Ah-ah-ah)
I know none of them have stuck yet
But I bet it on you, honey
Oh, I would risk it all

These days, these nights are changing
Mama, my mind is set on you
I'm not afraid to say it
To say it's true

Oh, I hope you know, I will carry you home
Whether it's tonight or fifty-five years down the road
Oh, I know there's so many ways that this could go
Don't want you to wonder, darling, I need you to know
In this and every life
I choose us every time
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

We were California dreaming
Our whole life fit in that car (Ah-ah-ah)
Didn't have a bed to sleep in
We kept each other warm under a ceiling full of stars

These days, these nights are changing
Mama, my mind is set on you
I'm not afraid to say it
To say I do

Oh, I hope you know, I will carry you home
Whether it's tonight or fifty-five years down the road
Oh, I know there's so many ways that this could go
Don't want you to wonder, darling, I need you to know
In this and every life
I choose us every time
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

Oh, I hope you know, I will carry you home
Whether it's tonight or fifty-five years down the road"

Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick is a Grammy-award-winning, 85-million-record-selling singer and actress from New Jersey. I'm sorry to spoil it for you, but she was not really born and raised in San Jose, and neither were either of the writers of this song, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but nobody made great breezy pop songs like the three of them did throughout the '60s and '70s, as this 1968 hit proves.

Just for the record, Dionne, if you're leaving from L.A., all you have to do is get on the 101 and drive north. It'll take you straight to The Capital of Silicon Valley, although these days there's a lot less space there - the tech workers filled it all up and drove up the cost of housing so much that only millionaires can afford it.

"Do you know the way to San Jose?
I've been away so long, I may go wrong and lose my way.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose.

L.A. is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas

You can really breathe in San Jose
They've got a lot of space. There'll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose."

Dionne Warwick

99 Miles From L.A.

This is a cover of a song Albert Hammond released in 1975. It's from Warwick's 2012 album "Now: A Celebratory 50th Anniversary Album" but I'm not sure when it was recorded. You can see the lyrics under Albert Hammond.

While I like this version enough to put it on this list, which I don't always do with cover versions, I do find it hard to imagine Dionne Warwick behind the wheel on a long road trip, hittin' the John "Chuck" Erreca rest area in Firebaugh, or a Love's Truck Stop for a fill-up and some dashboard dining. I picture her making such a long trip in a private jet, or at least in a chauffeur-driven limo. After all, she's a national treasure.

Catie Waters

California Stars

Catie Waters is a singer-songwriter from Arkansas and Texas who lives in Los Angeles. This soulful jazz tune is from her album "Colors" released in 2020.

"Sometimes it's hard to see
The truth starting at me
I find myself holding on to a memory
And I feel so alone
Wish you'd pick up the phone
So I could come home

And lay under California Stars
In a universe that's ours
Where I get carried away and lose my heart
I don't always know where to start
But there's a freedom in that
Burning in the dark

When I let go I'm free
Of words said to me
Every tear in my heart shines a light on me
But I feel so low
I wish you could know
That I want to come home

And lay under California Stars
In a universe that's ours
Where I get carried away and lose my heart
I don't always know where to start
But there's a freedom in that
Burning in the dark

And lay under California Stars
In a universe that's ours
Where I get carried away and lose my heart
I don't always know where to start
But there's a freedom in that
Burning in the dark

Burning in the dark
California stars
California stars
I count them
California stars
California stars
I count them
California stars
California stars
I count them
California stars
California stars
I count them

California stars
Burning in the dark"

Aaron Watson

Something With A Swing To It

Aaron Watson is a country singer-songwriter from Texas, active since 1999. This country swing tune is from his album "Shut Up and Dance" released in 2002. Bob Wills may still be the king in Texas, where he was born, but the squirrels in San Francisco asked me to remind Watson that Wills formed his most well-known band, the Texas Playboys, in California.

"Well, I was thumbing through the channels
And I saw a sight to see
A so-called country singer, there singing on MTV
And I began to think, had she ever heard a thing
Had she ever been to Texas where Bob Wills is still the king?
Ah - ha

From the Houston rodeo to any old dancehall
All the cowgirls and cowboys know how to have a ball
And every night they'll tip a toast to the Lone Star state
Where the women are so fine, and the music is so great
'Cause I wanna two-step to a real dancehall swinger
I don't wanna see no wanna-be country western singer
Don't call it country unless you can prove it
I want something with a swing to it

Aw, yeah
All together now

It's a Texas thing, y'all
So if you don't understand, just drop what you're doing
Drive here as quick as you can
I'd even stop in Oklahoma if it was up to me
'Cause when it comes to country
There ain't none like Gary P.

I wanna two-step to a real dancehall swinger
I don't wanna see no wanna-be country western singer
Don't call it country unless you can prove it
I want something with a swing to it
That hip-hoppin', rappin' boy band crap is for the squirrels in San Francisco
And Nashville is making music that sounds like a dadgum disco

Don't call it country unless you can prove it
I want something with a swing to it
Yes, I said don't call it country unless you can prove it
I want something with a swing to it
That's right
Darn close"

Doc Watson

California Blues

This is Doc Watson's version of the often-covered 1928 Jimmy Rodgers song mentioned above under Jimmy Rodger's version. If you like a little yodeling with your slide guitar, you'll like this version.

Mike Watt

Drove Up From Pedro

Mike Watt is a bass player, singer, songwriter originally from Virginia who co-founded the San Pedro rock bands Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose, among and other projects, and his solo career. This song is from his first solo album, "Ball-Hog or Tugboat?" released in 1995. (The Germs were one of the original L.A. punk bands in the late 1970s.)

"Now this Pedro dude had the attitude
But the '70s had him spaced up in Hollywood
Maybe then he could find a reason for his bass
Turned his Volkswagen, a spielwagon Hong Kong cafe

New years show, drove up from Pedro
From Pedro Watt drove
He had to get back to Pedro

Glad to chow on some squid
What The Germs did at that gig
Made him do what he finally did
He fit the thunderbroom to the thundertune
Stuffed the thing in the hole

Drove up from Pedro, from Pedro he drove
Now he still lives in Pedro

And for work he does gigs
But from time to time he seems to find
For inspiration he's got to dig
Back to them days when The Germs played
Him and Joe Baiza at that show

Drove up from Pedro, from Pedro
Up from Pedro they drove"

Wave

Wave was a pop duo formed in Niagara Falls, Canada in 1999, active until 2003. This song is a 2001 single that was a top 10 radio hit in Canada. California seems like a long way to go for freeways and tequila. Don't they have those in Canada?

"On a lonely day
I look out on the freeway
I can fantasize 'bout the car I drive
Don't leave the light on
I can find my way
It's been so long now I have to say

I'm goin' to California
Gonna live the life
Sipping on tequila night after night
Dreaming of the moment when everything looks right
A little bit of love goes a long way tonight

I'm on my way (I'm on my way)
Heading for the sun
That's where I'll stay
I'm never going back home
Do you ever feel like
You need a change
Hang out where no one knows your name

I'm goin' to California
Gonna live the life
Sipping on tequila night after night
Dreaming of the moment when everything looks right
A little bit of love goes a long way tonight

Would you like to meet me there?
We'll be dancing on the sand (dancing on the sand)
These days will never win
'Cause the world goes on and on

On a lonely day
I look out on the freeway
I can fantasize 'bout the car I drive
Don't leave the light on
I can find my way
It's been so long now I have to say
It's been so long now I have to say

I'm goin' to California
Gonna live the life
Sipping on tequila night after night
Dreaming of the moment when everything looks right
A little bit of love goes a long way tonight...."

Wax

Wax was a rock band formed in Los Angeles, active from 1991 to 1995 with a reunion in 2006. The song is from the band's second album "13 Unlucky Numbers" released in 1995. The video for the song is a classic made by Spike Jonze that shows a man on fire running on a street in Los Angeles.

"I'm gonna move to Southern California
Got me a ride and a reason to ignore you
Got me a radio, ain't got no speakers
Ain't much use, so I'm leaving it
Leaving it for you
I'm leaving it for you

Could be by for you

Gotta find a room and I'm running out of money
Staying out late, but I gotta get up early
Why did I move to Southern California?
Smog isn't blue, someone shoulda warned you
They shoulda warned you

Could be by by
Could be by for you

Why did I move? (Southern California)
Why did I move? (Southern California, Southern California)
Why did I move? (Southern California, Southern California)
(Southern California, Southern California)

Why did I move to Southern California?"

WEAREGHOST

Midnight Plane to Houston

WEAREGHOST is an alternative rock band from Italy, formed by members of "Mayhem Project", "A Day in L.A." and "Lost Breath", led by vocalist Alessio De Santis. This alt metal ode to the Golden State was released in May, 2024. I like that he sings about the deserts, mountains, and redwoods along with L.A. and Hollywood and the beaches and the palm trees and all the usual stuff. California songs need to do a little more traveling like this one and its video do. There are not enough songs about the Redwood Empire.

"This is the place where the sun
Always shines bright
Guiding me on my journey
Filling my soul with light
From the beaches to the mountains
Everything just feels right

Every time my airplane lands
Like a movie from my teens
I feel a chill run down my back
When I see L.A. skyline

This is my California
I feel this is right place for me
This is my California
I feel like I'm where I should be

Desert sun and Hollywood
Sunset sky
And Redwood Empire

Every mountain peak
Every street here
Make me feel alive
Ocean breeze and palm trees
Sway in my mind
A sense of belonging
Begins to behold

Every time my airplane lands
Like a movie from my teens
I feel a chill run down my back
When I see L.A. skyline

This is my California
I feel this is right place for me
This is my California
I feel like I'm where I should be

Desert sun and Hollywood
Sunset sky
And Redwood Empire

This is my California
I feel this is right place for me
This is my California
I feel like I'm where I should be

Desert sun and Hollywood
Sunset sky
And Redwood Empire"

Jim Weatherly

Jim Weatherly was a singer-songwriter from Mississippi, active from 1965-2021. This was his best known song, from his debut album "Weatherly" released in 1972. With some revised lyrics it was an award-winning #1 hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1973 with the title "Midnight Train to Georgia." The song deals with the flip side of the California dream of going to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune. The singer's girlfriend went to L.A. and failed to become a star, so she's flying back home to Houston. At least she had enough money left to fly. The other guy had to take the train home.

"L.A. proved too much for the girl
So he's leaving a life we've come to know
She's going back to find what's left of his world
The world she left behind long agoAnd she's leaving
On the midnight plane to Houston

Going back to a simpler place and time
I'll be with her
On that midnight plane to Houston
I'd rather live in her world
Than live without her in mine

She kept dreaming that some day he'd be a star
But she found out the dreams don't always come true
So she's pawned down his hopes
And sold her car
And bought a one way ticket back to the life she knew

And she's leaving
On the midnight plane to Houston
Going back to a simpler place and time
I'll be with her
On that midnight plane to Houston
I'd rather live in her world
Than live without her in mine...."

The Wedding Present

(Girl We Got A) Good Thing

The Wedding Present are a rock band formed in England in 1985. This song is from their album "El Rey" released in 2008. The album was recorded in Los Angles so the title might be named after the El Rey live music venue in Los Angeles. The album cover shows a Hollywood motel and palm tree, which might confirm that. I like how the singer blames the Santa Ana winds for his lying to a hot girl in a bar, telling her that he doesn't have a girlfriend. I'm sure he would never do that if the devil winds weren't blowing, would he?

"We keep exchanging glances all night long until at last her friends go home
That's when my heart starts beating faster
Outside, the Santa Ana Winds are blowing hot
Inside, some things are happening that really should not

When she says: 'I'm handing myself to you entirely, completely'
Before asking, sweetly: 'And are you falling for me too?'
And that's when I pretend that I don't have a girlfriend

I must look anxious because she fixes me with this gaze
'Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot' she says
We laugh together but I'm trying hard to ignore
The fact I've won the jackpot means I've lost a whole lot more

Then she says: 'I'm handing myself to you entirely, completely'
Before asking, sweetly: 'And are you falling for me too?'
And that's when I pretend that I don't have a girlfriend

'I'm handing myself to you entirely, completely'
Then she asks, sweetly: 'And are you falling for me too?'
And that's when I pretend that I don't have a girlfriend"

The Weeknd

Escape From L.A.

The Weeknd is the stage name of Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, an award-winning and massively successful Canadian singer-songwriter. This song is from his 2020 album "After Hours" which features the unlikeable character we meet in this song. (The bloody-faced guy on the album cover.) It's a complaint by a famous rich guy who isn't happy with his life, but needs to make sure we know just how rich and successful and sexed up he is, driving around town in his product placement Porsche. I can really relate do this guy... or maybe not, but I do understand the Keanu Reeves references. This tormented character and his hellish version of L.A. are right out of the world of Reeves' movie "Constantine," as well as the nightmare L.A. of the movie "Escape From L.A.," same as this song's title.

"You pillow talk to me about the men who try to get in between us
They buy you bags and jewelry, yeah
They think your kindness is so weak
Know you don't give it up so easy, baby
But you just wanted my attention
You just wanted my affection
You got me tattooed on your mind
You just want me all the time
We'll figure out our s**t and find a way (oh, yeah)
When you say that you need space, I give you space (you space)
Girl, when you're ready, you know where I stay
When it comes to all these hoes, I'll never chase
But this world is such a, such an evil place
Man, these hoes will always find a way
'Cause when I'm on the liquor, I go crazy
And for that pussy, you know I'm a slave, yeah

Well this place is never what it seems
Take me out, L.A.
Take me out of L.A.
This place will be the end of me
Take me out, L.A.
Take me out of L.A., yeah

Yeah
I'm in the Spyder Porsche cruisin' down the street
Black on black venom colored seats
Keanu Reeves, the way a n***a speed
Diamond cross hangin' off of me
I'm fighting for my soul, Constantine
And it's slowly burning, it was never cheap
If you see what I seen, you wouldn't sleep
I can't sleep
'Cause I got everything I wanted
Got the money, got the cars, got the ceiling with the stars
Got everything I wanted
But I'd be nothing without you
Gave you everything you wanted
Gave you power, gave you life, gave you space so you can shine
Gave you everything you wanted
But none of that matters to you, oh-oh

This place (this place) is never what it seems
Take me out, L.A.
Take me out of L.A. (take me out, L.A.)
This place will be the end of me (oh, whoa-oh)
Take me out, L.A. (take me out of it)
Take me out of L.A., yeah

Whoa, no, oh, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, ooh-whoa
Oh-ah, no, no, no, no, whoa-whoa
Oh, no, oh

She pulled up to the studio
Nobody's watching
She closed the door and then she locked it
For me, for me
We had sex in the studio
Nobody walked in
I cut my verse and then she popped it
For me, for me

L.A. girls all look the same
I can't recognize
The same work done on their face
I don't criticize
She a cold-hearted b**ch with no shame
But her throat too fire ...."

The Weeknd

Take Me Back to L.A.

In the song above he wants to get the hell out of L.A. but in this one he wants to go back. That seems to be how a lot of people feel about L.A. This song is from the Weeknd's sixth studio album "Hurry Up Tomorrow" released in 2025, but he has been singing versions of it since 2020. The first part is about Los Angeles, but the second part is about a place with snow which is probably Canada, where he grew up.

"Take me back to L.A.
Where the sun would kiss on my face
Now the sunshine tracks my skin
I stayed too long
Take me back to a time
When my blood never tasted like wine
My love could fill a sea
But now I can't even feel the breeze
And it hurts when I think about (Think about)
The nights we would always shout
My voice cracking when we scream
You scream, we scream
And I watched while you wiped your eyes (Wiped your eyes)
Then I learned to cover mine
And that's when I realized that
It's better when I'm by myself, yeah
By myself
Uh, by myself, yeah
Oh, it's better when I'm by myself

Take me back to a place
Where the snow would fall on my face
And I miss my city lights
I left too young
Take me back to a time
The trophies that I had would still shine
Now I have nothing real left
I want my soul
And it hurts when I think about (Think about)
The days I would tell myself
It's okay for me to scream
To scream, to scream
I put my hand over the fire ('Ver the fire)
And see if I can still cry (Can still cry)
And that's when I realize that
I hate it when I'm by myself
By myself (Oh)
By myself...."

Weezer

Beverly Hills

Weezer is a power pop/rock band from L.A. formed in 1992. This song is from their 2005 album, "Make Believe." Rivers Cuomo, the singer and songwriter, claims that it was not written to be sarcastic, that's just how it was received. Like everyone else but him, I like to see it as biting social satire.

"Where I come from isn't all that great
My automobile is a piece of crap
My fashion sense is a little whack
And my friends are just as screwy as me

I didn't go to boarding schools
Preppy girls never looked at me
Why should they, I ain't nobody
Got nothing in my pocket

Beverly Hills... That's where I want to be! (gimme, gimme)
Living in Beverly Hills...
Beverly Hills... Rolling like a celebrity! (gimme, gimme)
Living in Beverly Hills... Look at all those movie stars
They're all so beautiful and clean
When the housemaids scrub the floors
They get the spaces in between

I wanna live a life like that
I wanna be just like a king
Take my picture by the pool
Cause I'm the next big thing

Beverly Hills... That's where I want to be! (gimme gimme)(gimme gimme)
Living in Beverly Hills...
Beverly Hills... Rolling like a celebrity! (gimme gimme)(gimme gimme)
Living in Beverly Hills…"

Weezer

California Kids

This is from Weezer's 2016 album titled The White Album.

"When you wake up
Cobwebs on your eyelids
Stuck in rigor mortis
Just get going
Til you hit the ocean
And you turn Californian

You don't have to
Have the answers
Don't you worry
Don't you worry

It's gonna be alright
If you're on a sinking ship
The California kids
Will throw you a lifeline
And if you're up all night
Thinking about some thing you did
The California kids
Will show you the sunshine

In your bare feet
In mid-January
Swimming in the mystery

You don't have to
Have the answers
Don't you worry
Don't you worry

All your old friends
Chilling back in Boston
You never forgot them

It's gonna be alright
If you're on a sinking ship
The California kids
Will throw you a lifeline
And if you're up all night
Thinking about some thing you did
The California kids
Will show you the sunshine
The California kids
Will show you the starlight"

Weezer

California Snow

This song plays over the credits to the movie "Spell" which was released in 2018 and it also appears on "The Black Album" released in 2019.

"Walk soft with a big stick
When I play guitar it’s sick
This is the definition of flow
Nobody cold as this

California snow Never let me go
California snow Never let me go
Cuz I’m down
Yes I’m down if you’re down
California snow Never let me go

Back in 30 minutes
High as I can get it
Give me everything you got
I can move a mountain
Solve a thorny problem
Lava's gonna flow so hot
Never worry bout tomorrow
Cuz I’m Living for today
If you see a tear fall
Don’t worry bout me, ya’ll
This is what it’s like on top

California snow Never let me go
California snow Never let me go
Cuz I’m down
Yes I’m down if you’re down
California snow Never let me go

Never go against the family
All I ever had to do is sing
Never go against the family
When the root is strong the root is sweet
Did you ever get to be a child
Shake it up until it hurts
Panic attack, stay the hell back
It's me and you against the world

C’mon Judas give me a kiss
I can’t take no more of this
Don’t nobody look at me
Just nail me up by the wrists

California snow Never let me go
California snow Never let me go
Cuz I’m down
Yes I’m down if you’re down
California snow Never let me go"

Weezer

This is from The White Album, released in 2016. For some crazy reason the singer thinks you can get to Puerto Rico by driving the 101 into Ventura.

"Girl, we got a good thing
You know where this is heading (uh-huh)
Just a couple lovebirds
Happy to be singing (uh-huh)
Girl, we got a good thing
And I don't see this ending
Do you want to fly? Do you want to flee?
Do you want to get away with me?
Do you want to face the great unknown?

Jingle, jingle
We're as happy as a couple Hare Krishnas
Dancing, twirling, playing on the tambourine
We'll crush the scene together
Marching onward
Oblivious to all the hate around us
We could self-publish a book of our philosophy
And hand it to the tourists

Girl, we got a good thing
You know where this is heading (uh-huh)
Just a couple lovebirds
Happy to be singing (uh-huh)
Girl, we got a good thing
And I don't see this ending
Do you want to fly? Do you want to flee?
Do you want to get away with me?
Do you want to face the great unknown?

Puerto Rico
Would be perfect for a destination wedding
We'll drive into Ventura on the 101
It sounds like fun, to me
You scare me like an open window
Let's chalk it up to Stockholm syndrome
I want to crawl in, crawl into a hole

Girl, we got a good thing
You know where this is heading (uh-huh)
Just a couple lovebirds
Happy to be singing (uh-huh)
Girl, we got a good thing
And I don't see this ending
Do you want to fly? Do you want to flee?
Do you want to get away with me?
Do you want to face the great unknown?"

Weezer

Hash Pipe

There are lots of different versions of the lyrics for this song online. For example, "Down on Santa Monica" (Blvd.) - a street notorious for its trick-turning prostitutes - I think the lyrics should read "tricks aren't for kids, while most lyrics show "tricks are for kids" because that's how the Tricks Cereal slogan goes. Either way, this is another bone-crunching guitar rock gem from "Weezer" aka "The Green Album" released in 2001.

" I can't help my feelings
I'll go out of my mind
These playas out to get me
'Cause they'd like my behind
I can't love my business
If I can't get a trick
Down on Santa Monica where tricks aren't for kids

C'mon and kick me
C'mon and kick me
C'mon and kick mee
You got your problems
I got my eyes wide
You got your big G's
I got my hash pipe

I can't help my boogies
They get out of control
I know that you don't care
But I want you to know
The least likely flavor is a favorite treat
Of men that don't bother with the taste of a teat"

Weezer

L.A. Girlz

In this song from the band's excellent 2016 album called The White Album, erudite singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo quotes Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky and makes reference to Dante's dedication to Beatrice in The Inferno along with lifeguard towers on Santa Monica Beach. Who cares what it means. It rocks.

Chorus:
"L.A. girls, please act your age
You treat me like I have the plague
It's the Gyre and Gimble in the wabe
L.A. girls, please act your age
Sweeten up your lemonade
And meet me down at tower twenty-eight

I think I'm in whiplash
I'm losing it mixing ammonia and bleach
I get off at Pico and sell my possessions
So you will know just how I feel
I love your long hair
But you just don't care
So please help me fathom this
World without music
And by the way, when can we talk?

(Chorus)

So would you mind if I was pregnant?
I'll sleep on the edge of your bed
Like Dante and Beatrice
We'll light up our candles
But how is this going to end?
The kids are asleep
We're haunting their dreams
And some women swear it's more painful than labor
To die with your sins on your head

Does anybody love anybody as much as I love you, baby?...."

Weezer

Precious Metal Girl

This acoustic guitar-based song is from the album "Van Weezer" released in 2021. If the singer's precious metal girl looks like she could be in the L.A. glam metal band Faster Pussycat, that's a little strange because they're all guys. But if she looks like one of the woman in the 1965 Russ Meyer movie "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" that's alarming because those women were scary! The L.A. Guns are another glam metal band from L.A. The Rainbow Room is a bar and restaurant on the Sunset Strip popular with the rock crowd including Lemmy of Motorhead who was immortalized there with a statue after he died.

"I don't invest in stocks
I don't invest in bonds
Who needs real estate when I got you?
You're my platinum blonde
With your spandex on
My pot of gold at the Rainbow Room

When the neon lights stop shining
I see you like a silver lining

You're my precious metal girl
My best friend in the world
Look like you could've been in Faster Pussycat
In your leather jacket
With the patches on the back
You're my precious metal girl

All the kings and queens
When they explored the seas
They were searching for a gem like you
Their battles lost and won
With the L.A. Guns
For the Aqua Net in your hairdo

When the neon lights stop shining
I see you like a silver lining

You're my precious metal girl
My best friend in the world
Look like you could've been in Faster Pussycat
In your leather jacket
With the patches on the back
You're my precious metal girl

I don't need to mind
As long as you're mine
The sun sets on Sunset but you still shine
You still shine, 'cause

You're my precious metal girl...."

Weezer

Thank God for Girls

This is another weird song from Weezer, released in 2015 and featured on 2016's Weezer (The White Album.) I have no idea why the singer doesn't thank God for girls from east of Tennessee, and I don't know why he's fixated on cannoli and sweaty girls in overalls.

"The girl in the pastry shop with the net in her hair
Is making a cannoli for you to take on your hiking trip
In the woods with your bros
That you’ve known since second grade
And you may encounter dragons or ruffians and be called upon
To employ your testosterone
In a battle for supremacy
And access to females glued to the TV
And even if you are victorious
You may receive many cuts, bruises, and scrapes
And you will require band aids and antiseptic ointments
And tender loving kisses on your stab wounds
And when you come home
She will be there waiting for you with a fire in her eyes
And a big fat cannoli to shove in your mouth
And that's why you

Thank God for girls
Holla Jesu Christe
From Tennessee to L.A.
Thank God for girls
On your reckoning day
You better bow down and pray

She’s so big
She’s so strong
She’s so energetic in her sweaty overalls
Thank God for girls

I'm so glad I got a girl to think of even though she isn't mine
I think about her all the day and all the night
It's enough to know that she's alive
She says I give her sweaty palms
She almost had a heart attack
The truth is that I’m just as scared I don’t know how to act
I wish that I could get to know her better
But meeting up in real life would cause the illusion to shatter
I carved her name into all the trees
Sang a song down on one knee
Looking at the underwear page of the Sears catalog
Like when I was 14
I’m levitating like a magnet turned the wrong way around
I’m like an Indian Fakir tryna’ meditate on a bed of nails with my pants pulled down

Thank God for girls
Holla Jesu Christe
From Tennessee to L.A.
Thank God for girls
On your reckoning day
You better bow down and pray...."

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies

"Weird Al" Yankovic is Alfred Matthew Yankovic, a musician from southern California, known for his funny novelty and parody songs and videos. On this song from the album "UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack And Other Stuff" released in 1989, he sings the lyrics to the Beverly Hillbillies TV show theme from 1962 to the melody to the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" which was a #1 hit in 1985. If the guitar on Weird Al's version sounds like the original it's because it's played by Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler. It's also nice how "Weird Al" sings the ending "Beverly, Beverly, Beverly Hillbillies" in the same way Sting sings "I want my MTV" on the original, which is itself a parody of his 1980 hit song with The Police - "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

"Huh, now lookie here people
Listen to my story
A little story 'bout a man named Jed
You know something?
That poor mountaineer
They say he barely kept his family fed

Now, let me tell you
One day he was shootin'
Old Jed was shootin' at some food
When all of a sudden right up from the ground, there
Well, there came a bubblin' crude

Oil that is Well, maybe you call it black gold or Texas tea
He gonna move next to Mr. Drysdale And be a Beverly hillbilly

Before you know it, all the kinfolk are-a-sayin'
Yeah, buddy, move away from there
That little Clampett got his own cement pond
That little Clampett, he's a millionaire

Now, everyone said Californie
Is the place that you oughta be
We got to load up this here truck now
We got to move to Beverly
Hills, that is

Swimming pools
Move-a-move-a-movie stars
Huh
Lookit that, lookit that

Beverly Beverly Beverly hillbillies
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Beverly Beverly Beverly hillbillies
Beverly Beverly Beverly hillbillies
Beverly Beverly Beverly hillbillies"

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Skipper Dan

This is from Weird Al's 13th studio album with the great name "Alpocalypse," released in 2011. It's a parody of Weezer, though not any particular song I can determine, which is weird for Weird Al. It's about people whose career ended up being less than their original aspirations and most of us can relate to that. I should have been an astronaut by now. If you don't know, the Jungle Cruise is at Disneyland in Anaheim, though there's no mention of that, probably to avoid a lawsuit. It was one of my favorite rides there as a boy. According to the comments on IMDB's page for the 2021 Disney movie "Jungle Cruise" based on the ride, some former Jungle Cruise skippers managed to move on to a better acting career, including two Oscar-winners - actor-director Kevin Costner and voice actor-producer-director John Lasseter.

"I starred in every high school play
Blew every drama teacher away
I graduated first in my class at Juilliard
Took every acting workshop I could
And I dreamed of Hollywood
While I read my Uta Hagen and studied the Bard

Hit the boards and paid my dues
And got phenomenal rave reviews
I knew the world was gonna love me, without a doubt
I was sure that Tarantino would be callin' me on the phone
Annie Leibovitz would shoot me for Rolling Stone
But the years have come and gone
And I'm sorry to say that's not the way that it's all worked out

I'm a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride
Skipper Dan is the name
And I'm doin' 34 shows every day
And every time it's the same
Look at those hippos, they're wigglin' their ears
Just like they've done for the last 50 years
Now I'm laughin' at my own jokes but I'm cryin' inside
Cause I'm workin' on the Jungle Cruise ride

Oh, the critics, they used to say
I was the new Olivier
Thought I'd be the toast of Sundance or maybe Cannes
Aw, but don't bother tryin' to IMDB me
The only place you might possibly see me
Is ridin' my little boat around Adventureland
It ain't exactly what I planned

But I'm a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride
Skipper Dan is the name
And I'm doin 34 shows every day
And every time it's the same
I would've killed if I'd been in "Speed The Plow"
But what's the difference, that's all behind me now
Cause I'm payin' the rent and I'm swallowin' my pride
And I'm workin' on the Jungle Cruise ride

I should be there on Broadway
Knockin' 'em dead in "12 Angry Men"
But instead I'm here tellin' these lame jokes
Again and again and again and again and again and again and again

Bengal Tigers can jump over 20 feet!
That's an African bull elephant
And there it is, the backside of water!
What have I done with my life?!

I should've listened when my grandfather said
'Why don't you major in business instead?'
Now my hopes have all vanished and my dreams have all died
And I'll probably work forever as a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride
Skipper Dan is the name
And I'm doin' 34 shows every day
And every time it's the same
Look at those hippos, they're wigglin' their ears
Somebody shoot me cause I'm bored to tears
Always said I'd be famous... I guess that I lied
Cause I'm workin' on the Jungle Cruise ride
I'm still workin' on the Jungle Cruise ride"

Gillian Welch

The Way It Goes

Gillian Welch is a singer-songwriter born in New York, raised in Los Angeles, and based in Nashville. This song is from "The Harrow & The Harvest" released in 2011. The Musso & Frank Grill has been an institution on Hollywood Boulevard since 1919, but I don't know if they are the Musso and the Frank who are mentioned in the lyrics or if she just liked the names.

"Becky Johnson bought the farm
Put a needle in her arm
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

And her brother laid her down
In the cold Kentucky ground
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

That's the way that it goes
Everybody's buying little baby clothes
That's the way that it ends
Though there was a time when she and I were friends

Well, Miranda ran away
Took her cat and left L.A.
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

She was busted, broke and flat
Had to sell that pussy cat
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

That's the way that it goes
Everybody's buying little baby clothes
That's the way that it ends
Though there was a time when he and I were friends

See the brightest ones of all
Early in October fall
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

While the dark ones go to bed
With good whiskey in their head
That's the way that it goes
That's the way

Now Billy Joe's back in the tank
You tell Musso, I'll tell Frank
That's the way that it goes
That's the way...."

The Welcome Matt

In San Francisco (Wake Me Up)

The Welcome Matt is a band based in San Francisco fronted by Matt Langlois, a longtime San Francisco transplant originally from New England. Maybe that's why he calls I-5 (or the 5) "route 5." That's not a California thing. This song is from the band's album "The Panhandle Years" released in 2012.

"Wake me up in San Francisco!
Wake me up in San Francisco
That's the place where I belong
Open my eyes and let's start talking
We'll preach to the choir before dawn

Driving in over the Bay Bridge
Up Route 5 from Los Angeles
Down 101 to the Golden Gate
Into SFO on a big jet plane
I'm feeling safe now that I'm home
I'm feeling safe now that I'm home

Wake me up in San Francisco
That's the place where I belong
Open my eyes and let's start talking
We'll preach to the choir before dawn

When the fog rolls over the ocean
We'll catch a cab to a North Beach bar
We'll crawl our way back to the Mission
And to the kitchen table to discuss it all
One more night to work our way toward God
One more night to work our way toward God

Wake me up in San Francisco
That's the place where I belong
Open my eyes and let's start talking
We'll preach to the choir before dawn

Wake me up in San Francisco
That's the place where I belong
Open my eyes and let's start talking
We'll preach to the choir before dawn

Going home
Going home
Everywhere is my home
But those steep hills
They will roll me
Roll me around...."

The Welcome Wagon

Isaiah, California

The Welcome Wagon is a Gospel Indie pop band from Brooklyn, NY active since 2001, made up of a Presbyterian minister and his wife. This lovely folky song is from their album "Esther" reIeased in 2022. According to Google, the two Italian phrases in the lyrics translate like this: sei una gioia - you are a joy; siamo amati - we are loved. Isaiah is a book in the Bible written by the prophet Isaiah, but I don't know what he has to do with California. To further the Sunday School feeling, the song opens with a recording of a woman reading from the Bible - Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

"Over your shoulder, fire
And the setting sun
I could hear you sing
When you can’t see the stars
It doesn’t mean they’re gone
It doesn’t mean a thing

In the morning, by the fire, we’re going home
You’re an arrow, sei una gioia, you’re the sun
California, siamo amati, a summer home

You threw my golden promise
Off the balcony
It doesn’t mean a thing
When you can’t see the stars
It doesn’t mean they’re gone
It doesn’t mean a thing

In the morning, by the fire, we’re going home
You’re an arrow, sei una gioia, you’re the sun
California, siamo amati, a summer home"

Emily Wells

Take it Easy, San Francisco

Emily Wells is an American musician from Amarillo and Indianapolis. She plays violin and lots of other instruments including sampling synthesizers and mostly produces, records, and performs her albums on her own. I have heard two versions of this song. One is a very minimal acoustic version from her 2013 album Mama Acoustic Recordings. The other is a longer version with more instrumentation and a more rhythmic feel that comes from her 2016 album Promise, to which I have provided a link. I couldn't find the minimal version anymore.

"Her mouth, it was moving
But no sound was coming out
And your back, it was turning
Around

And we were always dreaming of the day that would never come
Los Angeles
I'm burning up for you
Hangin' out the window, holding on to an afternoon

She knew how to teach them boys to fight
And we were always yelling at the night,
Who would never come
Was it desire?
You and I were never one.

Los Angeles
I'm burning up for you
When you would walk down the streets and you say goodbye
All along the river tonight."

Emily Wells

This is from her 2016 album Promise. It's very minimally arranged with just a reggae rhythm plucked on a violin, her voice, and voice overdubs. And it doesn't even mention San Francisco except in the title, and maybe in the words "gloomy afternoon" which accurately describes a lot of summer days in the city.

"Tell me what you've done to me
Can we please take it easy
It be so lovely like a gloomy afternoon
To just take it easy with you

Where do you go with your wiles and your woes
Can we please take it slow

Can we please take it easy
Can we please take it easy

Half of heart break is knowing the ropes
But a tight walker's toes are well worth the show
I got a dime for every song that jives and
wouldn't you know that I'm half broke?

Can we please take it easy
Can we please take it easy

Don't stop talking to me
When we whisper something sweet
And we're riding home, riding home in the evening
And I'm falling asleep

Don't stop talking to me
Don't stop talking to me...."
...
Don't I have it pretty little darling
Don't I have it made
Don't I have it pretty little darling
Don't I have it made"

Kanye West (featuring Kendrick Lamar)

No More Parties In L.A.

Kanye married a Kardashian and lives near L.A., so I'll bet he still has to go to parties in L.A. This is basically a couple of rich and famous L.A. rappers complaining about all the fake rich and famous people in L.A. It's from The Life of Pablo (2016.)

"La di da di da, da
I like this flavor
La di da di da, la
Let me tell you
I'm out here from a very far away place
All for a chance to be a star
Nowhere seems to be too far

No more parties in L.A.
Please, baby, no more parties in L.A., uh
No more parties in L.A.
Please, baby, no more parties in L.A., uh
No more (Los Angeles)
Please (shake that body, party that bod-)
Please (shake that body, party that body)
Please (shake that body, party that body)

Hey baby you forgot your Ray Bans
And my sheets still orange from your spray tan
It was more than soft porn for the K-man
She remember my Sprinter, said "I was in the grape van"
Uhm, well cutie, I like your bougie booty
Come Erykah Badu me, well, let's make a movie
Hell, you know my repertoire is like a wrestler
I show you the ropes, connect the dots
A country girl that love Hollywood
Mama used to cook red beans and rice
Now it's Denny's, 4 in the morning, spoil your appetite
Liquor pouring and n***as swarming your section with erection
Smoke in every direction, middle finger pedestrians
R&B singers and lesbians, rappers and managers
Music and iPhone cameras
This s**t unanimous for you, it's damaging for you, one thing
That pussy should only be holding exclusive rights to me, I mean
He flew you in this motherf***er on first class
Even went out his way so you could check in an extra bag
Now you wanna divide the yam like it equate the math?
That s**t don't add up, you're making them mad as f**k
She said she came out here to find an A-list rapper
I said baby, spin that round and say the alphabet backwards
You're dealing with malpractice, don't kill a good n***a confidence
Just cause he a nerd and you don't know what a condom is
The head still good though, the head still good though
Ladies say "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo"
Make a ni**a say big words and act lyrical
Make me get spiritual
Make me believe in miracles, Buddhist monks and Cap'n Crunch cereal
Lord have mercy, thou will not hurt me
Five buddies all herded up on a Thursday
Bottle service, head service, I came in first place
The opportunity, the proper top of breast and booty cheek
The pop community, I mean these b**ches come with union fee
And I want two of these, moving units through consumer streets
Then my shoe released, she was kicking in gratuity
And yeah G, I was all for it
She said K Lamar, you kind of dumb to be a poet
I'mma put you on game for the lames that don't know they're a rookie
Instagram is the best way to promote some pussy

Scary
Scary
No more parties in L.A.
Please, baby, no more parties in L.A."

Weyes Blood

Grapevine

Weyes Blood is Natalie Mering, a singer-songwriter born in California and raised in Pennsylvania, active since 2003. This slow and spacey song is from her album "And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow" released in 2022.

The Grapevine is a steep, windy, six-mile stretch of the I-5 freeway in the mountains north of Los Angeles between the San Joaquin Valley and Fort Tejon, on the main route between SoCal and the Bay Area. It was named after the thickets of wild grapevines that filled the pass when it was discovered in the 1700s. (Often the entire 40-mile stretch of I-5 from the valley through the mountains to Castaic is also called The Grapevine.)

"If a man can't see his shadow
He can block your sun all day
He can make you small
He has the power to take his love away
Six hours on the Grapevine
And I feel kidnapped this time
Cause my baby thinks
He always believes
That he's always right
But I still think of him at night

And ooh, you know I would
Go back to the camp
With the kerosene lamps in the woods
Ooh when you were mine
And I was yours for a time

On the Grapevine
On the Grapevine

California's my body
And your fire runs over me
My car broke down
In an old ghost town right around
Where they got James Dean
Emotional cowboy
With no hat and no boots
He stayed up all night
Trying to beat up the moon

And ooh, you know I would
Go back to the camp
With the kerosene lamps in the woods
Ooh when you were mine
And I was yours for a time

On the Grapevine
On the Grapevine

Don't know when I'm gonna see you boy
Oh I've been waiting for the time
When I see the light shining across
The freeway late at night
Start to drift over the land
And it hits me for the first time
Now we're just two cars passing by
On the Grapevine
Ooh

On the Grapevine
On the Grapevine"

whatever mike

Whatever mike was formerly known as Michael Blume, a musical artist from New Jersey. This song is from the EP "Word to the Trees" released in 2023.

The APA agency site says this about whatever mike:

"Whatever Mike’s upcoming project, word to the trees, is a celebration of being and a meditation on oneness. The project is a wake up call to live now. To be whatever we are – all the things we are – and we are everything – now. word to the trees laments humanity’s devastation of the planet, while holding space for the possibility of new beauty and healing.... Mike spent the pandemic writing word to the trees in the Yucca Valley desert. During this time, they became a dedicated meditator and had a series of spiritual awakenings that led them to come out as a trans person and write word to the trees. This is their first release as an independent artist."

"One day you wake up and you’re where you are
You’re not sure how you got there cuz it feels so far
From what you imagined
What you imagined

Everything is good enough play along
The emptiness but there is nothing wrong
You start to imagine
It’s what you imagined

I was afraid to run
I let myself get stuck
I told myself a lie
That I was making up:
You gotta find the light
You gotta fertilize
And you need the pain
So you can see the prize
Couldn’t crack the code
So I let it go
Don’t know who was right
The one and only thing I know
is on the day I die
I don’t wanna look back and cry

I didn’t wanna go to California
Didn’t wanna leave it all behind
Every conversation was a warning
And I could hear it louder every time
Screaming I should go to California
Telling me to leave it all behind
I didn’t wanna be a disappointment
But nothing ever felt like it was mine

Nothing really matters if it never ends
You’re never gonna break it if you never bend
to what you imagine
What you imagine

You gotta find the light
You gotta fertilize
And you need the pain
So you can see the prize
But on the day I die
I don’t wanna look back and cry

I didn’t wanna go to California
Didn’t wanna leave it all behind
Every conversation was a warning
And I could hear it louder every time
Screaming I should go to California
Telling me to leave it all behind
I didn’t wanna be a disappointment
But nothing ever felt like it was mine

I love you but I need to go somewhere better now
Better now"

White 2115

White 2115 is a hip hop artist from Poland, born in 1996. This is from the album "Rockstar" released in 2018. He's obviously very popular in Poland as this video has more than 130 million views. He mentions American Pie but is it the song or the movies?
Below is a translation of the Polish lyrics. You can see both the Polish and English lyrics here.
A video of a live performance of the song was posted in 2024.

"So let that work go
Let's fire up a cigarette
And may the bottle be bottomless
There will be a sunset with me
And... California

I love how the days are getting long
And it's fu**in' dry air
And everyone have to drink with me
Like girls, waking up to
Go somewhere near weather, hey
Drive a car
F**k the GPS, bro

Ey, heyheyhey, box full of energy drinks, I'm drivin' 160 through the city
Heyheyhey, f**k these fines
I do't pay them, they'll send a picture in a month
On the radio Guns N' Roses
Wind in sunroof
I'm driving for California, 'cause there will be an American Pie today
I want to go good like I was on a cruise ship
F**k these things
The memories are forever, I know that

So let that work go
Let's fire up a cigarette
And may the bottle be bottomless
There will be a sunset with me
And... California
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And... California
Hey, hey, hey, hey

I'm having that fast food
They say Latino, that's sick
I just want more wine
Better they don't see what's happening
I like soft bed
Jim Beam, no Ciroc, Moet
And f**k that sl*t, bro
I'm gonna bring you more

Spending the money
And I'm not even sorry
My health decreases because I smoke
And I'm not even sorry, ey
I drank my watch
And I'm not even sorry, ey
I drunk what I had
And guess f**king what

So let that work go
Let's fire up a cigarette
And may the bottle be bottomless
There will be a sunset with me
And... California
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And... California
Hey, hey, hey, hey
I see sun on water, five seconds more, bro

Because I haven't grown up yet
I want to drink beer on the beach
I hope this doesn't end like American pie
I hope this doesn't end like American pie
I hope this doesn't end like American pie
I hope this doesn't end like American pie"

Brooke White

I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen

Brooke White is a folk-pop singer-songwriter, actress, and former American Idol contestant from Arizona (where they put Christmas decorations on cactus instead of palm trees), active since 2005. This is from her album "White Christmas" released in 2012.

"Christmas in California, where the seasons don't change and the days stay warm
The nights are cold enough to wear a sweater
Some say it don't seem right to wake up to Christmas not covered in white
Well, I've only seen that dream in a picture on a postcard

Well, it might not be what I had planned
Just making angels in the sand

Christmas in California
Though it's not home, gotta make it my own
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come
Christmas in California
Miss my family, but it's where I'm meant to be
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come

Palm trees wrapped up in lights
You can seen off in the distance from the 405
Now the stores are closed, it's looking like a ghost town

Well, it might not be what I had planned
Just making angels in the sand

Christmas in California
Though it's not home, gotta make it my own
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come
Christmas in California
Miss my family, but it's where I'm supposed to be
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come

(Fa la la, fa la la, fa la la...)

Christmas in California
It's not home, gonna make it my own
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come
Christmas in California
Miss my family, but it's where I'm supposed to be
Just sitting in the sun, waiting for next year to come

Christmas...."

Brooke White

California Song

This is an upbeat country song from the album "High Hopes and Heartbreak" released in 2009. It's about how everybody belongs in a California song because everybody there lives like they are living in the movies. From what I remember of the great recession of 2009, many of us were living like extras in the Mad Max movies.

"America sang me all the way across Ventura Highway
I was chasing the sun, just chasing the sun
Walking up the boulevard, looking down and counting stars
Singing Ladies of the Canyon.

Now freeway's frozen and the traffic's jammed
But I feel like I'm living in the movies, look at me

Hey, everybody has their song, everybody sing along
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Hey, don't worry if you get it wrong
Don't you know that you still belong
Na, na, na, na, na, na, in a California song

The weather on the Golden Gate
And the sun sets on the Palisades
And the Beach Boys are looking at me
And I'm bought in to that perfect scene
That The Mamas And The Papas sing
I was dreaming, I was dreaming

And it's so funny how everybody lives
Like they are living in the movies like they're so cool"

Tony Joe White

California On My Mind

Tony Joe White was a "swamp rock" singer-songwriter from Louisiana, active from 1967-2018, and best known for his 1969 song "Polk Salad Annie" and for writing the 1970 Brook Benton hit "Rainy Night in Georgia." This easy listener is from his album "Home Made Ice Cream" released in 1973.

"I sit here by my window pane and all I see is the falling rain
And I can feel the blues coming down on me
If only wishing worked for me
There's a place I'd like to be
But my wishes never do come true for me

California on my mind
I want to feel your warm sunshine

I know that it would set me free
Just to feel that ocean breeze
And I could hear a good song night or day
I would walk the country mile
To see a California smile
But these old dark clouds tell me it's so far away

California on my mind
I want to feel your warm sunshine

I guess I could go walking just the same
And make believe it's California rain
But it's not the same
And it's a sin

I guess I sit here in my room
And try to think of a happy tune
I watch a TV-show I've seen before
Oh, mister sun, you've let me down
The least you could do is come around
Would you please tell me what you are away for

California on my mind
I want to feel your warm sunshine
Today, hey hey hey
Oh yeah"

Whitney

No Woman

Whitney is an Indie Rock / Indie Folk band from Chicago that includes a couple members of the defunct band Smith Westerns. This song is from their 2016 debut album "Light Upon the Lake." There's a good article on bandcamp about the song, its creation during hard times and a brutal Chicago winter and dreams of going on the road and escaping to the sunny haze of a winter in L.A.

"I left drinking on the city train
To spend some time on the road
Then one morning I woke up in L.A.
Caught my breath on the coast
I've been going through a change
I might never be sure
I'm just walking in a haze
I'm not ready to turn

No woman
No woman

Midnight driving through the bay
Going back on the road
Coming up and I wish I could stay
I've been sleeping alone
I've been going through a change
I might never be sure
I'm just walking in a haze
I'm not ready to turn

No woman
No woman

I left drinking on the city train
To spend some time on the road"

Hailey Whitters

Everything She Ain't

Haily Whitters is a country music singer-songwriter from Iowa, active since 2015. This song is from her album "Raised" released in 2022. I had to look it up - Audrey Williams was a country music singer and the first wife of Hank Williams. She played in his band, helped manage his career, and was the inspiration for many of his hit songs.

"She ain't a peach you oughta be picking
She ain't the cup of tea you oughta be sipping
She treats you like you're broke, like you need fixing
You ain't getting nothing back for all that you're giving

If you're good with who you're kissing, c'est la vie
But I can show you what you're missing, yeah boy, I can be

The whiskey in your soda, the lime to your Corona
Shotgun of your Tacoma, the Audrey to your Hank
She's got a little style and a Hollywood smile
But believe me, honey, good as money in the bank
I'm everything she is, and everything she ain't

She sees diamonds, but I'm seeing stars
You should leave her on an island, dance with me in this bar
Honey, there's plenty of fish in the sea
But if you take a second look, you'll see there's only one of me

The whiskey in your soda, the lime to your Corona
Shotgun of your Tacoma, the Audrey to your Hank
She's got a little style and a Hollywood smile
But believe me, honey, good as money in the bank
I'm everything she is, and everything she ain't

She's all wrong for you
I'm just the girl next door you know is right as rain

The whiskey in your soda, the lime to your Corona
Shotgun of your Tacoma, the Audrey to your Hank
She's got a little style and a Hollywood smile
But believe me, honey, good as money in the bank
I'm everything she is, and everything she ain't
Yeah, I'm everything she is, and everything she ain't"

Kim Wilde

In Hollywood

Kim Wilde is a pop singer from England, active since 1980. This song is from her album "Love Moves" released in 1990. It starts with a voiceover delivering a news report about some scandalous celebrity divorces from that time - Mike Tyson and Robin Givens and Donald Trump and Ivana Trump.

"Divorce, law courts
Lawyers in their new sports car
Lots of money spent
The public making judgment

He said, she said
Analyze the news you've read
Irresistible, the updates unmissable
Fighting, uniting
The press are busy writing
They analyze the word called love
But what can they be thinking of?

They say that love means the same
All over the world
But I don't think so
Let me tell you something
I think you should know

Don't fall in love (in Hollywood)
It won't fell like you know it should (in Hollywood)
And you can bet it won't do you no good
It's just not understood

Scheming, screaming
This time you're gonna leave him
You want to get the message straight
Now people think you're on the take
Listen to me a CNN free therapy
Advice on how to live your life
There's something here that isn't right

They say that love means the same
All over the world
But I don't think so
Let me tell you something
I think you should know

Don't fall in love (in Hollywood)
It won't fell like you know it should (in Hollywood)
And you can bet it won't do you no good
It's just not understood

I said Don't fall in love (in Hollywood)
It won't fell like you know it should (in Hollywood)
An you can bet it won't do ya no good
It's just not understood...."

Wild Light

California On My Mind

Wild Light is a rock band formed in New Hampshire in 2005. This song is from their album "Adult Nights" released in 2009. Sounds like the guys had a lousy trip to the Bay Area.

"Give me a lake that I can dive into
Bury my head in the s**t at the bottom
F**k today, f**k San Francisco
F**k California

Give me a lake that I can dive into
Bury my head in the s**t at the bottom
F**k today, f**k San Francisco
F**k California
I realize I never gave you a chance
I realize I never gave you romance

At the top of the hill
At the top of the hill
Leave me to stream in the current or breeze

Give me a lake that I can dive into
Bury my head in the s**t at the bottom
F**k today, f**k Oakland
F**k California

At the top of the hill
At the top of the hill
Leave me to stream in the current or breeze
Leave me to stream in the current or breeze
Leave me to stream in the current or breeze"

Hank Williams

California Zephyr

Hank Williams was a singer-songwriter from Alabama, active from 1937 to 1952. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century even though his career was brief, ending when he was only 29. The California Zephyr is a train started its run from Chicago to near San Francisco in 1949. According to Wikipedia this song was recorded as a demo two years later in 1951 and released as a 78 in 1956. It can be found on the album "Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings, Disc 2." As far as I know the Zephyr never ran from L.A. to Santa Fe, so Williams is either confused or using poetic license.

"From the Great Salt Lakes of Utah to California's golden shore
Colorado and Nevada through the deserts burnin' door
While she's circlin' through the canyons, can't you see that mountain stream
It's the California Zephyr, the Union Pacific Queen

See her rockin' see her rollin' as she rambles on her way
She left L.A. this mornin' burnin' up the right of way
In the distance hear her moanin' hear her lonesome whistle scream
It's the California Zephyr, the Union Pacific Queen

She leaves the City of the Angels headin' for ole Santa Fe
She's a makin' knots she's makin' time just watch her swing and sway
And from way out in the darkness, see that headlight gleam
It's the California Zephyr, the Union Pacific Queen"

Lucinda Williams

Here in California

This is my favorite cover of the Kate Wolf song. It comes from a 1998 Kate Wolf tribute album.

Lucinda Williams

Ventura

Lucinda Williams is a singer & songwriter born in Louisiana. I've been a fan of hers since the 90s but I don't know how exactly to describe her music - she has won Grammy awards in the Country, Rock, and Folk categories. The singer of this song seems to live in L.A. and wants to drive north along the coast to Ventura to let the ocean purify herself of a mysterious hidden obsession.

"Decide I'm gonna make myself
A little something to eat
Get can down off the shelf
Maybe a little something sweet

Haven't spoken to no one
Haven't been in the mood
Pour some soup, get a spoon and
Stir it up real good

I go out with a friend
Maybe a little music might help
But I can't pretend
I wish I was somewhere else

I wanna watch the ocean bend
the edges of the sun then
I wanna get swallowed up in
An ocean of love

Put on my coat
Go out into the street
Get a lump in my throat
And look down at my feet

Take the long way home
So I can ride around
Put Neil Young on
And turn up the sound

Drive up the coastline
Maybe Ventura
Watch the waves make signs
Out on the water

I wanna watch the ocean bend
the edges of the sun then
I wanna get swallowed up in
An ocean of love

Stand in the shower
Clean this dirty mess
Give me back my power
And drown this unholiness

Lean over the toilet bowl
And throw up my confession
Cleanse my soul
Of this hidden obsession

I wanna watch the ocean bend
the edges of the sun then
I wanna get swallowed up in
An ocean of love...."

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams is an English singer, songwriter and actor formerly with the pop group Take That. He was at one time the best-selling British solo artist in the UK and may still be for all I know. This dramatic Hollywood celebrity name-dropping pop song is from his 2001 album, "Swing When You're Winning."

"I wouldn't be so alone
If they knew my name in every home
Kevin Spacey would call on the phone
But I'd be too busy
Come back to the old five and dime
Cameron Diaz give me a sign
I'd make you smile all the time
Your conversation would compliment mine

I will talk and Hollywood will listen
See them bow at my every word
Mr Spielberg look just what you're missing
Doesn't that seem a little absurd
Bow at my every word

Buy up the rights to my book
Live on a ranch from what the box office took
I'll go and visit the set
They'll call me their saviour
All the peoples will scorn celebrity
Lives on the moon
But, I'll be back home in June
To promote the sequel

I will talk and Hollywood will listen
See them bow at my every word
Mr. Spielberg look just what you're missing
Doesn't that seem a little absurd
Bow at my every word"

Derek Yates Williamson

Morro Bay

Derek Yates Williamson is a singer-songwriter from Newcastle, UK. This is from his debut album "Ghost" released in 2020. He says on his website that his music was inspired "...by heroes such as Sam Cooke, Jackson Brown, Dawes, Otis Redding, James Taylor, Ry Cooder, Free, Foy Vance & Jason Isbell...." I wonder if his drunken ass is going to wind up in the city of Morro Bay, or in the water.

"Gonna drink with the Mexicans
Watch soccer on TV
Cross the neon bar of La Cita
That red tiled corridor
Let us out into the light
To watch the sunset and drink Tequila

Gonna make sure I get wasted
Gonna make sure I get high
As high as angels fly
Haul my drunken ass downtown
Drink craft with the hipsters
And see where I end up tonight

Took a ride in the fast lane
I'm a shooting star today
Tomorrow I'll be searching
Searching for a place to stay
Before I find I've gone too far
Before I lose my way
Maybe I'll wind up in Morro Bay
Maybe I'll wind up in Morro Bay

Took a ride in the fast lane
I'm a shooting star today
Tomorrow I'll be searching
Searching for a place to stay
Before I find I've gone too far
Before I lose my way
Maybe I'll wind up in Morro Bay
Maybe I'll wind up in Morro Bay
Maybe I'll wind up in Morro Bay"

Jess Williamson

Chasing Spirits

Jess Williamson is a country music singer-songwriter from Texas, based in Los Angeles, active since 2011. This is from her sixth stuio album "Time Ain't Accidental" released in 2023.

"Are my love songs lies now that the love is gone?
There's the one about forever
And loving you in a past life or whatever
The difference between us
Is when I sing it, I really mean it
But I guess I wasn't listening
'Cause you always had the same questions

You've been chasing spirits
And staying up all night
You said if you don't rein it in
You're shaving ten years off your life

I tried to come to you, but you didn't like the way I asked
But there's nothing in L.A. for me
Just a lonely singer at the beach
I could start a garden with the landlord
Something good and simple
And worth staying in town for
I was pulling cards while you jumped the cattle guard
They say lovin's hard

You've been chasing spirits
And I'm still chasing them lights
Now, who is a bigger mystic?
And who's winning a bar fight?"

Gretchen Wilson

I'm Always Drunk in San Francisco (And I Don't Drink at All)

Gretchen Wilson is a country music artist from Illinois. In this 2005 Country reply to the Beach Boys, Gretchen is another hater of the unreal image of women depicted by Hollywood. Those skinny little girls don't even eat fried chicken! The horror!

"I ain't never had a problem with California
There's a lot of good women from Sacramento to Corona
But them Hollywood types after a while wear on ya
Struttin' around in their size zeros
Skinny little girls no meat on their bones
Never even heard of George Jones

Ain't you glad we ain't all California girls
Ain't you glad there's still a few of us left.
That know how to rock your world
Ain't afraid to eat fried chicken and dirty dance to Merle
Ain't you glad we ain't all California girls"

Nancy Wilson

Nancy Wilson is a Grammy-winning American song stylist originally from Ohio. This brassy nightclub jazz ballad is from her 1968 album "Welcome to My Love." It was originally recorded by Cannonball Adderley and Ernie Andrews in 1964. It was also recorded by Carmen McRae in 1967. San Quinn, Tuf Luv and B-Legit made a rap song in 2012 that uses a sample from this song for the hook.

"I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I always stay out of my mind
But if you been to San Francisco
They say that things like this go on all the time

It never happens nowhere else
Maybe it's the air
Can't really seem to help myself
And what's more I don't care

I'm always drunk in San Francisco
I'm never feeling any pain
But tell me why does San Francisco
Just like a lover's kiss goes, straight to my brain

I guess it's just the mood I'm in
That acts like alcohol
Because I'm drunk in San Francisco
And I don't drink at all."

The Wind And The Wave

It’s A Longer Road To California Than I Thought

The Wind and the Wave is a band from Austin, Texas. I'm not sure what genre this is, but I'll call it alt-country because of the mandolins. Whatever it is, the band is great. It's from their first album "From the Wreckage" released in 2014. I know that road from Austin to California. It's a long haul.

"It's a longer road to California than I thought and
I miss smoking pot and playing guitar
It's a lonely drive when you won't say a word
I guess our love is just a bird learning to fly

Oo Oh I wanna know what you're gonna say
Oo know where this road is gonna take us
Blue skies and the moon out in the
Distance and a sunset few and far behind

There's a winding path between the highway and the coast
Where we lost what mattered most, it dissipated in the sun
And we were lovers blinded by the rolling yellow hills
Yeah you know I love you still, I'm infatuated

I wanna know what you're gonna say
Looking at you, I just wanna know what you're gonna say

I wanna know what you're gonna say
Looking at you, I just wanna know what you're gonna say

Oo Oh I wanna know what you're gonna say
Oo know where this road is gonna take us
Blue skies and the moon out in the distance
And a sunset few and far behind...."

Winnetka Bowling League

On The 5

Winnetka Bowling League is an indie rock band formed in Los Angeles. This song is from their first EP "Winnetka Bowling League" released in 2018. Winnetka, I just learned, is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley where there is indeed a bowling league that one of the band members belongs to. "The 5" is Interstate 5, a freeway that extends from Mexico through California, Oregon, and Washington, to Canada. And the other way around if. It's a main route between Los Angeles and San Francisco and it must be the route the singer drove. You can tell he's from L.A. because people from SoCal say "The 5" while people from NorCal just say "5" or "I-5". That's because freeways were invented in the south where they were known by their long name - The Hollywood Freeway, The Santa Monica Freeway etc. (and they still are) and the "the" stuck around for the ride when they were eventually given a number. Unfortunately, the singer tries to rhyme "orange" with "homage" to prove it can be done.... It can't.

"Certain songs and certain places
Remind me of certain faces
You come up whether I want you to or not
From the state of California
To the Converse in the foyer
I think, maybe I'm not done with us

I wanna go back to that summer in San Fran
Listen to nothing but Revolver and Pet Sounds
You riding shotty in my '92 Subaru
And roll the windows down

I still feel you
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you

To my darling dandelion
Blown away, but somehow mine
Then you travel with the wish I set to you
And when your 5 PM's turn orange
Know the skies are paying homage
To the way I'll always think of you

I wanna go back to that summer in San Fran
Listen to nothing but Revolver and Pet Sounds
You riding shotty in my '92 Subaru
And roll the windows down

I still feel you
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you
'Cause in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you

I wanna go back to that summer in San Fran
Listen to nothing but Revolver and Pet Sounds
You riding shotty in my '92 Subaru
And roll the windows down

I still feel you
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
With you
In my mind, I'm still on the 5
In my mind, I'm still on the 5
Because in my mind, I'm still on the 5
'Cause in my mind, I'm still on the 5"

Winona Fighter

You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers

Winona Fighter is a punk band based in Nashville Tennessee with a front woman named Coco. This song is from the album "Father Figure" released in 2022. I have no idea what Phoebe Bridgers has to do with this angry breakup song, but I think she'd approve of it. Winona Ryder, too.

"Don't try to say I didn't warn you
Should've left those games in California
You've got a knife, well I've got a gun
If you're gonna walk, then I'm gonna run right over you
'Cause I got nothing to lose

Woah, woah
He's a dirty thief
Woah, woah
Stay the hell away from me
All you want, is to take the money and run
You son of a bi**h, I've had it
Stay away from me

Go ahead I let you take the first punch
'Cause honey I know you ain't got much
You going down in front of your friends
You try and get up, I'll knock your ass out again
I'll mean, I disrespect

Woah, woah
He's a dirty thief
Woah, woah
Stay the hell away from me
All you want, is to take the money and run
You son of a bi**h, I've had it
Stay away from me
(Stay away from me)

You're a snake, you're a liar
I'm sick and I'm tired of you running your mouth
(Of you running your mouth)
You're a snake, you're a liar
I'm sick and I'm tired
I'm ending this s**t now

Woah, woah
He's a dirty thief
Woah, woah
Stay the hell away from me
All you want, is to take the money and run
You son of a bi**h, I've had it
Stay away from me

(You've got a knife, well I've got a gun)
(If you're gonna walk, then I'm gonna run)
Stay away from me
(You going down in front of your friends)
You better stay away
(You've got a knife, well I've got a gun)
(If you're gonna walk, then I'm gonna run)
Stay the hell away
(You going down in front of your friends)
Stay away from me"

Bill Withers

City Of The Angels

Bill Withers was a Grammy-winning hall-of-fame R&B singer-songwriter born in West Virginia. He moved to Los Angeles to start a music career in 1967. This song is from his fifth studio album "Naked & Warm" released in 1976." It's a strange song with two distinct parts. It's upbeat for almost five minutes when it appears to end, but then it slows down dramatically and he sings one verse for more than five minutes as if in a dream.

"City of the Angels, spread your wings for me
I've been other places looking for my dream
Eastern cities move too fast
Southern ones too slow
I can't go back to my past
And I need some place to grow

City of the Angels
Clear your cloudy skies for me
I heard you got some places that I oughta see
Heard you got a Disneyland not too far away
When it rains I understand the skies are clear all day

L.A., L.A., find a place for me
In your spacious wings is where I wanna be

City of the Angels, spread your wings for me
I've been other places looking around for my dream
Eastern cities move too fast
And Southern ones too slow
I can't go back to my past
And I need someplace to grow

L.A., L.A., find a place for me
In your spacious wings is where I wanna be

City of the Angels, spread your wings for me
I heard you got some places an old man like me should see
Heard about your Disneyland not too far away from town
When it rains I understand the skies are clear all day

L.A., oh, L.A., find a place for me
In your spacious wings is where I want to be

City of the Angels, spread your wings for me
I've been other places looking for my dreams
Eastern cities move too fast
Southern ones too slow
And I can't go back to my past
And I need someplace to grow
City of the Angels, clear your skies for me
I heard you got some places that I oughta see
I heard you got a Disneyland not too far away
And when it rains I understand the skies are clear all day

L.A., L.A., find a place for me
In your spacious wings is where I want to be"

Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa is Cameron Thomaz, a rapper, singer, songwriter originating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, active since 2005. This song is from his mixtape "Taylor Alderdize" released in 2012. I'm not sure exactly what the lyrics have to do with California, but I suspect it has to do with California weed, which in 2005 was still not legal for recreational use anywhere in the U.S.

"I'm just smokin' a trippy stick on this one
OG Hash Oil
It's cool

Roll a joint, roll another one
When it's all said and done
I'll be at the top b**h
Cause I hustle a lot
Them cars, we pulling 'em off the lot
Don't even test drive it before I cop
Just boarded a yacht
We're at the craps table in Vegas
The dealer saying how he admiring my watch
I'm placing my wager
Don't even care how much paper I blow
Cause how to get this money and stay on
A couple things that I know
I'm blowing that stink by the O
My weed so strong I swear to god you would think it's cologne
I go anywhere in the world and just make it my home
Staying at the highest level but I ain't make it alone
Now that my money right them suckers keep thinking I'm wrong
But I'm just switching lanes, foot off the brake and I'm gone
If you ain't talking money homie, you can't get a call
Cause this a muthaf***in life that you can't live at all
I'm getting high while I drive, I ain't thinking of y'all

I just wanna ride in my ride with my top down
And smoke weed with my ni**as
I just wanna ride in my ride with my top down
And smoke weed with my ni**as

Still rolling weed on my XXL
Only difference is that's me on the cover
Once in a while call my little sister and tell her I love her
Cause s**t can get crazy in this industry
Most of your friends become your enemies
That's why I stay down with the ones that's been with me
The ni**as who started and they down to ride to the end with me
Make sure the positive energy keep flowing
All the weed keep rolling
And all of us go get high off the sky
We gonna keep from falling
Ni**gas keep hating, but baby I'mma keep ballin'
A lot of y'all turned fake, cause you found out what I make on
Now I'm buying estates
Going on private island vacations
Flying on private planes
I'm cool with the pilot, he let me roll something
Put on a movie, let my girl watch it
At the dealer, high, lookin' at Ferrari options
Just an everyday life, when you young and bossin'...."

Kate Wolf

Cable Car Cowboy

Kate Wolf was a folk singer-songwriter from San Francisco, active from 1976-1986, when she died far too young. The lyrics are copyright 1982, so that's a good guess for when the song was released. I can't find this song to stream online but it's such a great image - a Texas cowboy riding a cable car instead of a horse - that I needed to put it on the list. (And there really is a "Cable Car Barn.")

"Foggy San Francisco
Two thousand miles from home
Chasing after a lady
I’d like to call my own
I’ve been out of work since I left my job
On the Bar-K cattle ranch
Where my mamma cried “Think it over son
Before you take a chance.”

And Lord I sure do miss the folks
And all those friends of mine
The city’s pretty lonely
When a man’s just killing time
The people never stop to talk
Or look you in the eye
And the buildings there they grow so tall
They cover up the sky

But I went for a job the other day
The man looked me up and down
He said “You’re a horse-riding cowboy
Who looks like he just hit town.”
But if you can swing a rope
I reckon you can ring a bell
And if a bucking bronc can’t throw you off
You’ll hold the curves as well

Well I didn’t know what he was getting at
Til he took me to this barn
A great big place with high brick walls
Not like down on the farm
Instead of hay and horses
It had cement, steel and tar
He said hop on board and let me see
If you can drive a cable car

Well it looked like a little house
With windows all around
A little room set on the back
And steps down to the ground
A roof and a porch and benches
And wheels set on a track
I’d never seen such a doggone thing
But I didn’t tell him that

So mamma don’t you worry
Things are really going fine
I’m working now as a brakeman
On the California line
And the folks are mighty friendly
When they hop on for a ride
And when it’s cold and rainy
My lady loves to ride inside

You can say I’m still a cowboy
It’s just a different horse I ride
I round up strays on the city streets
And I spend my days outside
These hills of San Francisco
Are my own West Texas plains
And ringing a bell is like singing to
Those dogies on the range"

Kate Wolf

Here in California

This is from Kate Wolf's 1981 album "Close To You." "The hills turn brown in the summertime" and in the Fall they often turn orange then black...

This song has been recorded by several other singers, including Lucinda Williams and Dave Alvin.

"When I was young, my mama told me
She said, 'Child, take your time
Don't fall in love too quickly
Before you know your mind'

She held me 'round the shoulders
In a voice so soft and kind
She said, 'Love can make you happy
And love can rob you blind'

Here in California
The fruit hangs heavy on the vine
There's no gold, I thought I'd warn ya
And the hills turn brown in the summertime

Now I may learn to love you
But I can't say when
This morning we were strangers
And tonight we're only friends

But I'll take my time to know you
I'll take my time to see
There's nothing that I won't show you
If you take your time with me

Here in California
The fruit hangs heavy on the vine
There's no gold, I thought I'd warn ya
And the hills turn brown in the summertime
It's an old familiar story
An old familiar rhyme
To everything there is a season
To every purpose there's a time

A time to love and come together
A time when love longs for a name
A time for questions we can't answer
But we ask them just the same

Here in California
The fruit hangs heavy on the vine
There's no gold, I thought I'd warn ya
And the hills turn brown in the summertime
There's no gold, I thought I'd warn ya
And the hills turn brown in the summertime"

Kate Wolf

Pacheco

I haven't yet found a version of this song that is not sung in a medley with Redtail Hawk (below). It was written by Robin Williamson in 1977. This version is from Wolf's album "Give Yourself To Love" released in 1983. Pacheco Pass is the road you use if you're heading west to the South Bay or Santa Cruz if you're driving up the San Joaquin Valley or from somewhere east.

"Purple clouds turn scarlet
In the setting sun
Where sagebrush turns to live oak
And the whitetail run
The air is cool as music
When the day is done
And God paints the sky above Pacheco

Driving all day up the San Joaquin
Turn west again, up through Pacheco

Through the blue hills back of Santa Cruz
We’re rolling fine
Where redtail hawks go circling
Like the ways of time
And lovers and friends will meet again
'Round red Sonoma wine
When God calls the night above Pacheco

Driving all day up the San Joaquin
Turn west again, up through Pacheco"

Kate Wolf

Redtail Hawk

This is a folk song written by George Schroder in 1975 from Wolf's 1986 album "Gold in California" which was released posthumously. Most of the lyrics I found online use the line "it's just something that needs another's hand" but Wolf sings "but there's just some things that need a man's hand."

"The redtail hawk writes songs across the sky
There's music in the waters flowing by
And you can hear a song each time the wind sighs
In the golden rolling hills of California
In the golden rolling hills of California

It's been so long love since you said goodbye
My cabin's been as lonesome as a cry,
There's comfort in the clouds drifting by
In the golden rolling hills of California
In the golden rolling hills of California

Yes, a neighbor came today to lend a hand
He saw I'd fixed the road as best I can
But there's just some things that need a man's hand
In the golden rolling hills of California
In the golden rolling hills of California

The redtail hawk writes songs across the sky
There's music in the waters flowing by
And you can hear a song each time the wind sighs
In the golden rolling hills of California
In the golden rolling hills of California"

Bobby Womack

California Dreamin'

Womack turned the Mamas and the Papas' classic into a soul classic. (It was nicely used in the 2010 British film Fish Tank, also.)

Lee Ann Womack

California Girls Have Gone Country

Lee Ann Womack is a country music singer-songwriter from Texas, active since 1996.
This is from her album "The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone" released in 2017.

"Morning cup of coffee
Not a single word
And if you do say something
It's only about work

Every time I ask you
You just say, "we're good"
Either I'm a fool for asking
Or you belong in Hollywood

5 o'clock martinis
Watch the sun go down (sun go down)
Ice in crystal glasses
That's the only sound

I say, "let's get away"
You just smile and say, "we should"
Well, either I'm a fool for asking
Or you belong in Hollywood

Like the silver screen
It's a technicolor dream
We pretend it's real
But it's only make-believe

Lying in our bed
In the middle of Act Two
We say, "goodnight, I love you"
We never miss our cue

I ask you if you mean it (you mean it)
You say, "Yes", I knew you would
Well, either I'm a fool for asking
Or you belong in Hollywood

Either I'm a fool for asking
Or you belong in Hollywood"

Stevie Lee Woods

Steve Lee Woods is a country music veteran. That's all I could find out. This is a song from 2014.

"California girls used to listen to the Beach Boys
Layin' on the sand out in Malibu
They'd play the radio so loud they'd always draw a crowd
When they got up and danced to Little Deuce Coup
They're not stoppin' things are still rockin'
What's stopped it's different 'bout the music that they're listenin' to

California girls have gone country
Catchin' all the stars on GAC and CMT
Cowboy hats from Texas, boots from Tennessee
California girls have gone totally country

Well they got a dance floor right out on the beachfront
Day and night it's the only place to be
In their bikinis and their boots when those girls begin to scoot
No doubt about it they can really cause a scene
You won't believe it you just gotta see it
The little surfer girl is now the rodeo queen

California girls have gone country
Catchin' all the stars on GAC and CMT
Cowboy hats from Texas, boots from Tennessee
California girls have gone totally country

They're lovin' ... Smith, Brad Paisley, Lady A, ...
They knew every star on country radio
Sandy beaches summer sun man those girls are havin' fun
They're doin't a line dance up and down the coast

You won't believe it you just gotta see it
The little surfer girl is now the rodeo queen

California girls have gone country
Catchin' all the stars on GAC and CMT
Cowboy hats from Texas, from Tennessee
California girls have gone totally country
California girls have gone totally country"

Woohyun

All of California and Everyone Who Lives There Stinks

Woohyun (Nam Woo-hyun) is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor, and the main vocalist for the boy group "Infinite" active since 2010. This upbeat pop tune sung in Korean and English is from his solo debut album "WHITREE" released in 2023. These are the romanized Korean lyrics and English translations. Go to genius.com to see lyrics with the original Korean characters.
Korean	English
"Fine, uril bichuneun jeo shooting star Eunhasureul geonneoseo gaja Hey, hayan badatgil moraealdo Machi like summer (Like summer)	"Fine, that shooting star that shines on us Let's go across the Milky Way Hey, grains of sand on the white sea road Like summer (Like summer)
Why so blue? jeo meolliseo deullyeowa Why so blue? urin deo jayuropge Let's fly like a butterfly Taeyangi uril gamssago	Why so blue? I can hear it from far away Why so blue? We are more free Let's fly like a butterfly The sun surrounds us
So California Paran haneul arae dulmanui paradise Hayan moraeseong geuneure sumeobolkka? So California, so California Padoga urireul gamssajumyeon	So California Just the two of us in paradise under the blue sky Shall we hide in the shadow of a white sand castle? So California, so California When the waves embrace us
(Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California	(Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California
Hayake binnadeon shooting star (Shooting star) Parake mureul deurigo (deurigo) Tonight, neoreul wihae (neoreul wihae) Binnaneun California (binnaneun California)	The shooting star that shined white (Shooting star) Color it blue (dye it) Tonight, for you (for you) Shining California (Shining California)
Why so blue? jeo meolliseo deullyeowa Why so blue? urin deo jayuropge Let's fly like a butterfly Taeyangi uril gamssago	Why so blue? I can hear it from far away Why so blue? We are more free Let's fly like a butterfly The sun surrounds us
So California Paran haneul arae dulmanui paradise Hayan moraeseong geuneure sumeobolkka? So California, so California Padoga urireul gamssajumyeon	So California Just the two of us in paradise under the blue sky Shall we hide in the shadow of a white sand castle? So California, so California When the waves embrace us
Meon miraereul bwa Uril wihae itjana Kkumkkudeon sesangi nunape dagawasseo I forever, you-ooh-ooh	Look into the distant future You're there for us The world I dreamed of has come before my eyes I forever, you-ooh-ooh
So California (So California) Kkumkkudeon California (kkumkkudeon California) So California (So California) Barameul tago (barameul tago)	So California (So California) The California I dreamt of (The California I dreamt of) So California (So California) Riding the wind (Riding the wind)
So California Paran haneul arae dulmanui paradise Hayan moraeseong geuneure sumeobolkka? So California, so California Padoga urireul gamssajumyeon	So California Just the two of us in paradise under the blue sky Shall we hide in the shadow of a white sand castle? So California, so California When the waves embrace us
(Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California	(Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California (Wanna feel you. Can you feel me? Never forget) California

Woody and Jeremy

Too Hot in L.A.

Woody and Jeremy are a musical duo I don't know much about other than that Woody is the former keyboardist from Vulfpeck, a funk band from Michigan. This song was released in 2020.

"I didn't mean to yell at you
There must be something in the air
I mean, you're talking 'bout the apocalypse
I was asking 'bout my hair

And I know you think I'm on something strong
You know I'm cynical, at least
Well, babe, you might not be wrong
But I paid a lot for these seats

I know I'm unsubtle
And you're so coy
You only laugh
When I'm annoyed
I want to care, but what can I say?
Goddamn
It's just too hot in L.A.

It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot

Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes
A U.F.O. flying along
And you had to go ahead and hypothesize
It was a North Korean nuclear bomb
And yeah, okay, now you've got me freaking out
But you have to realize
In this city, there's no doubt
Something happens, everybody dies

I know I'm unsubtle
And you're so coy
I only laugh
When you're annoyed
You want to care, but what can you say?
Goddamn
It's just too hot in L.A.

It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot
It's too damn hot

I know I'm unsubtle
And you're so coy
You only laugh
When I'm annoyed
I want to care, but what can I say?
Goddamn
It's just too hot in L.A....."

World/Inferno Friendship Society, The (aka "World Inferno," The Wifs" or "Inferno")

This is a band from Brooklyn fronted by Jack Terricloth. This song was the b-side to the 1996 single "Our Candidate." Although I don't agree with the title, I can enjoy a good California hate song that debunks the myth that if you just drive west, "Things will be better in California." "Don't stop when you hit the Ocean" might be good advice. Maybe things will be better in Hawaii or Asia, assuming you've got enough gas in your amphibious vehicle.

"Good Luck, Bad Luck
It's invisible tides of highways.
Don't you think, Charlie?
It's random s**t like waves.
Yeah, F**k you Charlie.
Across this country filled
with islands of disappointment,
we seek family, we find augerys that say
Stop your crying, keep on driving
Things will be better in California.
You like to play it safe,
but you want what you paid for,
I can't stand California.
The next day changing tires
we attract the usual flies and homeless
and it's 'cigarettes and change man?'
Consequences that await you
bad faith you're pushing West
you can't outrun or let run over you.
I won't stoop to prayer
cause the physics were already there
when Charlie wished us luck saying

Stop your crying, keep on driving
Things will be better in California.
I'm sure we had our reasons
but I can't recall them
I can't stand California.
Foundations can never be relain
and anyway its too late for weak hearts who won't decide
Don't stop when you hit the ocean
Panicked ants on the coast of slow motion.
I smell a dream dying, die dream die.
The rotted rind of this rotted country
rots in the West and its beyond me
Why anyone would look there for anything unless

You don't care what you're finding
is blank and confining
There are no answers in California
You're dumb enough to move there
You belong there
I can't stand California
Stop your crying, keep on driving
Stop looking to California.
Oh, your reasons are cheap and see-through and
I can't stand California."

A$ton Wyld

Next Level

Aston Wylde is an Australian singer/songwriter. This song is from the soundtrack to "Fast and Furious Present: Hobbs & Shaw" released in 2019. That's where I heard it.

"I'm on the next level, yeah
I know you heard about it
You know I'm about it-bout it
And don't you ever doubt it
I'm incomparable
That's what they stare on yo
Turn off the stereo
Check it out, check it out, check it out

Ooh ah ooh way
I make just like a sauna
New York to California
Too hot, too hot
Ooh ah ooh way (Hey)
You ain't seen nothin' (Hey) like this
Nobody do it (Hey) like this (This, this, this)

I'm on the next level
Next, next, next level
On the next level
They all tryna catch up to my…
Next level
Next, next, next level
On the next level
Check it out, check it out, check it out...."

Paul Wyld

One Two Three California

Paul Wyld is a singer-songwriter, artist, poet, and author who lives in Santa Monica, California. This song was released in 2024.

"One two three California
Woods and wolves Transylvania
Lost and alone
Now the sand is my home
With the sun and all of the fun

One two three California
Swamps and snakes Louisiana
Drunk and high like all the birds in the sky
I crawl away inside

Sing to me o ghosts of the sea
Your face I’ve seen on the moon
Take me away on a great bird of prey
To my home, my life and my love
My home, my life and my love

One two three California
Something’s wrong though I adore ya
But woe unto thee with your streets and your dreams
That seem to guide me with ease

So sing to me o ghosts of the sea
Your face I’ve seen on the moon
Take me away on a great bird of prey
To my home, my life and my love
My home, my life and my love

But woe unto thee with your streets and your dreams
That seem to guide me with ease

And sing to me o ghosts of the sea
Your face I’ve seen on the moon
Take me away on a great bird of prey
To my home, my life and my love
My home, my life and my love

My home
My life
And my…
Love"

Steve Wynn

Death Valley Rain

This Steve Wynn is not the billionaire who builds casinos, he's a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles who led the band The Dream Syndicate from 1981 to 1989 and after 2012. This is from his 2001 solo album "Here Come the Miracles."

"I'm buying time
But I've got no place to put it
I draw the line
But that shouldn't hold me back, now should it?

Riding against the minutes
Outside the city limits
Burning deep inside me like
Death Valley rain

We come alive
When the sun goes down in the valley
We never drive
We just park it out back in the alley

Riding against the minutes.
Outside the city limits
Burning deep inside me like
Death Valley rain
Death Valley rain

The moon it shines
And lights up the cans on the dashboard
The stars align
But we don't know exactly what for

Riding against the minutes
Outside the city limits
Burning deep inside me like
Death Valley rain
Death Valley rain
Death Valley rain"

Steve Wynn

The Hollywood Sign

This song is from "Sketches in Spain" released in 2014.

"Second floor duplex on Melrose and Genessee
What's your name who's your agent is he rich like me?
Oh, last year's name is this year's swingin' vine
Oh, back page obit two columns nice fit
Swingin' like a gallows from The Hollywood Sign

Big girl milkshake surfer boy beefcake
Bit part union pay doubles as a P.A.
Oh, candy from a baby so serpentine
Oh, so hard to swallow another one will follow
Climbin' up the back side of The Hollywood Sign

Look like Jane Fonda on the back of my Honda
Stunt boy real trouble blowin' like a big bubble
Oh, last year's name is this year's swingin' vine
Oh, back page obit two columns nice fit
Swingin' like a gallows from The Hollywood Sign
Swingin' like a gallows from The Hollywood Sign"

Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three

California Style

This is from Wynn's album "Decade" released in 2020, but the song was recorded live in 2003, so that might be when it was first released. I've never heard of "California Style" but if it means doing freaky things with Wesson oil and cough syrup as described in the song, then I'll pass, thanks.

"We gonna lock up the squares
Let down our hair
California Style
Take a lesson, leave 'em guessin'
Grab the Wesson and make a mess of everything
California Style

If anybody comes around
And wants to settle up the score
I'm gonna open up my arms
There's always room for more

We got sloppy on Cherocol
Leaning up agains the wall
California Style
You know I can't hypnotize
When you got your hair in your eyes
California Style

If anybody comes around
And wants to settle up the score
I'm gonna open up my arms
There's always room for more

I wanna reach inside my skin
And pull out everything that smells like sin
California Style
Lay it on a platter
Write your name out in the splatter
California Style

If anybody comes around
And wants to settle up the score
I'm gonna open up my arms
There's always room for more

We gonna take it to the limit in a New York minute
We gonna take it to the limit in a New York minute
We gonna take it all the way
We gonna take it to the limit man"

Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three

Johny Hit and Run Paulene

This is from the album "Static Transmission" released in 2020.

"Got a lot of things that are on my mind
I know you got 'em too, so in the end we're doing fine
People don't know when they got it good
Hollywood, Hollywood

I scuffed my smokes on the stars of the boulevard
Faded legends on the street try not to take it all that hard
They'd do the same to me if they only could
Hollywood, Hollywood

Gonna drive a wedge through the middle of this town
Step in through the gap and take a look at what I've found
Somewhere 'tween the kinda bad and the kinda good
Hollywood, Hollywood

Got a little messed up in 1983
Scratched my name on the tree of history
I'm standing in the spot where I once stood
Hollywood, Hollywood

There's a guy that I remember (but I ain't naming names)
He's been dogging me since I tried to get out of the game
I don't want to wonder where and why I should
Hollywood, Hollywood
Hollywood, Hollywood
Hollywood, Hollywood
Hollywood, Hollywood
Hollywood, Hollywood"

Delta 88 Nightmare

This is from the album "Alphabetland" released in 2020. It's a revision of the original version
(Delta 88) that was released as a bonus track on the 2001 CD reissue of the album "Los Angeles" originally released in 1980. Delta 88 Nightmare has slightly different lyrics but the music is the same. Instead of "...We're gonna flop at No Hotel. We're gonna get drunk as hell..." it uses the lines "...We're gonna stay at the Bates Motel. We're gonna get John Perkins out...." and there are a few other small changes. Cannery Row, of course, is a district in Monterey and a novel by the great California author John Steinbeck, published in 1945, that includes the characters Mac and Doc who are mentioned in the song.

"We’re gonna go to Cannery Row
We’re gonna flop at No Hotel
We’re gonna get drunk as hell
We’re gonna go to Cannery Row
We’re gonna find Mack and Doc
We’re gonna go to Cannery Row

Delta 88
Delta 88
Nightmare

Cannery Row where are the bums all gone
Main Street kind, beer milk shake
It’s a cute resort with dads and moms
Staring at us and making fun
Nothing to do on Cannery Row
Nowhere to go on Cannery Row
Down an alley doorway sign
Dancing pages they can’t find
The book’s still true
Hey look Steinbeck! The bums are back in our

Delta 88
Delta 88
Nightmare

We’re gonna go to Cannery Row
We’re gonna flop at No Hotel
We’re gonna get drunk as hell
We’re gonna go to Cannery Row
We’re gonna find Mack and Doc
We’re gonna go to Cannery Row

Delta 88
Delta 88
Nightmare"

X is a punk band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. This lovely little song about a rapist, murderer and, user of L. A. public transportation - is from the album "Los Angeles" released in 1980.

"He bought a sterilized hypo
To shoot a sex machine drug
He got 24 hours
To shoot all Paulene's between the legs
He'll throw 96 tears through 24 hours
Sexed once every hour

Johny hit and run Paulene

L.A. bus doors open
Kicking both doors open
When it rested on 6th street
That's when he drug a girl inside
He was spreading her legs and didn't understand dying
She was still awake

Johny hit and run Paulene

When he was waking up
Beside the bed
He found clumps of hair
The last Paulene wouldn't cooperate
She wasn't what you'd call living really
But she was still awake

Johny hit and run Paulene"

Another Song About California

This is also from the album "Los Angeles" released in 1980. I always liked this song, but I never understood why the woman that the narrator sings about is so intolerant. I doubt anybody is sad that she got out.

"Los Angeles
All her toys wore out in black and her boys had too
She started to hate every n****r and Jew
Every Mexican that gave her a lotta s**t
Every homosexual and the idle rich

She had to get out (Get out)
Get out (Get out)
Get out (Get out)

She gets confused
Flying over the date-line her hands turn red
'Cause the days change at night
Change in an instant
The days change at night
Change in an instant

She had to leave
Los Angeles.
She found it hard to say goodbye to her own best friend.
She bought a clock on Hollywood Boulevard the day she left.
It felt sad.
It felt sad.
It felt sad.

She had to get out.
Get out (Get out)
Get out (Get out)...."

Xjames916

Sacramento Love

Xjames916 is a rapper who is obviously from Sacramento because he has the 916 area code in his name. This 2022 rap song travels all around the greater Sacramento area - including Valley High and Sacramento State University, Fair Oaks, Lemon Hill, and El Dorado Hills, with stops at the state fair, Gunther's Ice Cream and Kiki's Chicken Place.

"(Sacramento love)
Seen you downtown searching for someone
(Sacramento love)
When I'm feeling faded she knows she my drug
(Coincidental love)
Gunther's Ice Cream with the bubble gum
(I can't get enough, I can't get enough)
When I'm feelin' super faded she knows she my one

Started out young so we grew apart
Call me on them nights when it's gettin' dark
I be that one who gon' pull up
If she needs a drink then let me fill your cup

(Sacramento love)
Seen you downtown searching for someone
(Sacramento love)
When I'm feeling faded she knows she my drug
(Coincidental love)
Gunther's Ice Cream with the bubble gum
(I can't get enough, I can't get enough)
When I'm feellin' super faded she knows she my one

Parents stay by Sac State so she know I'm stoppin' by
S**t me might just drive or go get some Kiki fries
The place she stay at kinda grimey it's off Lemon Hill
Start off in the hood and end in El Dorado Hills

(Sacramento love)
Meet me at the fair let's get some funnel cakes
(Sacramento love)
You say you lookin' perfect let me be your date
(Sacramento love)
Take you on a swing so we can spin
(I can't get enough)
When you roll with me girl we gon' win

Spent them countless nights solo in Valley High
Finally elevate Fair Oaks and Sunrise
Time to hit the bay let's go see a thing
To live and die in Sacramento, that might be the dream

(Sacramento love)
Seen you downtown searching for someone
(Sacramento love)
When I'm feeling faded she knows she my drug
(Coincidental love)
Gunther's Ice Cream with the bubble gum
(I can't get enough, I can't get enough)
When I'm feellin' super faded she knows she my one

Take you on a swing so we can spin
When you roll with me girl we gon' win
It's our world
You my girl"

Yacht Rock Revue

Yacht Rock Revue is a soft rock band formed in Georgia in 2007. This song is from their album "Hot Dads in Tight Jeans" released in 2020.

"In California we keep the fire burning
We're on the edge so you keep watchin' and learnin'
Everything here is new every day
(Every day)

In California everyone else is pretty
You think you get it but it changes from city to city
At least the sun shines every day

I'm sending this out to California
It might take a day, it might take my life
I'm sending this out to California
We're not so far away
We're not so far away
We're not so far away, a hey hey

Out on the freeway that's where we get together
It's what we talk about instead of the weather
Because the sun shines every day
(Every day)

In California everyone else is coming your way
'Cause they like the way your drummer is drummin'
Everything here is new every day
(Every day)

I'm sending this out to California
It might take a day, it might take my life
I'm sending this out to California
We're not so far away
We're not so far away
We're not so far away, a hey hey

I'm sending this out to California
It might take a day, it might take my life
I'm sending this out to California
We're not so far away
We're not so far away Robert B
We're not so far away

I'm sending this out to California
It might take a day, it might take my life
I'm sending this out to California

We're not so far away
We're not so far away
We're not so far away, a hey hey"

Dwight Yoakam

California Sky

Dwight Yoakam is a country music singer, songwriter, actor and film director from Ohio and Kentucky, active since 1984. This song is from his album "Brighter Days" released in 2024.

"I drove so far that I finally had to stop at the water
If you ever drive there then you'll know just what I mean
Stood in the sand lookin' out farther than I could holler
Where I'd made it all the way to the end of our shattered dreams

She told me she was with me 'till she left me halfway for another
So if you gonna try it, don't do it with someone that mean
I shoulda known better right from the first time I saw her
Now she's another lesson in lovin' that I won't repeat

Under a California Sky
So blue it never has to lie
There ain't no need to wonder why
'Cause that sky
Whoa yeah that sky
Don't ever lie

I hung out here, all alone, but I never bothered
To think about ever going back to where you put me down
So if you ever run again, baby drive it all the way to the water
Where some dude hanging 'round on the sand might be me you found

Under a California Sky
So blue it never has to lie
There ain't no need to wonder why
'Cause that sky
Whoa yeah that sky
Don't ever lie

Under a California Sky
So blue it never has to lie
There ain't no need to wonder why
'Cause that sky
Whoa yeah that sky
Don't ever lie
Under a California Sky
So blue it never has to lie
There ain't no need to wonder why
Yeah under a California sky
So blue it never has to lie"

Dwight Yoakam

The Late Great Golden State

This upbeat country song is from Yoakam's 13th studio album "Population Me" released in 2003.

He sings about getting a last glimpse of "the palomino" but I don't think he means a horse. Most likely he's referring to The Palomino Club where he used to perform - a country music venue in North Hollywood that operated from 1949 to 1995. It was the best-known country music club in the area (and probably the entire West Coast) and it also served as a hangout for actors and stuntmen including Clint Eastwood, who later used it as a location in some of his movies.

"In the late great Golden State
It's getting hard to negotiate
When you're one slip
From a grim fate
In the late great Golden State

In the late great Golden State
I don't do much
But I'm always late
I ain't old, I'm just out of date
In the late great Golden State

I caught one last glimpse
Of the Palomino
When I drove out West
To see the purple sage
Then as canyons burned
And the mountains crumbled
The last cowboy band
Left the stage

I ain't old, I'm just out of date
In the late great Golden State

I caught one last glimpse
Of the Palomino
When I drove out West
To see the purple sage
Then as the canyons burned
And the mountains crumbled
The last cowboy band
Left the stage

Yeah, the late great Golden State
Is a nice place for a clean slate
But leave your expectations
At the gate
Of the late great Golden State
Cause they can pack you up
And send you home in a crate
Stamped the late great
Golden State"

Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens

Streets of Bakersfield

This duet version of the song written by Homer Joy and first recorded by Buck Owens in 1973 (with slightly changed lyrics) became a #1 hit on the country music charts, which makes it the version most people know. It's from the album "Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room" released in 1988. It uses an accordion instead of the steel guitar on the original which gives it a nice Tex Mex or Tejano feel.

"I came here looking for something
I couldn't find anywhere else
Hey, I'm not tryin' to be nobody
I just want a chance to be myself

I've spent a thousand miles of thumbin'
Yes, I've worn blisters on my heels
Tryin' to find me something better
Here on the streets of Bakersfield

Hey, you don't know me but you don't like me
Say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

Spent some time in San Francisco
I spent a night there in the can
They threw this drunk man in my jail cell
I took fifteen dollars from that man

Left him my watch and my old house key
Don't want folks thinkin' that I'd steal
Then I thanked him as I was leaving
And I headed out for Bakersfield

Hey, you don't know me but you don't like me
Say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

Hey, you don't know me but you don't like me
Say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?
How many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?"

Brett Young

Country in California

Brett Young is a singer-songwriter from Anaheim, active since 2007. This song was released in 2015.

"I was driving down PCH
Top down on my jeep just cranking some Hank
A California boy with country on my mind

A pretty girl sitting next to me
With bleached blond hair in the passenger seat
Rocking Daisy Dukes with a bathing suit underneath

She's west coast head-to-toe
But there ain't a Reba song that she don't know

There's country in California
We drink whiskey just like they do in Tennessee
We have backroads past where the grass grows
In the hills of Malibu there's a sky that's blue
With a clear view of the sea
Yeah, there's country in my California dream

I remember way back before it was cool
Singing Tim McGraw on my way to school
MaryAnn McCoy was my 'don't take the girl'

Nowadays the highway is more than a road
It's taking over Country radio
Moving the Mason-Dixie line all the way to the edge of the world

Her eyes were blue and her hair was long, yeah
She's every woman, she's a country song

There's country in California
We drink whiskey just like they do in Tennessee
We have backroads past where the grass grows
In the hills of Malibu there's a sky that's blue
With a clear view of the sea
Yeah, there's country in my California dream

Sweet home California
Sweet home California
Sweet home California

There's country in California
We drink whiskey same as they do in Tennessee
We have backroads past where the green grass grows
In the hills of Malibu there's a sky that's blue
With a clear view of the sea
Yeah, there's country
Yeah, there's country
Oh, there's country
In my California dream
In my California dream

I was driving down PCH
Top down on my jeep just cranking some Hank
A California boy with country on my mind."

Brett Young

Ticket to L.A.

This is from the album "Ticket to L.A." released in 2018.

""Gate 22, two hour delay
She was waitin' on a plane to L.A.
I didn't see the harm in sittin' down at the wrong gate
She said, "Hello, where you headed to?"
I didn't lie but I bent the truth
Said, "I'd go anywhere with you"
And before long

It was midnight in the middle of JFK
Tryin' to take my mind off the fallin' rain
I was sayin' anything to make her laugh
Never wanted anything so bad
She got me wishin' that she could stay
Doesn't even know that I've missed my plane
Now there ain't a single thing I wouldn't trade
For a ticket to L.A.
Yeah, yeah, a ticket to L.A.
Yeah, yeah, yeah

She opened up after a drink
Said, she started law school in the spring
And by the time that she had three
I know almost everything
Lightnin' flashed across the sky
I said, it probably wasn't safe to fly
Secretly, I hoped that she'd be stuck with me all night

It was midnight in the middle of JFK
Tryin' to take my mind off the fallin' rain
I was sayin' anything to make her laugh
Never wanted anything so bad
She got me wishin' that she could stay
Doesn't even know that I've missed my plane
Now there ain't a single thing I wouldn't trade
For a ticket to L.A.

Now Gate 22 is callin' out her name
She wrote her number on my hand and walked away

Alone here in the middle of JFK
Sittin' at a bar in an empty gate
I'd do anything to bring her back
Never wanted anything so bad
She got me wishin' that she could stay
Doesn't even know that I've missed my plane
Now there ain't a single thing I wouldn't trade
For a ticket to L.A.
Yeah, yeah, a ticket to L.A.
Yeah, yeah
A ticket to L.A., yeah
A ticket to L.A.
A ticket to L.A.

A ticket to L.A., yeah, yeah""

Jazzie Young

Jazzie Young is a singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles who also happens to be the daughter of Jesse Colin Young of the Youngbloods who also has a solo song on this list below. This indie folk song is from her EP "27 Club" released in 2022. Let's hope that's a club that she never joins.

"It's beach weather in December
Leaves are falling on the ground like they used to
And I said I loved you before I knew you
Now I can't breathe inside your silence
Trying to find the true
Oh, California
Take me somewhere new

Another year we've been together
Still remember the first day
I set my two feet on your turmoil
It was mid-September during a heatwave
My mom and me we drove cross-country
Just to live inside your hopes and dreams
But I got the date mixed up
And we arrived before the moving team

And now it's beach weather in December again
Leaves are falling on the ground
I said I loved you before I knew you
And you didn't even make a sound
California, who am I to you?
Just another visitor that wore you down

Four years have gone by now
And what do I have to show for it?
Your apathy it [swallows ?] me whole
It's a love affair I just can't seem to get right
Maybe when it gets a little colder
I'll lose these crazy thoughts again
You know the summer [smolder ?]
Makes me reckless
But it dims each year the older that I get

And now it's beach weather in December
And holidays aren't what they used to be
And I said I loved you before I knew you
Your silence got me on my knees
Oh, California
Don't you know that I need you?
Just as long as you need me"

Jesse Colin Young

California Child

Jesse Colin Young is the stage name of a singer-songwriter from New York City, active since the 1960s when he formed The Youngbloods. This song is from his solo album "Light Shine" released in 1974.

"California child
We've been running wild
Through the lonely, sweet home days of the summer

You have touched my heart
Every other part of me
I certainly love you
I'm thinking of you

Even in my dreams
I can see you standing there
The smile that makes your face girl
At the window while
In your warm brown hair

California child
We've been running wild
Through the lonely, sweet home days of the summer

California girl
You have filled my world
With the music of your gentle loving

Singing with your hands
You have taught my body
How to understand
You know I'm your man

We have shared the pain
And now the time has come
For life and again the rain

You know the joy of reaching
And you are always there
Feel that our love growing, child
With all we share
We have learned to care

California Child
We've been running wild
Through the lonely, sweet home days of the summer

My California child
We've been running wild"

Jesse Colin Young

Ridgetop

After moving to Northern California, Jesse Colin Young started a solo career, recording this song for his fourth solo album "Song for Juli" which was released in 1973. The song is about living on a ridgetop in northern California somewhere north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Maybe Marin County, maybe farther north.

"Well, I live on a ridgetop
And, Lord knows, I like it just fine
Where it's windy and foggy
And quiet most all the time
Yeah, my lawn is pine needles
And my driveway is old funky dirt
And my front pathway markers
Are pieces of granite and chert

Now, my taxes are high
But I don't believe it's a sin
I've got hundred foot pine trees
That just love to dance in the wind
And a yard full of bushes
That turn into pie in July

Between blue jays and hoot owls
I've got twenty-four hour singing sky
Now, when I built my house
I cut six trees to clear out the land
But there's thirty or more left
And you know that they're gonna stand

It's a squirrel sanctuary
They think this woods is their home
And as long as I'm here
I'll make sure people leave us all alone

Yes, the hill that I live on is steep
And the road's full of ruts
And the people who live in the flatlands
Think we folks are nuts
But the ruts in my road and the curves
Keep the tourists at bay
And it's lonesome and peaceful
And you know I like it that way

Now, I work in the city
I think my job is a gas
And I know it's good for me
To travel and get off my a**
But the nervous parts of each trip
Is the Golden Gate Bridge
And the road like a snake
That will lead me back home to my ridge

Ah, I live on a ridgetop
Yes, I live on a ridgetop
And I like it
And I like it .

Neil Young

California Sunset

If there was a Mount Rushmore of Rock, Neil Young would be on it. He's a Canadian born Hall of Fame and award-winning singer-songwriter who has lived in California since the 1960s. He's been a member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and has made many solo albums, some with his backing band Crazy Horse. In this song he uses violins and pedal steel guitar and praises his adopted land while thinking aboot the land of cold wind and snow he came from.

"I remember long ago
How I wondered where I'd go
While the blizzards, cold wind and snow
Pounded outside my window.
California sunset
Going down in the West
All the colors in the sky
Kiss another day goodbye.

Land of beauty, space and light
Land of promise land of might.
You're my home now and it's true
California, here's to you...."

Neil Young

Heart of Gold

This is from Young's hit album "Harvest" released in 1972. So far it is his only Billboard Hot 100 #1 single. He used some great Nashville session musicians on the album and the country influence is present on this song, too.

"I want to live
I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old
Keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old

Keep me searching for a heart of gold
You keep me searching and I'm growing old
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
I've been a miner for a heart of gold"

Neil Young

Hitchhiker

In this candid autobiographical song from 2010, Young recounts his life journey as a musician from Canada to California, and from one drug to another.

"You didn't see me in Toronto
When I first tried out some hash
Smoked some then and I'll do it again
If I only had some cash
Only had some cash.

Then I tried amphetamines
And my head was in a glass
Taped underneath the speedometer wires
Of my '48 Buick's dash.
But I knew that wouldn't last.

Then came California
Where I first saw open water
In the land of opportunity
I knew I was getting hotter
I knew I was getting hotter.

But the neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
They took me by surprise
The doctor gave me valium
But I still couldn't close my eyes
I still couldn't close my eyes."

Neil Young

L.A.

This song is from the live album "Time Fades Away" released in 1973.

"In a matter of time
There'll be a friend of mine
Gonna come to the coast
You're gonna see him
Up close for a minute or two
While the ground cracks under you

By the look in your eyes
You'd think that it was a surprise
But you seem to forget
Something somebody said
About the bubbles in the sea
And an ocean full of trees

And you now, L.A.
Uptight
City in the smog
City in the smog
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?

Well, it's hard to believe
So you get up to leave
And you laugh at the door
That you heard it all before
Oh it's so good to know
That it's all just a show for you

But when the suppers are planned
And the freeways are crammed
And the mountains erupt
And the valley is sucked
Into cracks in the earth
Will I finally be heard by you

L.A.
Uptight
City in the smog
City in the smog
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?
Don't you wish that
You could be here too?"

Neil Young

Out On the Weekend

This is from Young's 1972 big hit country rock album "Harvest."

"Think I'll pack it in
And buy a pick-up
Take it down to L.A.
Find a place to call my own
And try to fix up.
Start a brand new day.

The woman I'm thinking of,
She loved me all up
But I'm so down today
She's so fine, she's in my mind.
I hear her callin'.

See the lonely boy,
Out on the weekend
Trying to make it pay.
Can't relate to joy,
He tries to speak and
Can't begin to say,

She got pictures on the wall,
They make me look up
From her big brass bed.
Now I'm running down the road
Trying to stay up
Somewhere in her head.

The woman I'm thinking of,
She loved me all up
But I'm so down today
She's so fine she's in my mind.
I hear her callin'.

See the lonely boy,
Out on the weekend
Trying to make it pay.
Can't relate to joy,
He tries to speak and
Can't begin to say."

The Youngbloods

Hippie From Olema No. 5

The Youngbloods was a rock band formed in New York City in the mid '60s fronted by Jesse Colin Young and known mostly for their anthemic version of "Get Together." This song is from the band's 1971 album "Good and Dusty." It's a response to Merle Haggard's hit "Okie From Muskogee," which disses "the hippies out in San Francisco," and in return disses the racism, consumerism, and lack of respect for the environment of the "Okies." Both characterizations were bigoted and wrong, of course, but subtle social commentary doesn't sell songs. Check out the lyrics to Haggard's song to better understand these lyrics.

(Olema is a community in Marin County that's so small you'd miss it if there wasn't a stop sign. It's a nice place to stay in a B&B, though, if you want to stay overnight near Pt. Reyes National Seashore. I have no idea if any of The Youngbloods ever lived there, but I suspect they just needed the name a small northern California town with three syllables. Also, I have no idea what "No. 5" means, unless it means there at least 4 other hippies in the town.)

"Well I’m proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they’re ragged
We can’t think of anyone to hate

We don’t watch commercials in Olema
We don’t buy the plastic crap they sell
We still wear our hair long like folks used to
And we bathe often, therefore we don’t smell

And I’m proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they’re ragged
We can’t think of anyone to hate

We don’t throw our beer cans on the highway
We don’t slight a man because he’s black
We don’t spill our oil out in the ocean
’Cause we love birds and fish too much for that

And I’m proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they’re haggard
In Olema, California, Planet Earth"

Young Harry

Young Harry is a musical artist from South Korea. This hip-hop song was released in September 2022.

"Had my back on the wall everybody left I can't blame no one but me
They all sold me dreams and I fell for it I can't shame no one but me
I was blind to what I ain't wanna see
Different time zones I'm in another region blowing gas
Give me another reason to go back
Foot on the pedal I ain't gon' crash
I'm on a different level see the gap
Loving myself at last I ain't sad no more
I get high to the point where I can't record
Reminiscing thinkin' 'bout California
That's where I belong at
Waiting on me but I got nu'n for ya
You playing with me yea I saw that
You playing with me I won't call back
Beverly Hills where my heart at
I promise we ain't gon' hurt no more
I just had to take it personal
Really be the ones you love the most
I accept my fate which way it goes
I was broke without a place to go to
If you moved on first ain't tryna hold you
I came in first and now they start to hate
You talk s**t but yo part you hardly play it
Depression knocked me down I'll try again
Pops died trying so I gotta win
All this pain and anger I just gotta vent
Got another chance I can't afford to blow it
Bro in military ask him how he doing
Tell me I'm a star and 'Harry you influence'
I was rocking the same outfits
Tryna put these pills down but somehow I can't seem to keep my hands off em
Tell me sober up when I can't
I been covered up in these pints
Being broke it left me insane
They all changed but I'm still the same
Still the same kid as before that's who I am
I got the world in my hands I ain't droppin' it
I came here as an accident
I'm handsome but my past was ugly
Give it plastic surgery
I was told that only God can judge me
All my flaws I'm loving it yeah
Had my back on the wall everybody left I can't blame no one but me
They all sold me dreams and I fell for it I can't shame no one but me
I was blind to what I ain't wanna see
Different time zones I'm in another region blowing gas
Give me another reason to go back
Foot on the pedal I ain't gon' crash
I'm on a different level see the gap
Loving myself at last I ain't sad no more
I get high to the point where I can't record
Reminiscing thinkin' bout California
That's where I belong at
Waiting on me but I got nu'n for ya
You playing with me yea I saw that"

Young Maylay

San Andreas Theme Song

Young Maylay is a rapper and actor from Los Angeles, active since 2000. He's known for starring in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" which was released in 2004. Besides being the theme song for the game the song is also on his Mixtape "San Andreas Original Mixtape" released in 2005. This song was determined to be the most searched for song in the state of California in the 2000s.

In the game the star Carl "CJ" Johnson (played by Young Maylay) is a Grove Street gang member who journeys through a fictional world which includes the state of San Andreas (which is based on California) and two cities in the state - San Fierro (based on San Francisco) and his home city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles.) It's all fiction, but it's close enough this list.

I don't know designer brands but I'm sure Binco and ProLaps etc. are all made up for the game as well as the Cluckin' Bell, which seems to be a combination of Chic-fil-A and Taco Bell, although in the real world isn't that just El Pollo Loco?

"Welcome to San Andreas
I'm CJ from Grove Street
Land of the heinous
Gang bangers and cold heat
In Los Santos neighbors get no sleep
Beefin' with anybody competein' even police
Four deep in a green rag with gold feet
Blast wit' the flag on the strap, that's OG!
Stay in shape, hit the gym, lift the weights
Get supercut and big and buff, nice and straight
You got stats: respect, weapon skill
Stamina, muscle, fat and sex appeal
You get clothes from Binco, and ProLaps
Suburban, Zip, Victim and D-Sachs
Watch yo' back with them rival hoods
They'll test just to guess if your survival's good (Survival's good)
Duckin' shells at the Cluckin' Bell
Jump out, bust a gun until they tuck they tail
It seems like I'm on impossible missions
Twisted predicaments, hostile positions
Tenpenny and Pulaski harass me
Cop cars been on our ass the last past week
Cause the 'Dreas's full of gangsters, homeboy
Hands is the language for the bangers, homeboy
And it's dangerous, homeboy
Get your brains 'fore how you do yo fingers, homeboy
Heat cocked, we poppin' hot ones, dump 'em out
Bend the block, shake before the cops come
Listen for sirens, they don't got none
Back another lap, catch a straggler with the shot gun
Hittin' them up, what that Grove Street like
In a dirty slingshot and old Levi's"

YourCrush

California Dreams

I can't find out information about this band or the lyrics to the song. They're probably from Italy since the song is sung in Italian. It was put on YouTube in October 2022.

Nicky Youre

Eyes On You

Nicky Youre (Nicholas Scott Ure) is a singer-songwriter from southern California, active since 2020. This upbeat pop song was released in 2022. I think the line "Sweet tea like Arizona" means he's comparing the new California girl to one of those giant cans of Arizona Beverage Company sweetened iced tea that guys like me buy at truck stops to keep us driving all night. Maybe that's not as flattering a comparison as he thinks it is....

"She new to California, she know that I adore her
She got me like, 'Ooh, I don't know what to do'
Sweet tea like Arizona, one look and I'm a goner
You're looking at me while they're looking at you
(Okay, okay)

I know she came here for me
I know she'll get it for free
She got 'em wrapped around her fingers
Got 'em down on them knees
She like a wave on the beach
She like a hundred degrees
Yeah, she made me a believer
She like heaven on me

Ooh, baby, is it you, baby?
Nah, this party isn't really my vibe (My vibe)
It's cool, baby, I got you, baby
And I know you're leaving with me tonight

She new to California, she know that I adore her
She got me like, 'Ooh, I don't know what to do'
Sweet tea like Arizona, one look and I'm a goner
You're looking at me while they're looking at you

All eyes on you
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh
All eyes on you
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh
All eyes on

She could be a movie star
So sweet she could take my heart
Can't find the words to describe it (Describe it)
Lights flash everywhere she go
Lights out when I get her home
She tells me that I'm her favorite (Her favorite)

Ooh, baby, is it you, baby?
Nah, this party isn't really my vibe (My vibe)
It's cool baby, I got you, baby
And I know you're leaving with me tonight

She new to California, she know that I adore her
She got me like, 'Ooh, I don't know what to do'
Sweet tea like Arizona, one look and I'm a goner
You're looking at me while they're looking at you

All eyes on you
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh
All eyes on you
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh (Yeah)

All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on
All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on
All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on you

She new to California (California)
She know that I adore her (She do)
She got me like, 'Ooh, I don't know what to do'
Sweet tea like Arizona (Arizona)
One look and I'm a goner (Gone, gone)
You're looking at me while they're looking at you

All eyes on you (All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on)
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh (All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on)
All eyes on you (All eyes, all eyes, all eyes on)
Ah-ah-ah, ooh, oh-oh-ooh (All eyes, all eyes, all eyes)
All eyes on you"

Yours Truly

California Sober

Yours Truly is an Australian pop-punk band formed in Sydney in 2016. This song is from their album "Toxic" to be released in August, 2024. I admit that I don't understand the lyrics. Is the singer using "California sober" to mean getting very high (fu**ed) up instead of the usual meaning of drinking and smoking legal substances in moderation? Maybe it has a different meaning down under.

(Bet you're California sober)

"I don't want you to waste my time
When yours is endless
And did it ever cross your mind?
That I'm here thinking
Maybe you'd like me more
If I'd get you high
Can't compete with that
I can't

Let me know when you come back down
It doesn't last long 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sober
Is my company not enough?
You're always fu**ed up 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sobÃÂµr

Went all the way to your house
To sit on your couch
Smok's flowing out your mouth
Now you can tell me
Would you like me more
If I'd get you high?
Can't compete with that

You're staring at me blankly
It's like you never met me
And have you thought that lately
You're starting to

Let me know when you come back down
It doesn't last long 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sober
Is my company not enough?
You're always fu**ed up 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sober

And now I can see
That you don't know what I mean
But you won't
Miss me even when it's over

(Let me know when you come back down
It doesn't last long 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sober)
Is my company not enough?
You're always fu**ed up 'cause
Every time you call me over
Bet you're California sober

I don't want you to waste my time
When yours is endless
Don't want you to waste my time
Bet you're California sober"

Youth Brigade

Sink with California

Youth Brigade is a hardcore punk band formed by three brothers in 1980 in Hollywood. This song is from the 1983 version of their album "Sound & Fury."

"Well I've been around the country and I've met a lot of kids.
Some kids are smart and some kids are dumb
But I don't pass judgement, they're just having fun.
Some kids get f****d up and others refrain,
But that's what makes the world so great no one should be the same.
The kids of the future, you can see it in their eyes,
They must overcome nationality if the world is to survive.

And we'll sink with California when it falls into the sea

Oi I'm not from England,
Je ne suis pas de France
Ich bin nicht von Deutschland
And I can't dance!
Well I could say California, it means nothing to me.
I despise nationality.
Shouldn't say that you're from north, south, east or west.
It's humanity that is the best.
Yo no soy de Mexico,
No sano de Italia.
That's all the languages we know and actually we're from Canada.
Yes we love to travel, but we love to see that California border forever and a day.

We'll sink with California when it falls into the sea.

From the mountains, to the prairies
From the desert to the sea,
I'd say California, it means nothing to me.
I despise territorality.
I don't care if you're from north, south, east or west
Live for humanity, forget the rest.
Yo i'm not from New York.
I'm not from Boston.
Y'all I ain't from Texas.
And I'm not patriotic
Cause the only patriotism that we really need
Is to sink with the world,
With humanity
And me."

James Yuill

Crying for Hollywood

James Yuill is an English musician whose style Wikipedia labels "folktronica" which is a good description of his electronic dance sound with an acoustic feel. This is from his album Movement in a Storm (2010).

"What a day this
Saturday will live on in my mind
Celebrate now
Celebrate but don't get in my way

I'm watching the shadows fall away
The sun is high in the sky today

You discovered a rainbow
You discovered a rainbow with me
Why you crying for Caesar
Why you crying for Hollywood

Better late than
Better late than never is the key
Hesitate they
Hesitate before there's certainty
I'm watching the shadows fall away
The sun is high in the sky today

You discovered a rainbow
You discovered a rainbow with me
Why you crying for Caesar
Why you crying for Hollywood...."

YUNGBLUD

It's Quiet in Beverly Hills

YUNGBLUD is a singer-songwriter from England, active since 2017. This song is from his album "21st Century Liability" released in 2018. There's also an even more frenetic live version from 2023 recorded in the UK that turns the song into a sing-along anthem. It probably woudn't work as well live in California, though, because he'd already be there.

"Got cuts on your eyes
Preachin' to me sayin' you sympathize
Misunderstanding I
Am alright, it's you that needs the glasses

Why can't you see
That I am ok you take more drugs than me
Chewing your cheek
I can't believe you put me in the straight jacket

They tried to put me on Ritalin
Visions of calming me down
They tried to put me on Ritalin
Hopin' I don't make a sound

Maybe I just need to go to California
'Cause I am young, don't wanna die, yet can't afford it
Maybe I just need to go to California
Swear that when I get old you'll blow all my brains out
Swear that when I get old you'll blow all my brains out
Blow all my brains out
Blow all my brains out

I don't understand
How I can respect you when you're such a twat
What you shocked at?
It's a matter of fact

And usually I would listen to you
But when my future's involved
I got a responsibility to sit down
And think what I should do
Shout 'F**k him, and f**k her, and f**k you too'

They tried to put me on Ritalin
Visions of calming me down
They tried to put me on Ritalin
Hopin' I don't make a sound

They tried to put me on Ritalin
Visions of calming me down
They tried to put me on Ritalin
Hopin' I don't make a sound

Maybe I just need to go to California
'Cause I am young, don't wanna die, yet can't afford it
Maybe I just need to go to California
Swear that when I get old you'll blow all my brains out
Swear that when I get old you'll blow all my brains out
Blow all my brains out
Blow all my brains out...."

YUNGBLUD

This is from the album "Weird!" released in 2020.

"I'm sat inside a goldfish tank
Where people fix themselves with rubber bands
And I don't want them to believe that I am different
I'm on a ledge that's two feet high
And contemplating silent suicide
When everybody seemed to make it

It's quiet in Beverly Hills
I'm dying in Beverly Hills

I'll love you all of my life
Until you close your eyes for good
I'll love you all of my life, all of my life
All of my life
All of my life

See, I got friends who f**k their friends
And play pretend so they can dream again
They buy their hearts from online shopping
And when what you see is make-believe
You pride yourself on what you fail to be
And therapy told me my blood was orange

It's quiet in Beverly Hills
I'm dying in Beverly Hills
It's quiet in Beverly Hills
I'm dying in Beverly Hills

I'll love you all of my life
Until you close your eyes for good
I'll love you all of my life, all of my life
All of my life
All of my life...."

Yung Phonzy (featuring Jayye Michael)

California Hills

Deshaud, known professionally as Yung Phonzy is a singer and rapper born in New York and raised in Virginia. Jayye Michael (Jalen Clemons) is a YouTube vlogger and singer who's probably also from Virginia since that's where his mother, the R&B and Gospel singer-songwriter known as Coko, lives. This sung rap song was released in 2024. I don't have all the lyrics for it yet, but this is the catchy chorus, which is repeated several times. In the video it's sung by Yung Phonzy:

"The sun don't shine in the California hills no more
I'm a long way from home and my phone don't ring no more
I said the sun don't shine in the California hills no more
I'm a long way from home and my phone don't ring no more"

Frank and Moon Zappa

Valley Girl

Legendary singer-songwriter, guitarist and ex-Mother of Invention Frank Zappa and his 14-year-old daughter Moon had a big hit in 1982 with this lampoon of the language of teenage girls from the San Fernando Valley. Unfortunately, it only popularized the stereotype and "Valspeak" and soon it seemed like most young girls were talking that way.

"Valley girl
She's a Valley girl
Valley girl
She's a Valley girl
Okay, fine
Fer sure, fer sure
She's a Valley girl
In a clothing store
Okay, fine
Fer sure, fer sure
She's a
Like, oh my god!
Valley girl
Like - totally
Valley girl
Encino is like, so bitchin'
Valley girl
There's, like, the Galleria
Valley girl
And, like, all these like really great shoe stores
I love going into, like, clothing stores and stuff
I, like, buy the neatest mini-skirts and stuff
Its like so bitchin' cuz, like, everybody's, like,
Super-super nice
Its like so bitchin'

On Ventura, there she goes
She just bought some bitchin' clothes
Tosses her head 'n flips her hair
She got a whole bunch of nothin in there."

Frank Zappa

Uncle Remus

Fank Zappa was a singer-songwriter and bandleader born in Maryland and relocated to California as a boy, active in music from 1955-1993, producing more than 60 albums. This is a progressive rock song from Zappa's 1974 album "Apostrophe." People used to put statues on their front lawn next to the street depicting African American jockeys holding rings that could be used as hitching posts for horses. These "lawn Jockeys" are what Zappa is referring to in this song. Most people consider them symbols of racism but others point out that colored ribbons tied to the jockeys were a system of communication with escaping slaves in the days of the Underground Railroad.

"Woah, are we movin' too slow?
Have you seen us,
Uncle Remus . . .
We look pretty sharp in these clothes (yes, we do)
Unless we get sprayed with a hose
It ain't bad in the day
If they squirt it your way
'Cept in the winter, when it's froze
An' it's hard if it hits
On yer nose
On yer nose

Just keep yer nose
To the grindstone, they say
Will that redeem us,
Uncle Remus . . .
I can't wait till my fro is full-grown
I'll just throw 'way my doo-rag at home
I'll take a drive to Beverly Hills
Just before dawn
An' knock the little jockeys
Off the rich people's lawn
An' before they get up
I'll be gone, I'll be gone
Before they get up
I'll be knocking the jockeys off the lawn
Down in the dew"

Frank Zappa

Village of the Sun

This is from the live album "Roxy & Elsewhere" recorded live at the Roxy in Hollywood in 1973. Sun Village is an unincorporated community in L.A. County in the eastern Antelope Valley a few miles east of Palmdale.

[Spoken Introduction]
"Thank you... thank you very much... awright, does anybody here know where Palmdale is? You do? Good, do you, have you ever heard of a place called Sun Village? You, some, some of you know where Sun Village is, awright, it's out in back on Palmdale, awright. At one time, that used to be a, uh, big place for... raisin' turkeys, and, uh, I went to high school in Lancaster which is not far from, uh, from, uh, Palm... Oh! Is it very good for other things out there now? Good... (Ken, turn me up so they can hear what I'm saying) Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a song about this place where I used to live where they used to raise turkeys (ready...?)

Goin' back home
To the Village of the Sun
Out in back of Palmdale
Where the turkey farmers run, I done
Made up my mind
And I know I'm gonna go to Sun Village
Good God I hope the
Wind don't blow

It take the paint off your car
And wrecks your windshield too
I don't know how the people stand it
But I guess they do
Cause they're all still there
Even Johnny Franklin too
In the Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun, son
(Sun Village to you-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, well!)

Little Mary, and Teddy, and Thelma too, now
Where Palmdale Boulevard, wo!
Cuts on through
Past the Village Inn, well, & Barbecue now, yeah
I heard it ain't there
Well I hope it ain't true
Where the stumblers gonna go
To watch the lights turn blue?
Where the stumblers gonna go
To watch the lights turn blue-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-wahhh?

Goin' back home
To the Village of the Sun
Out in back of Palmdale
Where the turkey farmers run, I done
Made up my mind
And I know I'm gonna go to Sun Village
Good God I hope the
Wind don't blow

It take the paint off your car
And wrecks your windshield too,
I don't know how the people stand it
But I guess they do
Cause they're all still there
Even Johnny Franklin too
In the Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun, son
(Sun Village to you-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, well!)"

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

Camarillo Brillo

This is from the album "Over-nite Sensation" released in 1973. Camarillo is a city in Ventura County that Zappa pronounces it to rhyme with "Brillo" as in the scouring pad. I guess her hair is like a Brillo pad. That would go well with her gray-green witch's skin.

"She had that
Camarillo Brillo
Flamin' out along her head,
I mean her Mendocino bean-o
By where some bugs had made it red

She ruled the toads of the Short Forest
And every newt in Idaho
And every cricket who had chorused
By the bush in Buffalo

She said she was
A Magic Mama
And she could throw a mean Tarot
And carried on without a comma
That she was someone I should know

She had a snake for a pet
And an amulet
And she was breeding a dwarf
But she wasn't done yet
She had gray-green skin
A doll with a pin
I told her she was alright
But I couldn't come in
(I couldn't come in right then)

And so she wandered
Through the doorway
Just like a shadow from the tomb
She said her stereo was four-way
An' I'd just love it in her room

Well, I was born
To have adventure
So I just followed up the steps
Right past her fuming incense stencher
To where she hung her castanets

She stripped away
Her rancid poncho
And laid out naked by the door
We did it till we were un-concho
And it was useless any more

She had a snake for a pet
And an amulet
And she was breeding a dwarf
But she wasn't done yet
She had gray-green skin
A doll with a pin
I told her she was alright
But I couldn't come in
(Actually, I was very busy then)

And so she wandered
Through the doorway
Just like a shadow from the tomb
She said her stereo was four-way
And I'd just love it in her room

Well, I was born
To have adventure
So I just followed up the steps
Right past her fuming incense stencher
To where she hung her castanets

She said she was
A Magic Mama
And she could throw a mean Tarot
And carried on without a comma
That she was someone I should know

(Is that a real poncho... I mean
Is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
Hmmm... no fooling...)"

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

San Ber'dino

This is a crazy progressive rock song from the band's last studio album "One Size Fits All" released in 1975.

"She lives in Mojave in a Winnebago
His name is Bobby, he looks like a potato

She's in love with a boy
From the rodeo
Who pulls the rope on the chute
When they let those suckers go
(Yeah-hey! Suckers!)

He got slobberin' drunk at the Palomino
They give him thirty days in San Ber'dino

Well there's forty-four men
Stashed away in Tank "C"
An' there's only one shower
But it don't apply to Bobby

You may think they're
Dumb an' lonely
But you're wrong
'Cause their love is strong
Stacked-up hair
An' a cheap little ring
They don't care
'Cause it don't mean a thing

Looka there . . .
They don't care

Best-est way that
They can feel-o
Out on the highway
Rollin' a wheel-o
He's her Tootsie
She's for real-o
Trailer park heaven
It's a real good deal-o
Real good deal-o
Real good deal-o
Real good deal-o
Real good deal-o

The rest of their lives
In San Ber'dino
Gonna spend the rest of their lives
In San Ber'dino
Gonna spend the rest of their lives
Down in San Ber'dino
Come on with me
Come on with me
Come on with me
Down in San Ber'dino
Just 60 miles, 60 miles
Down the San Ber'dino freeway
They got some dark green air
An' you can choke all day
That's right!
Gonna spend the rest of their lives
Rest of their lives
Rest of their lives

Say now,
Ain't talkin' 'bout Fontana
Ain't talkin' 'bout uh uh
Ain't talkin' 'bout uh uh
Ain't talkin' 'bout uh uh
Ain't talkin' 'bout the Redlands, no no
ZULCH is the auto works
I'm tellin' you
That's where they take
All the cars that they hurt
Come on and let's all go down to San Ber'dino
Ooo-ooo
Ooo-ooo
Ooo-ooo
Let's-a go down down down
Down in San Ber'dino
Wouldja b'lieve it
Wouldja b'lieve it now, come on
San Ber'dino
San Ber'dino
San Ber'dino
(Got to call it)
San Ber'dino
(C'mere)
San Ber'dino
San Ber'dino
San Ber'dino
San Ber'dino
(Oh, God, they all stay there)
The rest of their lives
In San Ber'dino

Oh Bobby, I'm sorry you gotta head like a potato
I really am
(Ketchup!)"

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

Son of Orange County

This song, from the live album "Roxy & Elsewhere" released in 1973, is about Richard Nixon, who grew up in Yorba Linda in Orange County. He was a U.S. Senator from California, the Vice President, and finally the President of the U.S.A. until he resigned in 1974 because of his complicity in the Watergate break-in scandal which was investigated throughout 1973 and was on everybody's mind when this song was recorded. His statement regarding the scandal "I am not a crook" is still an internet meme all these years later.

"And in your dreams
You can see yourself
As a prophet
Saving the world
The words from your lips
(I AM NOT A CROOK)
I just can't believe you are such
A fool

I just can't believe
You are such a fool
I just can't believe
You are such a fool
I just can't believe
You are such a fool
I just can't believe
You are such a fool"

Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and The Mothers

Cucamonga

Captain Beefheart was Don Glen Vliet, a singer-songwriter and visual artist from Glendale, California, active from 1964-1982. This is from the collaborative album "Bongo Fury" released in 1975. Rancho Cucamonga is a city in San Bernardino County. Cucamonga was one of Jack Benny's favorite words, because it's so much fun to say.

"Out in Cucamonga
Many years ago
Near a Holy Roller Church
There was once a place
Where me and a couple of friends
Began practicing for the time
We might go
Yeah ah-ah, yeah ah-ah
Well, well
Yeah ah-ah, yeah ah-ah
Well, well
Yeah ah-ah, yeah ah-ah
On TV

And as fate would have it
Later on we got a chance to play
All we ever really knew
All we ever really knew
All we ever really knew
That it was crazy
(Nanook-a, no no)
(Yoo-hoo-hoo yoo-hoo yoo!)
To be doin' it any other way
That it was crazy
(Nanook-a, no no)
To be doin' it any other way
That it was crazy
(Nanook-a, no no)
To be doin' it any other way
Yes, it was CRAZY, CRAZY"

Zebrahead

Get Back

Zebrahead is a rock band formed in La Habra, California in 1996. This song is from their album "Waste of Mind" released in 1998. Not only does it name check Donald Trump, it has the bad taste to rhyme disco with San Francisco.

"Here comes the boom
I got game like Kobe, act like you know me,
If you rhyme better well then kid you best show me
Fly by wrecking, never come in second, fists in my pocket
And use my words as my weapon
Ghetto blaster thumping, girlies are bumping,
Got to get the dough like my man Donald Trump and
Set this in motion, jaws in the ocean,
If you need a rhyme well, then kid I got the potion

Damn
Building this up like a high rise,
Better yet phatter than Nell Carter's right thigh
Coming in slanging, never leave you hanging,
If you talk then on your door I'm banging
Twisting up hip hop, running with my flip flops,
Past all the cops just chilling in the donut shops
For no other reason, no it ain't treason,
Just coming up cause this is the zebrahead season
Get it back

I didn't want it
Didn't need it
My time is the only thing that you have taken
So above the world, don't be mistaken
Get it back
I didn't want it
Didn't need it
You've lost the only thing that you were given
Afraid to stand alone, so now you're tripping

Living life disco,
Here to San Francisco,
Do my own stunts cause I like to take the risk, yo
Punk rock rhyming, rap is always climbing,
Like your first time cause I'll pop out your hymen
With the bass drum booming, jump up in the room and,
Watch the walls sway cause the groove is grooving
Got your hands shaking, suckers that I'm baking,
Made you look dumb cause it's your girl that I'm
Taking
What?

Let me set this off like a bomb,
Have your ass stepping like Jerry had Tom and I'm gone
With the free style form that I'm kicking,
Have your ass tripping, with the rhymes that I'm flipping
And this ain't no west coast thing,
It's a world wide ring with the style we bring, right?
So watch the dime drop as I harvest my crop cause
I'm going to ride this to the top"

Arizona Zervas

Roxanne

Arizona Zervas is a singer/songwriter from Maryland. This melodic sung rap song was a big hit on the pop charts in 2019. The Roxanne here is not the girl from the Police song with the red light on, she's a rich girl from Malibu who lives on a diet of cocaine and Whole Foods when she's not dining at NOBU or partying in Beverly Hills, and she only rides in foreign convertibles. I'll keep the top down on my Yugo for her.

"All for the gram
B***hes love the gram
Oh wait s**t
Brr brr
Brr brr brr
Skrrt skrrt

Roxanne
Roxanne
All she wanna do is party all night
God damn, Roxanne
Never gonna love me but it's alright
She think I'm a a**hole
She think I'm a player
She keep running back though
Only 'cause I pay up
Roxanne
Roxanne
All she wanna do is party all night

Met her at a party in the Hills, yeah
She just wanna do it for the thrill, yeah
Shorty drive a poodle with no top
But if I throw this money she gon' drop
She don't wait in lines if it's too long
She don't drive the whip unless the roof off
Only want to call when the cash out
Only take the pic when her ass out

She from
Malibu, Malibu
If you ain't got a foreign then she laugh at you
Malibu, Malibu
Spending daddy's money with a attitude

Roxanne
Roxanne
All she wanna do is party all night
God damn, Roxanne
Never gonna love me but it's alright
She think I'm a a**hole
She think I'm a player
She keep running back though
Only 'cause I pay up
Roxanne
Roxanne
All she wanna do is party all night

I just wanna have fun!
In L.A., yeah
Got no brakes, yeah
Living fast, Ricky Bobby, shake and bake, yeah
See the chain? yeah
It's a late, yeah
Swipe the chase, ooo
Now she wanna date, yeah
Straight to NOBU
On the coast ooh
Shorty only like cocaine and Whole Foods
Yeah
Snappin' all up on the gram
Ass going crazy
Now she wanna f**k me in the foreign
Going 80

Up In
Malibu, Malibu
If you ain't got a foreign then she laugh at you
Malibu, Malibu
Spending daddy's money with a attitude

Roxanne
Roxanne...."

Warren Zevon

Carmelita

Warren Zevon was a musician and singer/songwriter from Chicago who produced a number of great rock hits beginning in the 1960s. He spent a lot of time living in California, mostly in L.A., which explains all his L.A. references.This song is from his 1976 album "Warren Zevon." This is a quiet acoustic rock song with a beautiful melody and a dark subject - the singer, a writer with a Mexican girlfriend, has a drug problem in downtown L.A. Linda Ronstadt and others have covered the song, but Zevon wrote it, and I prefer to give credit to the songwriters, without whom singers are just paperweights. (Pioneer Chicken was a fried chicken restaurant franchise founded in Echo Park in 1961.)

"I hear mariachi static on my radio
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I'm there with her in Ensenada
And I'm here in Echo Park

Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinkin' down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

Where I'm sittin' here playin' solitaire
With my pearl-handled deck
The county won't give me no more methadone
And they cut off your welfare check

Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinkin' down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

Well, I pawned my Smith Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer Chicken stand

Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinkin' down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinkin' down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town"

Warren Zevon

Desperados Under the Eaves

This song is from the album "Warren Zevon" released in 1976. Beach Boy Carl Wilson sings background vocals as Zevon sings an autobiographical story about about an alcoholic in a cheap hotel trying to make it in Los Angeles. According to his son, when he was just starting out Zevon lived in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel on Gower street but couldn't pay his bill so he climbed out the bathroom window (like a desperado under the eaves). He later returned to settle the debt.

"I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I'm gonna drink 'em up

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this hotel will be standing until I pay my bill

Don't the sun look angry through the trees
Don't the trees look like crucified thieves
Don't you feel like Desperados under the eaves
Heaven help the one who leaves

Still waking up in the mornings with shaking hands
And I'm trying to find a girl who understands me
But except in dreams you're never really free
Don't the sun look angry at me

I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was listening to the air conditioner hum
It went mmmmmm

Look away
Look away down Gower Avenue
Look away
Look away down Gower Avenue
Look away...."

Warren Zevon (featuring Bruce Springsteen)

Disorder in the House

This song is from Zevon's twelfth and final multiple Grammy-award-winning album "The Wind" released in 2003 two weeks before his death. The song won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance (Group or Duo.) It mentions a choice between a night in Paris or a matinee in Fresno. When I was younger I chose to spend a few nights in Paris, but these days I think I'd choose the popcorn over the patisserie.

"Disorder in the house
The tub runneth over
Plaster's falling down in pieces by the couch of pain

Disorder in the house
Time to duck and cover
Helicopters hover over rough terrain

Disorder in the house
Reptile wisdom
Zombies on the lawn staggering around

Disorder in the house
There's a flaw in the system
And the fly in the ointment's gonna bring the whole thing down

The floodgates are open
We've let the demons loose
The big guns have spoken
And we've fallen for the ruse

Disorder in the house
It's a fate worse than fame
Even the Lhasa Apso seems to be ashamed

Disorder in the house
The doors are coming off the hinges
The earth will open and swallow up the real estate

I just got my paycheck
I'm gonna paint the whole town grey
Whether it's a night in Paris or a Fresno matinee

It's the home of the brave and the land of the free
Where the less you know the better off you'll be

Disorder in the house
All bets are off
I'm sprawled across the davenport of despair

Disorder in the house
I'll live with the losses
And watch the sundown through the portiere"

Warren Zevon

Gorilla, You're a Desperado

This song about L.A. celebrity life is from Zevon's album "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School" released in 1980. In looking that up, I just learned that the term "dancing school" has been a euphemism for a brothel since the mid-17th century, and that L'Emitage is a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills, built in 1975. Thank you Wikipedia.

"Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place

I wish the ape a lot of success
I'm sorry my apartment's a mess
Most of all I'm sorry if I made you blue
I'm betting the gorilla will, too

They say Jesus will find you wherever you go
But when He'll come looking for you, they don't know
In the mean time, keep your profile low
Gorilla, you're a desperado

He built a house on an acre of land
He called it Villa Gorilla Now
I hear he's getting divorced
Laying low at L'Ermitage, of course

Then the ape grew very depressed
Went through Transactional Analysis
He plays racquetball and runs in the rain
Still he's shackled to a platinum chain

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place"

Warren Zevon

Gridlock

This is from Warren Zevon's album "Transverse City" released in 1989. It's a subject almost everyone can relate to. According to Mary McGhee, who told me about the song "[Zevon] never actually mentions LA, and plenty of other places have horrendously jammed-up freeways. But he gives it away when he talks about the CHP [California Highway Patrol], and taking the RTD (LA’s regional transit agency prior to 1993)."

"It's 5:00 P.M. on a weekday, friend
There's one of me and two million of them
The whistle blows and the factories close
There's a million more commuters on the access roads
The brake lights flash--there's an RV crashed
I'm in the passing lane going nowhere fast
The traffic crawls and the engine stalls
I'm stuck on the edge of the urban sprawl

Gridlock
Up ahead
There's a line of cars as far as I can see
Gridlock
Goin' nowhere
Roll down the window, let me scream

Oh yeah, ain't it a shame
We're all jammed up at the interchange
The paramedics and the CHP
Wait impatiently for catastrophes
I'm spending half my days like this
I might as well be working on the midnight shift
The radio's tuned to the traffic news
And everybody's choking on monoxide fumes

Gridlock
Up ahead
There's a line of cars as far as I can see
Gridlock
Goin' nowhere
Roll down the window, let me scream
I can close my eyes and dream
I can close my eyes and dream
I can close my eyes and dream

It's 5:00 PM on a weekday, friend
I'm going home but I don't know when
I hate this traffic and I hate this town
Gotta honk my horn, try to get around
I feel like going on a killing spree
Tomorrow I'm going on the RTD
The traffic crawls and the engine stalls
I'm stuck on the edge of the urban sprawl

Gridlock
Up ahead
There's a line of cars as far as I can see
Gridlock
Goin' nowhere
Roll down the window, let me scream
I can close my eyes and dream"

Warren Zevon

Join Me in L.A.

This song is from Zevon's second album "Warren Zevon" released in 1976.
The Tropicana was a cheap motel in West Hollywood where a lot of musicians and actors stayed or lived in the '60s and '70s. The list of musicians is amazing. It includes Joan Jett, the Ramones, Jim Morrison, The Byrds, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Janis Joplin, Blondie, Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Sly Stone, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, The Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys, and Martha and the Vandellas. Andy Warhol even filmed two of his underground movies there in the '70s. So of course they tore it down. Maybe that place is evil.

"Well they say this place is evil
That ain't why I stay
'Cause I found something that'll never be nothing
And I found it in L.A.

Well, they say this place is evil
That ain't why I stay
'Cause I found something
That will never be nothing
And I found it in L.A.

It was midnight in Topanga
I heard the DJ say
There's a full moon rising
Join me in L.A.

wake up . . . wake up

I was at the Tropicana
On a dark and sultry day
Had to call somebody long distance
I said "Join me in L.A."
Join me in L.A."

Warren Zevon

Poor Poor Pitiful Me

This is from the album "Warren Zevon" released in 1976. The Rainbow Bar & Grill is on Sunset Boulevard. The Hyatt House was a hotel on the Sunset Strip that was called the "Riot House" in the 1970s because of its wild reputation from all the rock stars who stayed there, riding motorcycles down the halls, throwing televisions out the windows, destroying rooms - the usual rock star debauchery. Linda Ronstadt covered the song a year later with different lyrics that replace the references to the Rainbow Bar and the Hyatt House with this:

"Well I met a boy in the Vieux Carres
Down in Yokohama
He picked me up and he threw me down
He said 'Please don't hurt me Mama' "

Zevon also sings those lines in many live recordings and cover versions by Jackson Browne with Bonnie Raitt and by Terri Clark also use the Yokohama lines. Zevon most likely changed the lines to get rid of the line with a girl asking the singer to beat her. That's not a pleasant thing to hear in a song.

"I lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double E
The railroad don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woe is me

Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood
I ain't naming names
But she really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

Woo!

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar
She asked me if I'd beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don't want to talk about it, hey

Poor, poor pitiful me, woo!
Poor, poor pitiful me, ha, never mind, yeah
Poor, poor pitiful me, woo-hoo, yeah
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me"

Zola