Think about it: nobody ever writes songs about going to New York. All the songs about New York assume you are already there. Stranded, shattered, in some kind of unique State Of Mind.
California, however, is a destination. The ultimate destination. The perfect destination.
Because, wherever you are, you'd probably rather be in California.
Throughout it's history, all roads led to California. The Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail all crossed rugged mountains and harsh deserts to get to that unique patch of land variously occupied by Spain, Russia, Argentina and then Mexico, scraping out it's own independence under the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. Everything changed in 1848, when gold was discovered in them 'thar hills. In a very short time California's non-native population went from around 15,000 to over 300,000 in just a couple of years. California had indeed become the Golden State.
And from that day to this, whether is be starlets from Idaho or Iowa coming to be discovered, Okies escaping the dust bowl, hippies heading to the Haight-Ashbury or programmers heading to the new Mecca of Silicone Vally, wherever you are, you'd probably rather be in California.
Not in actual California, mind, with the smog, the traffic, crime, the insanely high taxes and miles and miles of souless freeways and shopping malls. No, everyone is always looking towards that imagined Nirvana of California.
The Palm trees, the beaches, mountains, redwoods, the laid back easy-life populated by all the beautiful people. Famous people. Interesting people. Watching warm, golden sunsets every evening.
The idea of packing up your old kit bag and making due West probably first made it into popular culture by Al Jolson singing "California, Here I Come," written for the 1921 Broadway musical Bombo. Certainly a whole new generation was inspired when Ricky and the gang sang "California, Here I Come" as their single-song road trip mix tape. I wonder how many times you can sing that song driving from New York to Los Angeles in a 1955 Pontiac Star Chief? And where the hell is their dashboard?
California, Here I Come
Right back where I started from
Where bowers of flowers
Bloom in the spring
Each morning at dawning
Birdies sing at everything
A sunkisted miss said don't be late
That's why I can hardly wait
Open up that golden gate
California, Here I Come
Pure fantasy. Each morning at dawning birdies sing at everything? Please.
Going to California by Led Zeppelin is the perfect example of the longing to journey to the magical west, the golden coast, the zeitgeist zion. Supposedly inspired by the song California by Joni Mitchell, at least that song had some connection to reality. You can imagine Joni actually sitting in a real park in Paris feeling homesick, put off by the old and cold of Europe:
Sitting in a park in Paris, France
Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won't give peace a chance
That was just a dream some of us had
Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn't want to stay here
It's too old and cold and settled in it's ways here
Oh, but California
California I'm coming home
Going to California doesn't suffer any of that pretension of being rooted in reality. Plant and Co. even admit as much, that the California he's going to (with an aching in his heart), is pure fabrication:
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born
Indeed. Which of course makes it perfect. And just about as magical as any song can get.
Can you imagine searching in Michigan for a woman who's never, never, never been born?
Thought not.
Of course, there are many other musical examples of people longing to make that trip to the Golden Coast. From the high song craft of Frank Black to the abhorrent dung of Phantom Planet, the journey to California has been the inspiration for thousands of dreamers. And songwriters.
For me, Sophie B. Hawkins gets into the second spot on our TWOfer Tuesday for a couple of reasons; First, she's one of my favourite artists and criminally underrated and, two, any pop song that can slip in The Lord's Prayer gets props for pure ambition.
Wherever you are, you'd probably rather be in California.
For the first time, at least. Unfortunately, LL Cool J doesn't think Going Back To Cali is such a good idea.
2 comments:
Huh? "Nobody ever writes songs about going to New York"? What about "New York State of Mind," Billy Joel?" (Better done, in my opinion, by Babs, herself.) All about the longing to get to New York, having seen "all the movie stars and their fancy cars."
Just wonderin'
Fair point, I'll concede that the first sentence should probably say, "Hardly anyone" writes songs about going to NY.
However "New York State Of Mind" is mostly about missing New York, not actually traveling to New York.
Sure, the line "I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line, 'Cause I'm in a New York state of mind" but (and please note, I've only just Googled this, and never actually been to NY myself), the Hudson River Lines only runs between New York to Albany, hardly the epic journey songs like Going To California talk about. And it's sort of tacked on at the end, like an afterthought.
But, my point is this; I've listed 7 about going to California in this post, and I have more coming this week.
NYSOM is one song. You got any others about traveling to New York?
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