# Songs about California **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440 "2013-04-22T23:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/101 "2013-04-24T03:03:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _Oh! Susanna_, Stephen Foster (I’m bound for California with my banjo on my knee) > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The ever-popular nitpick: every version I see says “I’m bound for Alabama…” No, the lyric is (more or less) “I come from Alabama With a banjo on my knee. I’m going to Louisiana, My true love for to see.” There’s also a Tin Pan Alley vaudeville-era song called [_Alabammy Bound_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabamy_Bound). > [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > Lots of good stuff here; allow me to throw in > > “The Beverly Hillbillies Theme” by Flatt and Scruggs Properly known as [“The Ballad of Jed Clampett”.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad_of_Jed_Clampett) My own contributions: Billy Joel, _Stop in Nevada_ (“Oh, and now she’s headin’ out to California…”) Also _We Didn’t Start the Fire_ (mentions “Disneyland” and “California baseball”) Kris Kristofferson, _Me and Bobby McGee_ (“From the coal mines of Kentucky to the California sun” and “Then somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away”) Steve Miller Band, _Keep On Rocking Me Baby_ (“Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A. / Northern California / Where the girls are warm”) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/102 "2013-04-24T03:33:00Z")
“Sometimes I feel like my only friend Is the city I live in, the city of Angels” _Under the Bridge_ by Red Hot Chili Peppers ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/103 "2013-04-24T03:45:24Z")
“Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign” - Dory Previn. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/104 "2013-04-24T03:47:01Z")
Stan Rogers **California** Now it’s getting so I’m mad when someone says your name 'Cause I’ve had to say goodbye to friends who couldn’t stay away California My friends all call you home And if you take away another I’ll be that much more alone ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/105 "2013-04-24T03:49:29Z")
“Let’s Go to San Francisco” - The Flowerpot Men. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/106 "2013-04-24T04:03:45Z")
**California Promises** : sad little love ballad from Jimmy Buffett ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/107 "2013-04-24T06:58:13Z")
[Mendocino](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_KeqmdiQoY), the Sir Douglas Quintet ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/108 "2013-04-24T14:55:11Z")
Did you just hear _Mendocino_ on “A Prairie Home Companion” this weekend, **Bumbershoot**? I did. And was so surprised. Had totally forgotten about that cheerful little ditty. Now I just thought of Frank and Moon Unit’s song _Valley Girl._ ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/109 "2013-04-24T14:57:13Z")
Malvina Reynolds’ _Little Boxes._ Daly City! ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/110 "2013-04-24T15:13:17Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Did you just hear _Mendocino_ on “A Prairie Home Companion” this weekend, **Bumbershoot**? > > I did. And was so surprised. Had totally forgotten about that cheerful little ditty. > > Now I just thought of Frank and Moon Unit’s song _Valley Girl._ No, it just popped into my head while I was thinking about this thread and the thread about [Great Driving Songs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689061). I’ve had [Live Texas Tornado](http://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Quintet-Texas-Tornado-vinyl/dp/B0033IIYRM/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1366815633&sr=1-4&keywords=sir+douglas+quintet+live) by the Sir Douglas Quintet on vinyl for at least 25 years and converted it to CD several years ago. It’s a great road trip album and I still listen to it now and then, even if I don’t do near as much traveling as I used to. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/111 "2013-04-24T15:22:44Z")
> [@Pops\_Negro](#): > > Somehow I forgot the late great Warren Zevon’s “Desperadoes Under the Eaves.” Also “[Carmelita](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9L8jLPE84g)” (Echo Park, Alvarado Street). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/112 "2013-04-24T16:47:08Z")
More from Frank Zappa - “Cucamonga,” “San Ber’dino,” “Billy the Mountain,” “Who Needs the Peace Corps?” Those are ones where the California setting is central to the song. There are tons of others that mention California or places in California in passing. There’s also “If We’d All Been Living in California,” but that’s not an actual song. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/113 "2013-04-24T17:01:13Z")
[Sauslito Summernight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebDZvy7WKTg) Can’t believe I remember and actually kind of like this '80’s tune (don’t tell anyone.) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/114 "2013-04-24T17:27:50Z")
I just remembered this one, which got a lot of airplay when it came out in 1970 and has pretty much been forgotten since (deservedly, in my opinion): [Mill Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YaWE0zu-c) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/115 "2013-04-24T20:09:03Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > [Mendocino](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_KeqmdiQoY), the Sir Douglas Quintet **(Talk to Me of) Mendocino** Kate and Anna McGarrigle And it’s on to Southbend, Indiana Flat out on the Western plains Rise up over the Rockies and down on into California Out to where but the rocks remain And let the sun set on the ocean I will watch it from the shore Let the sun rise over the redwoods I’ll rise with it till I rise no more ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/116 "2013-04-24T20:17:02Z")
Tom Paxton’s absolutely beautiful [She’s Gone to California](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b50Spz_M-RU) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/117 "2013-04-24T20:30:30Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I just remembered this one, which got a lot of airplay when it came out in 1970 and has pretty much been forgotten since (deservedly, in my opinion): > > [Mill Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YaWE0zu-c) Actually, as far as being forgotten, it seems like they run an article about it in the SF Chronicle every five years or so to say “Hey, remember this?” ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/118 "2013-04-24T23:25:28Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I just remembered this one, which got a lot of airplay when it came out in 1970 and has pretty much been forgotten since (deservedly, in my opinion): > [Mill Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YaWE0zu-c) Oh dear. Oh dearo, dearo, dear. Makes me ashamed to have lived through that decade. ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/119 "2013-04-25T00:15:56Z")
Check My Brain by Alice in Chains [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SBcADQziQWY/hqdefault.jpg "Alice In Chains - Check My Brain") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBcADQziQWY) ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440/120 "2013-04-25T00:20:44Z")
Malibu by Hole [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rn_LpdGReo) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-california/656440.md?page=7)