California

(album: Retrospect - 2011)

California, California
Know I love you, California
When I leave I know you wait for me
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
Your streets are wide and dirty
You have raised me in a hurry
You're the city of the angels yes indeed

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, theres no place I'd rather be

In the mountains, in the mountains
No one knows you like I do
In summer streams or knee deep in the snow
Just like the giving tree you have made a man of me
Everyone needs someplace beautiful
I think everyone needs someplace beautiful

In the valley, in the valley
Give me life and cradle me
The sun is setting as I drive ahead
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
All the ones who once were strong
Oh won't you keep their fate from claiming me

In the ocean, in the sea
We have seen eternity
How can I tell when you really end
I'll 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

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
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
California you're the place for me
California won't you save a place for me