Quiet Beach House Nights

Driving down Highway 5
[?] by my side
Looking off at desert sand
I can imagine or pretend
That I'm on the road again
Driving through Israel or Spain
I remember both the pleasure and the pain
That comes with being away
Southern California sun
Nice to leave the fog back home
Walk through the shiny clean suburbs
And say hello to friendly neighbors
Walk along the pretty flowers
Talk to my sister for hours
Firecrackers and biscuits
Bougainvillea and lavender

Driving up Highway 5
Recall Gavin Newsom signs
Everybody's picking sides
At the Harris [?] express line
We talked about the recent past
Our fishing, I caught a spotted sea bass
And we ate that, and we ate croakers for breakfast
And the stingrays, I threw 'em back
Quiet beach house nights
White walls and Spanish tile
This highway goes on for miles and miles
Oh yeah, the swimming pool is nice at night
Driving through the South Bay
The air tonight is cool and gray
Well there's the city where all my dreams came true
And that's the city where I met you

Oh here we are back home
The smoky air
Forest fires burn this time every year
I walk along to the aquatic park pier
And take a photo of the bay
The sky is an ashtray shade of gray
Nice to get out and walk, either way
I walk back home through Russian Hill
Doves nesting outside my windowsill

The California fires are growing
Ripping through South Lake Tahoe
Oh, the California fires
Will my house out there survive?
Ain't nothing I can do but let it go
Got no ability to predict or control
The South Louisiana floods
Trees uprooted from the ground
Roofs flying off the buildings
Houses counting up Covid victims
And all the electric went last week
What was I pouting about?
Hey, I got you, and you got me
And we got our families
And music, and melodies