Sometimes, if you want to say something personal and vulnerable, it’s easier if you wrap it up in a disguise. That’s why you can tell things on anonymous internet that you can’t to your best friend. If you wear a mask of crown, what will come out?
That’s what I think of when I hear this song. Yes, on the surface, it’s a catchy song about California — but that’s not all there is.
So I found myself in the sun, oh yeah…
A hell of a place to end a run, oh yeah…I walked these streets, I creep and I fall, oh yeah…
When she sang I answered the call, oh yeah…I hung my guns and put ’em away, oh yeah…
A trick of the trade and by the way, oh yeah…California, I’m fine
Somebody check my brain
California is all right
Somebody check my brainTears will fill my bong
Years expended, gone
To me, it’s at once a relief as well as a lament. Battle weary and broken, a soldier finally learns to “hung my guns and put ’em away.” And he’s still alive, he’s still in one piece, despite all the mistakes, all the wrong turns he took. California, I’m fine. I’m still here.
But the price he paid, the toll it took is also huge. You can’t buy back the time.
We’re still here, though, and we have much life yet to live. Starting late is better than never. Some of us didn’t make it this far. We gotta live, for them, too.