Lyrics to
California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles

This version of California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles was released by Beach Boys in 1973.

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An eagle’s nest on the head of an old redwood on one of the
Precipice-footed ridges
Above Ventana Creek, that jagged country which nothing but a fallen
Meteor will ever plow: no horseman
Will ever ride there, no hunter cross this ridge but the winged ones, no
One will steal the eggs from this fortress.
The she-eagle is old, her mate was shot long ago, she is now mated
With a son of hers.
When lightning blasted her nest she built it again on the same tree, in
The splinters of the thunder bolt.

In a broken shack an old man takes his time about dyin’
And just at the back a wild flowerbed that he’ll lie in
In dawn’s new light a man might venture
A horse drawn stage from Monterey.

The she-eagle is older than I: she was here when the fires of eighty-five
Raged on these ridges,
She was lately fledged and dared not hunt ahead of them, but ate scorched meat.
The world has changed in her time; humanity has multiplied,
But not here; men’s hopes and thoughts and customs have changed, their
Powers are enlarged, their powers and their follies have become fantastic.

Spilled down the hill a wagon load of bodies lay scattered, shipwrecked at sea.
Limestone ore is all that mattered.
They took it from the hills right through the cargo doors
How many ships have come and gone at Thurso’s landing shore?

The unstable animal never has been changed so rapidly.
The motor and the plane and the great war have gone over him,
And Lenin has lived and Jehovah died: while the mother-eagle
Hunts her same hills, crying the same beautiful and lonely cry
And is never tired: dreams the same dreams,
And hears at night the rock-slides rattle and thunder in the
Throats of these living mountains.
It is good for man
To try all changes, progress and corruption, powers, peace and anguish,
Not to go down the dinosaur’s way
Until all his capacities have been explored: and it is good for him
To know that his needs and nature are no more changed, in fact, in ten
Thousand years than the beaks of eagles.
Of the eagle’s plight, we know that nature’s balance is undone.
And it’s the birthright of man to unify and live his life as one.
A whisper of the word will let you soar with your soul.

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Beach Boys has released many songs over the years besides California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles. Beach Boys released songs from 1962 to 1992 spanning across albums like Surfin' Safari, Little Deuce Coupe, Surfer Girl, Surfin' USA, Shut Down Volume 2, All Summer Long, Christmas Album, Beach Boys' Party!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Today!, Pet Sounds, Wild Honey, Smiley Smile, Friends, 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl And The Passions: So Tough, Mount Vernon And Fairway, Holland, 15 Big Ones, Love You, M.I.U. Album, L.A. (Light Album), Keepin' The Summer Alive, The Beach Boys, Still Cruisin', and Summer In Paradise. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Beach Boys.

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About Lyrics and California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles by Beach Boys

The lyrics for California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles are defined as the words making up the song released by Beach Boys in 1973. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Beach Boys and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles by Beach Boys if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles" means the words set to the music of California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Beach Boys. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles and the lyrics to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Beach Boys who came here looking just for the lyrics to California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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