Lyrics to
California

Released by Joni Mitchell in 1971
From the Album: Blue |

This version of California was released by Joni Mitchell in 1971.

Our About Joni Mitchell page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for California from 1971 as well as all of the other lyrics from Joni Mitchell that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Joni Mitchell or about the 1970s in general.

Sitting in a park in Paris, France
Reading in the news and it sure looks bad
They won’t give peace a chance
That was just a dream some of us had
Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn’t stay here
It’s too old and cold and settled in its ways here.

Oh, but California
California I’m coming home
I’m going to see the folks I dig
I’ll even kiss a sunset pig
California I’m coming home.

I met a redneck on a Grecian isle
Who did the goat dance very well
He gave me back my smile
But he kept my camera to sell
Oh the rogue, the red red rogue
He cooked good omelettes & stews
And I might have stayed on with him there

But my heart cried out for you, California
California I’m coming home
Oh meake me feel good rock’n roll band
I’m your biggest fan
California, I’m coming home

Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
Just gives you the blues
Just gives you the blues

So I bought me a ticket
I caught a plane to Spain
Went to a party down a red dirt road
There were lots of pretty people there
Reading Rolling Stone, reading Vogue
They said, “How long can you hang around?”
I said a week, maybe two
Just until my skin turns brown

Then I’m going home to California
California I’m coming home
Oh will you take me as I am
Strung out on another man
California, I’m coming home

Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
More about the war
And the bloody changes
Oh will you take me as I am?
Will you take me as I am?
Will you?
Will you take me as I am?
Hmmm mmmmm
Take me as I am


Want more lyrics and songs by Joni Mitchell?

Joni Mitchell has released many songs over the years besides California. Joni Mitchell released songs from 1968 to 2007 spanning across albums like Song To A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, For The Roses, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mingus, Wild Things Run Fast, Dog Eat Dog, Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm, Night Ride Home, Turbulent Indigo, Taming The Tiger, Both Sides Now, and Shine. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Joni Mitchell.

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If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and California by Joni Mitchell

When you decide to study the lyrics to California, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1971 song by Joni Mitchell. Some of the lyrics to California have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Joni Mitchell and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to California if you take apart the structure of the words. 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" means the words set to the music of California, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Joni Mitchell. 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 and the lyrics to California are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Joni Mitchell who came here looking just for the lyrics to California, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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