words & music by Nate Shelkey
Mister want to go to California
My father left to keep him company
And when he got back
This is what he said to me
(He said)
Maybe then she’ll talk to me
Maybe then she’ll walk with me
Maybe then she’ll hold my hand
And I’ll understand again
I want to go where the cities sound like saints
Where the dirt on the ground looks like paint
Where the skies are so blue
You know that it never rains
In California
Well, it must have been 20 years ago
When he raised my older brother in San Francisco
With the hills of the city looking out on the west
And the ocean behind to fill up the rest
Of a golden gate dream that never exists
Out in California
My best friend moved out at the end of high school
He drove 2,500 miles away from me
To a school on a cliff hanging over the sea
Well, he must have done well for himself that fall
You ask me why?
He’s married that’s all to a girl
From California
I want to go where the cities sound like saints
Where the dirt on the ground looks like paint
And the skies are so blue
You know that it never rains
Out in California
