Pop Music’s California Love

Graphic by Maria Tapia

California appears everywhere in American pop music. No matter what generation you belong to, there seems to be some defining anthem about California that every music lover knows. Mine is “California Gurls” by Katy Perry, a song I would enthusiastically sing along to on my way to third grade, sitting in the backseat as my mom drove through Chicag’s snowy streets. Looking out the window at the icy pavement and pedestrians bundled up in coats, I couldn’t help but dream of the beachside lounging Perry described. 

I eventually did up in California – Southern California specifically – for college. There was a lot to get used to. Distant mountains took the place of skyscrapers, lizards for pigeons, and Route 66 for Lake Shore Drive. I also found out that I hadn’t left the cold completely behind in the Midwest. California might not get as cold as Chicago, but it does get cold. On the flipside, going swimming in eighty degree heat is a possibility in February, something that would’ve been unheard of back home. As I got acclimated to my new surroundings, I started to notice the topic of California popping up again and again in music. I couldn’t help but wonder: why do people sing about California, and how has the narrative changed over the years? I went back in time, perusing several notable California-themed hits, looking for the answer.

The fact that California as a whole has its own distinct image is a little strange. When people ask where I’m from, I say Chicago, not Illinois, because the general perception of “Chicago” and “Illinois” are completely separate from one another. That’s only partially the case with California. There are cities in the state that have distinct reputations from one another in wider popular culture, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, and I could write articles just about those cities’ place in pop music. But there’s also the singular idea of California, the state, in its entirety. That’s why, for this deep dive, I only considered songs discussing California as a whole. 

“California” by Joni Mitchell and “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas and the Papas, both released in 1966, view the state from a nostalgic distance. The narrators in these songs are away from their homes in California, and ache to return. Mitchell yearns for California all over Europe, the sights in Paris, Greece and Spain not quite satisfying her. The Mamas and the Papas sing of brown leaves, gray skies and winter days that set a stark contrast with California’s sunny reputation. In a similar manner, The Beach Boys released several tunes celebrating this idealized version of the state in the 1960s, their lyrics full of references to surfing, beaches and warm sunshine. 

However, as time went on, the perspective on California started to shift. Flashing forward to the turn of the century we have “California Love” by Tupac Shakur. The lyrics are dense with references from all over the state, mentioning the neighborhoods of Watts and Compton, San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Long Beach, Inglewood and Sacramento, and as a result reads like a love letter to California as a whole. The atmosphere is laid back and breezy as Tupac, along with guests Roger Troutman and Dr. Dre, enthusiastically describe all the pleasures California has to offer. However, allusions to the L.A. Riots of 1992, gang activity and poverty in the midst of glitz and glamor anchor the song to reality. 

The more grounded approach to depicting California can also be found in “Californication” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers released in 2000. As alluded to in the name, “Californication” explores the dark side of Hollywood success. Frontman Anthony Kiedis sings of plastic surgery, exploitation and drug abuse. However, the refrain of “dream of Californication” recognizes that despite all its flaws, there’s an allure to California that can’t be denied, a fantasy people will continue to buy into in the years to come. 

Katy Perry’s hit “California Gurls” ushers this fantasy into the 2010s. The title alludes to the song “California Girls” by the Beach Boys, released in 1965. The main sentiment of the song is similar as well, talking up the distinct appeal of the girls in California. Perry’s lyrics are stacked with appealing beachy imagery, fruity cocktails, palm trees and suntanned girls wearing cutoff shorts and bikini tops. In his verse, Snoop Dogg admires the offerings, listing luxurious Californian locations like Venice Beach and Palm Springs. The single slots in perfectly with the aesthetic Perry cultivated for her album Teenage Dream. “California Gurls” is as sweet and fluffy as cotton candy, leaning into pop artifice and sex appeal to make an undeniably catchy tune. 

All of the songs mentioned above involve artists that are either from or lived extensively in California. In more recent years, though, there’s been a greater inclination to critique this idealized image of the state, especially from a foreign perspective. On her 2021 album Solar Power, New Zealand pop phenom Lorde does just this. The song “California” recounts her experiences with fame in America, and her disillusionment with it all. Throughout the lyrics, Lorde employs several classic Californian tropes, popular phrases like “once upon a time in Hollywood” and “California love,” packed with imagery of golden bodies, jets, models and bottles of tequila. Through Lorde’s eyes, the affluence associated with California is unsatisfying, the success is stifling and the warmth is undercut with a menacing coldness. A “golden body” wraps a “cool hand around [her] neck.” After spending the whole song recalling California dreams, the final line is “I wanna wake up.”

Scottish synth pop band CHVRCHES included the song “California” on their 2021 album Screen Violence, where frontwoman Lauren Mayberry extensively discusses the pressures of fame and the online harassment she’s faced over the years as a woman in the music industry. “No one еver warns you / You'll die in California” sings Mayberry, and ends on the line “Pull me into the screen at the end.” If you aren’t careful, she seems to warn the listener, the industry will swallow you whole. 

“California” by Canadian singer and producer Grimes explores similar territory. In 2015, Grimes released Art Angels, following her breakout record Visions. While the sound of the song is one of the most upbeat and chipper in her whole discography, the lyrics reveal a deeper anguish. Grimes sings about how the music industry has worn down her idealistic dreams, then exploits the negative emotions it pulls from her to turn a profit. The central lyric of the song drives this point home: “California / You only like me when you think I’m looking sad / California / I didn’t think you’d end up treating me so bad.” 

I didn’t grow up in California, so I can’t quite view it in a nostalgic lens. I’ve also never been swept up in the tribulations of fame. While life in California didn’t completely match up with my expectations, I also have a distinct fondness for it. Because of this, my favorite songs about California fall somewhere in the middle of idealization and deconstruction.

There’s “California” by Chappel Roan, which flips the sentiment of Mitchell and The Mamas and the Papas on its head. Roan instead shows the perspective of someone in California missing their wintery, unglamorous Midwestern hometown. I get a kick out of the lyrics from “This Life” by Vampire Weekend, where frontman Ezra Koenig sings: “Baby, I know pain is as natural as the rain / I just thought it didn't rain in California.” It’s a clever use of California’s idealistic reputation to reveal the conflict in a relationship. California also sets a bright backdrop to the raucous celebration of friendship and the trials of young adulthood in “California Friends” by The Regrettes. Lana Del Rey, a bona-fide California connoisseur with several references to the state across her discography, uses it as a backdrop to yearn for a simpler time on “The greatest.”

California’s reputation precedes it. It’s been mythologized as a sun-kissed land of fame and fortune for decades. Who knows how its image will shift in the coming years, but from the current pop music trends, I have a feeling it will end up in an interesting spot. California dreams are nice and all, but at some point, a person has to snap back to reality. As it turns out, that reality is just as rife with potential to make great music too.