California Songs

Like its population, songs celebrating California are astoundingly diverse. The Beach Boys and the Eagles were California's musical face during their respective decades (the '60s and '70s), and their "California Girls" and "Hotel California" are as close to state anthems as you can get. Our oldest tune is immediately recognizable to anyone who ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon: "California, Here I Come," performed here by Al ("My Mammy") Jolson. And 2pac and Dre give shouts out to the whole state — from Oakland to Compton, Sactown to Watts — in "California Love."

Next, let's move out of the mainstream…

Alternative rockers have embraced California like graffiti artists take to overpasses. R.E.M.'s "I Remember California" elegantly captures the flavor of the state in eight words: "traffic jams, motor boys, and girls with tans." Sugarcult's "Back to California" is a perfectly balanced slice of acoustic melancholy, the sweetness of love offset by the bitter aftertaste of a breakup. And Semisonic's "California" takes you from gentle and jangly to cherub-sucked-through-a-jet-engine intensity and back again.

But it gets even weirder as you delve into Deep Cuts.

Who better to extol the virtues of California than Norway's Motorpsycho, who in "Go to California" sound as though they jumped through a time warp directly from 1967 into 2001? Long Beach Shortbus, born from the ashes of the Long Beach Dub Allstars, wafts up a dreamily paisley "California Grace" from their debut album. The Starland Vocal Band lifts a page from the Mamas and the Papas in their harmony-rich "California Day," and, finally, American Idol, er, legend William Hung throws out the rulebook — and the chord book — in true Biz Markie-meets-the Eagles style in "Hotel California."

What is it about the 31st state that so captures songwriters' hearts and minds? Is it the dreamin', the girls, the nights, the sky, the gold . . . the hotel? Yes, indeed, it's all of the above and more. Ever since the Gold Rush in 1849, people have been streaming into the Golden State, seeking their fortune as miners, musicians, movie stars, and magnates, and just enough of them have made it to perpetuate the myth. With the prospect of eternal youth (courtesy of your friendly nip-and-tuck pro), plus California's sun-fun-stay-play ambiance, who wouldn't want to sing the state's praises?