You might want to grab your sunglasses for this one.
Welcome to WatchMojo.com,
and today we're counting down our list for the Top 10 songs about California.
For this list, we're looking for songs that were written for, about or feature content that heavily references the Golden State.
Unlike another list of ours, 'Top 10 songs about New York',
we're looking for any city or place in the state,
be it the City of Angels (Los Angeles), San Francisco or a dark desert highway.
No 10: Going Back to Cali - The Notorious B.I.G featuring Roger Troutman and Puff Daddy
Kicking off our list is one of the biggest hits of a Biggie Smalls' posthumously released album 'Life after death'.
Referencing the ongoing rivalry between rappers on the East and West Coast,
Smalls hits us with a head-knocker of a rhythm, while delivering rhymes of hard-strung street wisdom.
Although honoring his home turf, Smalls is not short of praise for the beauty of California.
Tragically, a few weeks before the album's release, Biggie was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
No 9: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie
It was the late 1960s, in a time of social unrest in the United States.
McKenzie's awe to the West Coast describes the mayhem the rest of the country witnessed,
but paints California as a paradise of never-ending summer.
Wearing flowers in your hair is a reference to the Hippie Movement,
and before long, youth from around the world had adopted this song as an anthem of freedom.
Its melancholy tone reminds us of the darkness on their horizon,
but at the same time has us falling in love with the beauty that is San Francisco.
No 8: California Gurls - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
Where are the hottest girls in the world from?
Well, if we're taking Katy Perry or Snoop Dogg's word for it,
you better believe it's California.
With just enough innuendos to heat up the room,
this song delivers dreams of ten beauties with Daisy Dukes and bikinis.
As if that wasn't enough, the fresh melody just begs you to blast this tune through the speakers of a convertible.
And with that video... yeah, our popsicles just melted !
No 7: Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
We always think of Cali as the place where dreams are made,
but just as many dreams are broken there,
and this classic Chili Peppers' track is not shy away from that.
Instead, it embraces the cold reality of the smoking hot state.
Referencing the city's apparent surface value, the lyrics describe the state as being flawed,
but full of certain undeniable magic.
The clichés, the movies, the music. It all adds up the experience that is the American West Coast.
No 6: Going to California - Led Zeppelin
Many musicians have called California their 'home'.
While some are born there, others trek from across the United States and the world in an odyssey to get to the 'Promised Land of music'.
This low-key Zeppelin tune follows the band,
as it tells the story of making that mythical journey, with intricate lyrics written by frontman Robert Plant.
Of the band's fourth effort, the band experimented with folk music,
which caused the song to sound more like an acoustic dream that a track from the godfathers of Hard Rock.
No 5: L.A. Woman - The Doors
Back to the women of California, Jim Morrison had his own opinion on the State's female population.
Unlike other songs, this isn't rhyme after rhyme of straight praise,
but instead he suggests the mystery behind the women of Los Angeles is their greatest attribute.
It goes without saying that they're beautiful,
but the question is: Are they the work of the devil or angels in the skies?
Who knows? But finding out is the best part.
No 4: California Love - 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman
This rap track on top of being irresistibly groovy,
is the ultimate in West Coast Rap anthems,
a thumping beat coupled with hard hitting lyrics from rap icon 2Pac and guests Dr. Dre and Robert Troutman
bring the song to legendary status.
Lazed teens are shot out to the myriad of cities from across the state in a clear effort to unify all 38 million Californians.
If that isn't serious California love, then we don't know what is!
No 3: California Girls - The Beach Boys
The women of California are too hot not to get mentioned a third time.
This classic pop rock track from the Beach Boys family emblazoned itself into the hearts of young Americans,
as it came to represent the 1960s California rock sound.
In an effort to be inclusive, the lyrics do praise all the women of the united States
but in case you haven't been paying attention to the list so far,
the women of the West Coast are really something special.
No 2: California Dreamin - The Mamas & the Papas
Melancholy and its tone and lyrics, California Dreamin expresses a sentiment felt by many Americans:
It's better out west!
With an addictive melody and a strange mysterious quality,
this track has us dreaming of packing up and heading out to California,
leaving our dreary lives behind.
Listen at your own risk, we can't guarantee that you won't be chasing sunset in a convertible by the time it's done.
Before we hit Play on our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
No 1: Hotel California - The Eagles
Unlike most songs on this list, the Eagles' track does not paint California as a paradise,
but rather takes a look at the state treachery, through the imagery of a nightmarish hotel.
This song has us in a trans, not unlike its subject
who finds himself subjected to the burdens of temptation encountering courtyard dancing and pink champagne on ice.
Several interpretations of the song suggest that it is an allegory for the greed of the music industry,
particularly in Los Angeles.
Dreams may be broken, but this song will never die.
So, do you agree with our list?
What songs about America's West Coast did we miss?
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