all things californian

Leave for California

 

The song "California" by Metro Station epitomizes the California dream of freedom. The song is about two teenagers running away from home to be together in California. It poses the question, why run away to California? For many, this state represents an idea of freedom; a place where you can live how you choose. The teens want to leave their town to "be together"; perhaps they can't be together at home. They think by moving to California, they will be able to do what they want and be together constantly, which is always something desired during young love. The lyrics also say that they can leave their town"if only for the weather", which represents the California dream of freedom because the sunny weather here allows you to do almost anything you want. The teenagers think that by coming to California, they will find eternal happiness. The song concludes with the lines, "What do you say we leave for California? If we drive all night, we can make it by the morning and, no one has to know if we decide to go, oh, what do you say we leave for California?" These lyrics show that this song is about the California dream of freedom, because where else would two teenagers want to run away to so they could live on their own? They want to be happy and free, and California is the place to make that happen.

The California dream of fame, crushed.

The song "Lost in Hollywood" by System of a Down counters the California dream of Hollywood fame. Many people got to Hollywood with the idea that they'll be skyrocketed to fame and be able to live the life they've always dreamed of. However, this song shows the harsher realistic side of this dream. The song creates the image of a very tough city, leaving out all the glamour, in the lyrics, "Those viscious streets are filled with strays, You should have never gone to Hollywood." The lyrics make it apparent that you are more likely to fail than succeed with the dream of fame. The song also calls out to "All you maggots smoking cigs out there on Hollywood Boulevard." By calling everyone maggots, the lyrics make everyone on Hollywood seem disgusting and helpless. Moreso, it means that everyone is the same, living day to day trying to achieve the dream that they will never reach. People might think that they're able to move out to Hollywood and achieve instant stardom, but this song proves that it is nearly impossible to do, and that you will waste your time and fail trying to attain the California dream of Hollywood fame.

Beverly Hills

"Beverly Hills" by Weezer is chases after the California dream of fame. The song states that a nobody can be something in California or, more specfically, Beverly Hills. The song pants a picture of a poor, uncool guy with no style and zero popularity. The singer whines that "preppy girls never looked at me, why should they, I ain't nobody, got nothing in my pockets." The singer is not satisfied with his below average life and thinks that by going to Beverly Hills, everything will get better, as demonstrated in the line, "Beverly Hills, rollin like a celebrity." Pay no mind to the fact that this idea is completely illogical and unrealistic, but it supports the dream of fame by stating that someone who has virtually no power can simply move and reach stardom. The music video even shows the band, complete with Buddy Holly glasses and striped collared shirts, playing at the Playboy Mansion, trying to make the point that you can do anything in Beverly Hills.

Instability of Achieving Emotinal Stability

“Popular songs have both celebrated and skewered the state’s culture and customs for much of the twentieth century”(Lipsitz 154). Apparently, a trend continues into the twenty first century since melodies still expose the pros and cons of California dreams. An Example is Under the Bridge, a tune developed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers that embellishes the California dream of emotional stability with somber, yet lustrous shades. Already, the song’s title exposes a negative aspect- a metaphor representing sorrow and depression. Anthony, the lead singer of the band narrates his life as a drug addict. While projecting himself in such manner he refers to Los Angeles as “my only friend, is the city I live in, the city of Angels”, revealing the comfort Los Angeles instills into him to wash away the pain of physical and psychological addiction. Even though Anthony gives a promising impression on the California dream of emotional stability, he constantly doubts his ability to overcome his addiction mentioning “I never worry, now that is a lie”. Again although Los Angeles mitigates his indomitable battle against drugs, Anthony questions whether he can sustain a life without mind altering substances. Under the Bridge epitomizes the California dream of emotional stability, it reminds us “how hard life has been- and continues to me,-for so many in this state”(Lipsitz 167). The only difference though, is hope’s subtle introduction into the song

Works Cited

Lipsitz, George. Music, Migration, and Myth: The California Connection. Reading California -     Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000. By Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein and Ilene Susan Fort. New York:University of California P, 2000. 1-416.

Britney in Real Life

Who doesn’t wish to live Britney’s life, a beautiful woman living in a Beverly Hills’ mansion, shopping without a limit with a Starbucks (and a dog) on the side, going to all Hollywood parties, hearing thousands fans shouting her name as they ask for her autograph, and so the list goes on. Britney Spears lives a wild Hollywood life full of “exotic flavor[s]”, which comes with the dream of becoming a famous celebrity in the Golden State (Bernstein 97). In her 2001 music video, “Lucky”, Britney Spears deals an internal conflict between her two selves/personalities, Lucky Britney against Average Britney, while conveying unhappiness, side-effect of the dream of fame.  The lyrics reflect upon the thin line between fulfilling the California dream and becoming the dream’s victim, trapped in a Hollywood fantasy in search of true happiness. Under extreme wigs or big sunglasses, Britney Spears attempts to camouflage herself as a typical Californian as she hopes to be overlooked in the population; however, celebrities always seem to be attention-thirsty which results with “rebellious” behaviors and “attitudes” in order to keep the paparazzi entertained (Starr 20). Does living the dream of a Hollywood life truly mean fulfilling yourself? Or transforming your self-image to become another Hollywood plastic just to satisfy the dream’s expectations?  Is the dream of fame worth your freedom? As Kevin Starr states “Prophets love as well as judge”, confirmed not only by Californians, as we adore Britney Spears’ new songs and fragrances as well as critique her unforgettable scandals (29).

Works Cited:

• Bernstein, Sheri. “Selling California: 1900-1920”. Made in California: Art, Image and Identity 1900-2000. Eds. Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein and Ilene Susan Fort. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 65-101.
• Starr, Kevin. “Carrey McWilliams’s California: The Light and the Dark”. Made in California: Art, Image and Identity1900-2000. Eds. Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein and Ilene Susan Fort. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 14-29.

california Raisins.

California is well known for its way of trying to sell itself; especially in aid to its agricultural departments. With several ads and slogans for dairy and fruits distribution, it’s no wonder that eventually someone from the state would come up with something so strange like dancing raisins. The dancing raisins were inspired from the exhaustion of ideas for new advertisements. The ad campaign received popularity almost immediately with four full album releases and a cartoon series. This kind of commercial reveals a very peculiar thing about California. While the state itself has become would wide known for some of its natural beauty, it still shows a need or insecurity with its own image that it still needs to fight to promote an image of something greater. When id does manage to come up with something new to portray itself it really is something unique. But at the same time, it promotes a whole other aspect of California culture that says, if you’re not the greatest, you’re not trying hard enough. This might be the reason the state has places like Hollywood where people have to consistently fight to uphold an image or suffer the horrid feeling of likeness with someone or something else. Then again, it could just be a lucky strike of an advertisement that managed to come up with something really quirky. In the end, the California raisins manage to establish themselves as a key element to what California is. A place where strange things often come out, and are well appreciated. 

"THE" Dream...

The greatest Californian dreams ranging from hopes for riches and fame to those who wish the impossible, these dreams are mostly put in the head of younger children and teenagers. For not being the individual that the society in California wants, for example, not being financially empowered or the unwilling of a young teenager to receive an education, the creation of a machine has been molded. These examples are just two of many more of how the California dream has been created to benefit a small handful of people. Who might those people be? It might be those men and ladies living in big fancy houses that look down on the blue collar working class. The idea that California should be represented as the greatest place has created a world where all the wrongs and bad things such as drugs sexual exploitation crime or basically anyone who is not the owner of the big fancy house. In California the idea that every individual is molded into being a college student is unrealistic, ok the world does need educational leaders but the same world does need just as bad the working class. From plumber’s landscapers and anyone who may fit in between, these where the creators of the great land of California and in a sense California has lost the backbone in which it was created on. The selfish California dream is the real reason to why many pursuit all the great things on this golden state. If you take a look around almost everyone at this time is out to get theirs in a sense, what I mean is that we all do what we do in a selfish manner and that what I do will better me in a way. A teacher might say that he is in it for students but in reality he or she might just be happy knowing that "I" did something and now "I" feel better. My California dream of survival in an injustice world :)

This is all I was able to write after having writers block so yeah. . . (P.S. not intended to be offensive either)

California Sunsets

I chose a song called “California Sunsets” by Neil Young, to use as my piece of art, in which represents California.  This song grasps all of the beauty of California and what it offers in the simplest of lyrics.

As Bill Clinton once said, “California has become the first American state where there is no majority race, and we're doing just fine. If you look around the room, you can see a microcosm of what we can do in the world. . . . You should be hopeful on balance about the future. But it's like any future since the beginning of time -- you're going to have to make it.

This quote fits the opportunity people see in California, which goes hand in hand with. I chose a song called "California Sunsets" by Neil Young to use as my piece of art, in which represents California. This song graps all of the beauty of California and what it offers in the simplest of lyrics.

This song has very simple words, but a much more complex meaning. In the first stanza of the song Neil is discussing how dreary the city is, where he lives, and how he hopes to escape the turmoil of his day to day life there. He then goes on to talk about California and how beautiful it would be to live there, and see the sunset’s everyday. These lines are symbolic for how life in California is seen as brighter then the lives of people in other states across America. He also says that one can see the sunset from all along the west coast, which is very different from many other places in America. Later in the song, Neil is stating that, California is the “land of promise” and “land of might”. California is the ideal state to represent the American dream. The beaches, glamour, fashion, opportunity, cultural diversity, educational development is all part of the lifestyle people live in California. This in turn is everything that goes along with the great American dream. He is praising how much he loves living here because of all of those wonderful things. Another thing I noticed in this song was that repeatedly throughout the lyrics, there is a mentioning of sunsets. I feel like this is symbolic for the idea of a new beginning, and that everyday in California, is another chance to begin your life. This is similar to the fact that the sun rises and sets everyday, and that that can always be seen from the beautiful golden coast of California. Overall I just felt that this song was a complete picture of California life, and why we all love living here so much.

"California Love" for the dream

California is know for being Americas land of dreams, and cultural diversity, however the various cultures have very different definitions of what the 'American' dream. While some dreams are to live relaxed and surf all day, while other dreams are to chase women and make songs. The song 'California Love' depict the vision of an dream held by the Hip-hop culture.

    In the first verse Dr. Dre illustrates the aggressive nature of the Hip-hop culture in the reference to the wild west. The prominent outlaws in the west are viewed more in a light of admiration than in nuisance. The ability to make money by any means is an essential part of surviving in a low income neighborhood. The mention of prostitution, pimps, illegal trafficking, and rapping to make a dollar is appealing to the culture because as a whole it's subject to poverty and overall hopelessness.

    The most insightful part of the song is in Tupac's verse. The very first line ''out on bail''  is symbolic in identifying problems of African American culture. The incarceration rate of Black men in America is staggering, yet in the face of this frightening statistic, its vital to keep hope and in the ensuing lyrics, "California Dreaming" the audience gets the feeling that the hope of success is still present. This bring the song to its next important point which is the refusal to abide by some of the majority cultures laws. The difference in the definition of punishable deviance resulted in events such as the Rodney king incident. This incident was protested and demonstrated against by violent aggressive riots that are mentioned in Tupac's verse "Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die". The fact that this incident happened is proof that there is much to be done for the equality of minority's. Overall this song connects with hip-hop and expresses the California dream as viewed by the culture.

California

California

California has so many pros and cons.  Some pro would be the beaches, freedom, the weather, sunsets, opportunities, higher education, cultural diversity, parties, the night life, and geographic diversity, and transportation.  Cons could be crazy drivers who do not care about the laws, immigration, the political games,  protesters, water shortages,fires, smog, cold water, military experiments, college costs, tourists, cell phones, and gas prices.

There are so many cultural art about California out there.  One that I find interesting is a song called “California” by Hawk Nelson.  It starts where a guy and his buddy's are somewhere that is not California and they are talking about how this girl they know has all her friends in California. The band is from Canada so my guess is they are in Canada dreaming about California. They are bored where they are and they all want to go where the sun is shinning. They imagine that in California will never get boring because they all can go boarding. Such as snowboarding, surfboarding, skateboarding. “The sun is calling me to the west, everyone is having fun out there”. Says that the sun is always shinning on the west coast, does not mention California yet.  “My bags are packed as I'm looking out the window”.  He has been thinking about going for a while most likely and by him saying I'm looking out the window means either he is driving or flying out to the west coast.  They say “Im tired of taking it slow”. Which means they are thinking California is fast paced.  “Im wired about to pick up my board, cause we are all headed out for the weekend.  Let's pack up and move to California”. In the beginning of the song it mentions just one guy and now it says we are headed our for the weekend, which means there are more then one headed out to California.  “Hop on board before we get older”, makes me think that California is more for the younger generations.  “Raise your hands and shout for California”. California is relaxed, lets have fun state, so says Hawk Nelson.

Overall this music lyrics makes California look faced paced, sun always shinning, for the younger generations, always something to do, weather is perfect and California is full of entertainment.   They call California the sunshine state for a reason.  This songs shows anyone that just by saying, “They sun is calling me to the west”. There are no negative talk about California in this song.  You do not hear a lot of songs that are negative towards California or any state.  No matter what you think about California, this stare is a great state full of opportunities and sunshine and you never stop having something to do.  I believe that that “California” by Hawk Nelson is a good song to show what California is about.