Screw California
And friends that are never there
And places that they oughta
Pretend that they even care

From a false family, she could light you up
Like a holiday tree in the summer

So lead us there

So screw California
And ice that will never melt
From hearts of the modern
Children of Cicero

From a false family, she could light you up
Like a holiday tree in the summer

So lead us there



Lyrics submitted by karaxleigh

Track duration: 04:07

"California" as written by Zachary Schwartz

Lyrics © BUG MUSIC

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California song meanings
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23 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's about a guy from California that is sick of the fakeness around him, but it is still his home.

    But I like to think it's about someone that had plans to move to California from a cold place like Minnesota, because his friends and family don't really give a crap about him and how he feels. But he's poor or he has moments where he really likes where he is, so he has to say "Screw California." I just like to think that, because that's how I was feeling for a time.
    Flag rbsauceon October 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Thinking about this a bit more I'm still having trouble attributing the Cicero quote about people not knowing history being forever children with "ice that will never melt from hearts of the modern Children of Cicero"

    If that is it's only meaning, it's a little too clumsily phrased (to fit in with the other excellently written lyrics). When I see "Children of Cicero", with no other context, my first impression is Cicero's offspring (literally or figuratively), not the people who he said were like children beause they were ignorant. I think if the reference was the latter one, there would have been another qualifying word in the lyric. I can see it possibly refereing to that AND somehting like the interpretation I volunteered, since there seems to be clear layers of ambivalence already going on in the peice.
    Flag kaputnikon March 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:The first set of lines is his frustration and longing.

    The second set is more mysterious to me, as I grew up in California, and I've often heard comparisons betewen East Coast people (cold at first but eventually true) and West Coast people (warm at first, but fickle) that I have not found to pan out in reality. However, going from those steriotypes, a "False Family" seems like something that acts like a family, but has no actual blood ties (and how much does that matter when you find kindred souls?). Getting in touch with like minds can certainly light you up in a way that can seem unatural, like a "holiday tree in the summer"

    But then, "Lead us there" is an unconditional surrender and a lovely irony when viewed up against the preceding thoughts. It also, I think, lends a woderful serenity ot the whole peice.

    The ice never melting, I agree, is the attitude or hearts of those he's longing to be with (the people that are never there).

    The "Children of Cicero" is a compliment of the highest order, but also a forward lookig hope of intelligence, hard work, and raw potential.

    This is a love song, so lead us there.
    Flag kaputnikon February 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To 'BornIndie', that's a cool theory but i'm pretty sure that's not it because he actually is from California. But I love this song, it's exactly how I feel about California.
    Flag shmoogumzzon September 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I see "screw California" as the guy scrapping his plans to move to California with his lover from the dull place he lives. Their relationship hasn't work out along with their dreams of starting a new life in California. Also, I interpret "from a false family" to mean that his girl was from a family that wasn't the prototypical "perfect family". This is in part why she wanted to move to California with the writer of the song.
    The great thing about song lyrics though, is that everyone has their own interpretation and can connect it to something that has happened to their lives.
    -Born Indie
    Flag BornIndieon June 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Cicero's Children: "To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."
    Flag 801on October 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this is the most beautiful song. I love his voice, it's so calming in this one. it's my #1 played and i listened to it over and over while reading the book 'The Lovely Bones'
    Flag xocouturecoutureon September 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think i get it. being away from home makes me realize it a bit and im from southern illinois. even though its so horrible and there isnt anything there anymore not even your friends, that there is always something that brings you back. its home and there is a sense of comfort. i know, ive moved home twice already and i want to go back. i know everything there.
    Flag doobs344on January 19, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm pretty sure the ice thing is a metaphor for frozen, cold hearts, since, afterall, the song continues with "from the hearts of the modern children of cicero."
    Flag melanie_haslamon August 30, 2007   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:continuing along the "ice" meaning, and with global warming a currunt "crisis" in today's society, he could be talkin about the polar ice caps a la Tool - Ænema and Bill Hick's Arizona bay theory.

    Perhaps it is just my prejudice, as I have an extreme dislike for California, Los Angeles, Hollywood, and all it's pretaining B.S. and money.

    My current girlfriend put this song on a mixtape for me, as she knows how I feel about my homestate.
    Flag p4rano1d4ndro1don August 05, 2007   Link

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