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I used to live in New York City
Everything there was dark and dirty
Outside my window was a steeple
With a clock that always said twelve-thirty
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
At first so strange to feel so friendly
To say "Good mornin'" and really mean it
To feel these changes happenin' in me
But not to notice till I feel it
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
Cloudy waters cast no reflection
Images of beauty lie there stagnant
Vibrations bounce in no direction
But lie there shattered into fragments
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
Everything there was dark and dirty
Outside my window was a steeple
With a clock that always said twelve-thirty
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
At first so strange to feel so friendly
To say "Good mornin'" and really mean it
To feel these changes happenin' in me
But not to notice till I feel it
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
Cloudy waters cast no reflection
Images of beauty lie there stagnant
Vibrations bounce in no direction
But lie there shattered into fragments
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit
Track duration: 03:23
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It has a lot of the spirit that the 1960's had in it and it is really....groovy....to get that feeling again.
John, Michelle and Cass all lived in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles as did many others, such as Jim Morrison, Micky Dolenz, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa. It was rustic, peaceful, quiet and to get to the buzz of the big city you just had to drive (or hitch) south on Laurel Canyon Blvd down to Sunset Blvd.
You can read more about what I call the "Laurel Canyon Sound" in a book called "Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon" by Harvey Kubernik. I loved reading this book.
I wish I knew the meanings of all the lyrics. Knowing how many drugs John Phillips did, the song may not really be about anything more than his stream of consciousness. The part about cloudy waters and vibrations bouncing and shattering, I can’t figure out. Maybe I’m over thinking it.
I believe I read in one of the biographies of the group/members that it’s like two songs combined, with the verses being one song about one thing and the chorus being another song about something else. The title seems to follow that idea.
I do know that all four of them were living in New York City at some point and that John did live near a building that had a broken clock on a steeple. There are stereotypical comments on NYC and LA in the song, with NYC being “dark and dirty” and LA being a very happy place to be. Of course, the group struggled in NYC and found great success in LA. Had that been switched, the song may have been different, if it existed at all.
I also read that during one of John and Michelle’s many breaks from their marriage, John moved in with Denny in Denny’s house in Laurel Canyon (I think that’s the one.). Being big deals at the time and effectively single, they had a steady steam of groupies in and out of the house. That’s where the “young girls coming to the canyon” came from. John wrote very personal songs, pretty much airing his dirty laundry in many of them. Wouldn’t surprise me if he wrote this to part of the song to rub it in Michelle’s face that he wasn’t sitting around pining over her during the break but enjoying all that was offered him.
There is something so tragic in it, but I can't tell whether it's the words or music that bring it out more...