Lyrics for Going To California as interpreted by kevin

Going To California Lyrics
Spent my days with a woman unkind, Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.
Made up my mind to make a new start, Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane, never let them tell you that they're all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey, wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake.

Seems that the wrath of the Gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
Throw me a line if I reach it in time
I'll meet you up there where the path
Runs straight and high.

To find a queen without a king,
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings... la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.

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jimmysgirl
05-10-2002

Rated +1 
its all about dreams. thats what we live for baby:-) great song. great band.

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1 Reply
PeaceGypsy420
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
Incredible song, Amazing band. Everything about Led Zeppelin is so awesome, and this song is a perfect example...the guitars are complex, the melody is beautiful and the lyrics have discriptive imagery (I can't spell...).

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mattimal
06-29-2002

Rated +1 
i may be the only one i know that really likes this song. intoxicating accoustics and haunting lyrics and characteristic zeppelin harmony. theres a flow to this song that you don't get from rock today, and probably never will again. if i could choose a song make love to, this would be it.

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MARLEYISKEY
08-13-2002

Rated 0 
I heard somewhere that this song is simply about how much the band just loves california and its a great tribute one of the best songs on one of the best albums of all time

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tps12
08-31-2002

Rated -1 
This is another one of Zep's Lord of the Rings songs. California, as the land over the sea to the West (relative to the UK), stands in for Numenor, the land to which the Eldar, the Ring-Bearer, and the Ishtari return at the end of the Second Age.

Specifically, it is from Samwise's point of view, as he nears the end of his life, smoking his Shire leaf and drinking his Hobbit wine as an old Hobbit, Frodo long since passed. His heart aches as he thinks of leaving his grandchildren and (of course) his garden, yet he remembers the "girl out there" (Galadriel) who will be waiting for him in the West. She is also the "Queen without a king," and she has "never been born" as Men and Hobbits are due to her Elven race.

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5 Replies
SundanceKid
09-04-2002

Rated +2 
theres no way this song is from Lord of the Rings! How do you explain the reference to a jet plane? I think it is a big stretch to try and find the symbolism required to make it a song about Lord of the Rings.

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scooter44
09-09-2002

Rated 0 
ok, i dont think anyone has nailed what this song means so far, but it sounds like marleyiskey has the most plausible explanation. the part about the girl with flowers in her hair can totally be about california, seeing as how it has an unusually large amout of hot girls, but anyways, its a great song, very mellow and easy to listen to.

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PerlDrummr
09-25-2002

Rated 0 
every led zeppeling song has impossible lyrics to figure out. i have heard about the lord of the rings thing about led zeppelin, yet i seem to think its just about going to california. i'm not sure. trying to figure out what a led zeppelin song means is not in my human capacity. all i know is that they fuckin rock and i love em.

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zeppelectricity
10-09-2002

Rated -1 
you guys may be right...but my interpretation (or however you spell it) is that this song is about suicide...like you guys said...figuring out Led Zeppelin songs is simply impossible, unless one of the band members told u personally

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ZepHead86
03-15-2003

Rated +1 
The meaning of this great Zeppelin song is quite simple. It's about a man whose realized his whole life is a waste. He dreams of starting over again and going to California and finding a perfect girl with flowers in her hair (hippie). He tries to climb his mountain of dreams and keeps on telling himself he can do it and its not hard as it seems.

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bornonaugust10th
03-22-2003

Rated 0 
this is song has an awesome theme to it and the line ' dont let them tell you that they are all the same ' so true

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goodtimesbadtimes
03-25-2003

Rated 0 
will you please stop relating this song to Lord of The Rings. This song is definetly not about LOTR it is about how the band love California. This song is by far one of my favortie songs.

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MadTom
03-30-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with the previous sentiment. I think this has nothing to do with LotR, though many Led Zeppelin songs do. This is, in fact, a very sad song. It does sound optimistic at first; OK, I've just been dumped by my bitch of a girlfriend ("a woman unkind"), I'm smoking and drinking myself to death ... wait on, maybe I'll start anew!

The media has a tendency to idealise California, and particularly the Californian girl. Take the Beach Boys' song, for example. Quite simply, he thinks that there is the woman for him, this perfect woman that he's been seeking all his life, so off he goes.

The poor bastard is dreaming. The woman he seeks ... a girl "with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair", has "never, never been born." THAT'S the crucial line in the song. It's just a roundabout way of saying that she doesn't exist ... a sexist statement, maybe, but there it is.

But he'll go on looking, spurred on by all of these false hopes and dreams he's built around (and under) himself, and is telling himself that in the end he'll find the woman of his dreams. He won't. But he's so caught up in his own optimism that he can't see it ... and he won't accept it when people try to tell him that "they're all the same." It's actually a highly cynical song, if you look at the lyrics in a certain way.

Jordan plays back! Swoosh! And that's the game! Nothing further, your Honour.

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1 Reply
MadTom
03-30-2003

Rated 0 
Just to add to that, this song also reminds me of 'The Grapes of Wrath', by John Steinbeck.

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rambler
04-30-2003

Rated +1 
I think this is only a highly cynical song if you look at the lyrics in a highly cynical way and I feel sorry for those people how do so. He can't know for sure that he will or will not find the woman of his dream and the song represents his uncertainty. For me this song is about hope and having the courage to pursue your dreams. The idea that he might not achieve his dreams makes them all the more beautiful.

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chaiky
06-09-2003

Rated 0 
Actually the song is full of Jungian symbolism - but I don't necesarilly think that's what it was written as. It just explains why WE find it so magnetic. It doesn't really matter wat it means - its one of their most beautiful songs.

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Snowprincess
06-10-2003

Rated 0 
I think the great thing about Led Zeppelin is everyone can interpret it differently. I've thought for awhile you gotta be stoned to understand, but I'm not so sure thats the case anymore and it was kinda dumb of me to say that in the first place.

As for the Lord of the Rings thing, good lord, do you seriously have nothing better to do than sit around reading LOTR and comparing every aspect of Zeppelin's songs to the books? Get a life dude, I highly doubt Zep was so obsessed with LOTR that they would write a shitload of songs about it. Is it really so hard to believe dreams can exist outside of Lord of the Rings?

Another stupid thing everyone says about Zep is the playing it backwards and meaning santanic things. Alright now thats really dumb, and I doubt they were out to brainwash millions and millions of people into worshipping "sweet satan".

~And the moral of my bitching is, Just listen to the music, enjoy it, and find out what it means to YOU. Thats what its all really about.~

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hippyatheart
06-11-2003

Rated +1 
I am a big Led Zeppelin and a Joni Mitchell fan, and i read in a review that the girl
" To find a queen without a king,
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.. la la"
is joni mitchell. Then in a live recording of this song, (which happens to be my favorite) after this lyric is sung he calls out Joni.
I think this as for all songs, only means something to you, so yes i see the lotr relation but also it can be just about his love for california.

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1 Reply
rageshdc
06-19-2003

Rated 0 
would never been born refer to an angel?

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Atemporal
06-20-2003

Rated 0 
i agree with madtom's narrative standpoint, but as for the cynicism,i think he's off. rambler made a good point in exposing his dark view of the man's fate...i mean, hey;who knows what could happen to this guy. he might find his girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair. we DON'T know. this is what makes the song beautiful. the uncertainty of a dream that you feel will fill the whole that's been empty for long as you can remember. that's what i think this song is about. amen.

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Yakuza Warlord
06-24-2003

Rated +1 
I heard that it was originally about an earthquake and the lyrics were from a poem Plant or Page found and they just strecthed it out from there.

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pablo
06-25-2003

Rated 0 
Favorite Line: "Sea Was Red And The Sky Was Gray, I Wonder How Tomorrow Could Ever Follow Today"

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Fool_in_the_rain
06-29-2003

Rated 0 
I see a lot of varying ideas of what this song means here....good stuff....For me this is one of the greatest and most powerful zeppelin songs....and I have a really hard time declaring favorites.....All zeppelin is amazing...But this one stands just shoulders above the others I think....FOr me this is a song about rebirth....A new beginning....a second chance to do things right from the first...Sometimes life presents us the rare oportunity to recreate ourselves...be reborn.....like a pheonix from the ashes....This song encompasses that entire jubilant, vibrant life that comes from such new beginnings...

A few lines in particular that stick out for me are of course...
The sea was red and the sky was grey, wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today....Living for the moment leaves a lot of wonder and excitment about tomorrow....I mean if today is this amazing, what might tomorrow hold....
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.....I see a knight on horse back forever searching for the perfect soul mate...it maybe a hopeless journey...but the optimism that I feel coming through in this statement is very reassuring.....
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.....If Led Zeppelin, who is standing atop that very mountain of dreams.....is telling me it's not as hard as it seems?....What do I stand to lose....

This song is pure energy, love and inspiration......A master piece.....I feel if you open your mind as well as your ears, there are some beautiful lessons Zeppelin can teach us all....

But all I really have to say is....this song is playin as I find myself ramblin'......I've made up my mind to make a new start.....Goin out into the world with an achin' in my heart......Peace and love ya'll......

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shoed0rk
07-06-2003

Rated 0 
this just might be my favorite Led Zeppelin song. i purchased the new DVD set about a month ago and it was the first time i had ever heard the song. it is the video clip i think i have watched the most on the whole DVD because it's so great to see them sitting down, acoustic, and relaxed. a totally different side to Zeppelin.

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beforeromancedies
04-18-2004

Rated 0 
Going to California...I think its all about their love for the state. People have a tendency to idealize California, and it shows further throughout this song. Whatever the real interpretation, beautifully played song.

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