Let's go line by line.
The song is simultaneously celebrating and making fun of California stereotypes.
Wouldn�t ever gag you with a spoon, my only true love
((San Fernando) Valley Girl speak - Gag me with a spoon! = I'm disgusted by something)
Never really heard you speak that way, it�s unworthy of�
(Song is addressed to a girl from California who doesn't fit the Valley Girl stereotype - Shallow/Stupid)
Funny how that little college girl called language corrupt
Funny how the other private schools had no Hapa Club
(Presumably private schools/colleges outside of California (and probably Hawaii) don't have enough of a Hapa (people of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial/ethnic heritage) population to have a club.
Someone took a trip before you came to ski in the Alps
(She is probably financially well-off - flying to Europe to ski the alps is not cheap)
Your father moved across the country just to sunburn his scalp
(Her family was initially from the East - most likely NY)
Contra Costa, Contra Mundum, contradict what I say
(Contra Costa - a County in Northern California just outside of San Francisco - the name is Spanish for "Opposite Coast" - Contra Mundum - literally means Against the World)
Living like the French Connection, but we�ll die in LA
(The French Connection is a film with Gene Hackman that takes place in NYC - they're living in New York but plan on retiring in Los Angeles)
Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they�ll never finish
(Seems to describe their living situation in California - no electricity and an unfinished apartment)
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English
(This baffles me :)
No one sits inside a freezing flat and stays there �til May
(Again - their living situation - it's freezing cause the heat is disconnected)
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK
(?)
Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair
Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they�ll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English
Sweet carob rice cake
(Carob is a naturally sweet "health-food" alternative to chocolate)
She don�t care how the sweets taste
Fake Philly cheese steak
(Fake Philly cheese steak = Vegan or Vegetarian version)
But she use real toothpaste
Cuz if that Tom�s don�t work
(Tom's refers to Tom's of Maine - a company that manufactures organic non animal tested natural hygiene products including toothpaste)
If it just makes you worse
Would you loose all of you faith in the good Earth
(I think the Pitchfork article referenced above does a good job of analyzing this part)
And if it�s all a curse
And we�re just getting worse
Baby, please don�t lose your faith in the good earth
Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they�ll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English
For the Hapa Club part, if you google that term, you'll find that Columbia University is one of the only private colleges that has a hapa club. So while visiting here, he was probably surprised that none of the schools in California have a hapa club since I think California has a high mixed asian population. I'm a hapa, so there has to be more of my type here. That's just my guess.
For the Hapa Club part, if you google that term, you'll find that Columbia University is one of the only private colleges that has a hapa club. So while visiting here, he was probably surprised that none of the schools in California have a hapa club since I think California has a high mixed asian population. I'm a hapa, so there has to be more of my type here. That's just my guess.
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK
Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair
Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK
Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair
Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
I don't know why he is referring to it, but A-Z is the biggest map manufacturer in the U.K and produce road maps for practically everywhere in the United Kingdom. The reference to the wind and shivering in the next two lines are definitely two words that sum up surfing in the U.K. I suppose he may mean that instead of sitting shivering inside a freezing flat you may as well be surfing in the cold instead!
The Saudi satellite dish might be the idea of someone in Saudi Arabia watching the TV and the American stereotypes people there would see and perhaps despise
The Saudi satellite dish might be the idea of someone in Saudi Arabia watching the TV and the American stereotypes people there would see and perhaps despise
Let's go line by line. The song is simultaneously celebrating and making fun of California stereotypes.
Wouldn�t ever gag you with a spoon, my only true love ((San Fernando) Valley Girl speak - Gag me with a spoon! = I'm disgusted by something)
Never really heard you speak that way, it�s unworthy of� (Song is addressed to a girl from California who doesn't fit the Valley Girl stereotype - Shallow/Stupid)
Funny how that little college girl called language corrupt
Funny how the other private schools had no Hapa Club (Presumably private schools/colleges outside of California (and probably Hawaii) don't have enough of a Hapa (people of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial/ethnic heritage) population to have a club.
Someone took a trip before you came to ski in the Alps (She is probably financially well-off - flying to Europe to ski the alps is not cheap)
Your father moved across the country just to sunburn his scalp (Her family was initially from the East - most likely NY)
Contra Costa, Contra Mundum, contradict what I say (Contra Costa - a County in Northern California just outside of San Francisco - the name is Spanish for "Opposite Coast" - Contra Mundum - literally means Against the World)
Living like the French Connection, but we�ll die in LA (The French Connection is a film with Gene Hackman that takes place in NYC - they're living in New York but plan on retiring in Los Angeles)
Blasted from a disconnected light switch Through the condo that they�ll never finish (Seems to describe their living situation in California - no electricity and an unfinished apartment)
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish And through your brain to California English (This baffles me :)
No one sits inside a freezing flat and stays there �til May (Again - their living situation - it's freezing cause the heat is disconnected)
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK (?)
Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
Blasted from a disconnected light switch Through the condo that they�ll never finish Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish And through your brain to California English
Sweet carob rice cake (Carob is a naturally sweet "health-food" alternative to chocolate) She don�t care how the sweets taste Fake Philly cheese steak (Fake Philly cheese steak = Vegan or Vegetarian version) But she use real toothpaste
Cuz if that Tom�s don�t work (Tom's refers to Tom's of Maine - a company that manufactures organic non animal tested natural hygiene products including toothpaste) If it just makes you worse Would you loose all of you faith in the good Earth (I think the Pitchfork article referenced above does a good job of analyzing this part)
And if it�s all a curse And we�re just getting worse Baby, please don�t lose your faith in the good earth
Blasted from a disconnected light switch Through the condo that they�ll never finish Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish And through your brain to California English
For the Hapa Club part, if you google that term, you'll find that Columbia University is one of the only private colleges that has a hapa club. So while visiting here, he was probably surprised that none of the schools in California have a hapa club since I think California has a high mixed asian population. I'm a hapa, so there has to be more of my type here. That's just my guess.
For the Hapa Club part, if you google that term, you'll find that Columbia University is one of the only private colleges that has a hapa club. So while visiting here, he was probably surprised that none of the schools in California have a hapa club since I think California has a high mixed asian population. I'm a hapa, so there has to be more of my type here. That's just my guess.
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK Waiting with the wind against your face and gel in your hair Shivering in little undershirts, but don�t seem to care
I don't know why he is referring to it, but A-Z is the biggest map manufacturer in the U.K and produce road maps for practically everywhere in the United Kingdom. The reference to the wind and shivering in the next two lines are definitely two words that sum up surfing in the U.K. I suppose he may mean that instead of sitting shivering inside a freezing flat you may as well be surfing in the cold instead!
Brill song.
The Saudi satellite dish might be the idea of someone in Saudi Arabia watching the TV and the American stereotypes people there would see and perhaps despise
The Saudi satellite dish might be the idea of someone in Saudi Arabia watching the TV and the American stereotypes people there would see and perhaps despise