Grimes – California Lyrics

Grimes – California Lyrics

California Lyrics by Grimes

As stated on her siriusXM takeover, “California” is a hate track towards the music website Pitchfork. This hate may be the result of various misinterpretations of her words, and Grimes has expressed her discontent in her tweets.

The beat of the song also samples “Pon De Replay” by Rihanna.

The artwork of the song presents many words throughout the drawing:
– “fairy cemetery”; Grimes’ Twitter location, as well as referencing a term she calls herself: “faery” or “fairy”
– “born: year of the dragon”; directly concerns Boucher as she was born on March 1988, the year of the Dragon on the Chinese zodiac calendar.

In their 2015 interview with Grimes, Rolling Stone explained that “California” came about on a night when Boucher, feeling depressed, took a number of tequila shots. In the midst of the haze, she wrote the song’s sunny hook.

[Verse 1]
This, this music makes me cry
It sounds just like my soul
Oh, I’m not ready to win
Oh Lord, cause I don’t wanna know what they say
Cause I get carried away
Commodifying all the pain

[Pre-Chorus]
The things they see in me, I cannot see myself
When you get bored of me, I’ll be back on the shelf
And when the ocean rises up above the ground
Maybe I’ll drown in…

[Chorus]
California
You only like me when you think I’m looking sad
California
I didn’t think you’d end up treating me so bad

[Verse 2]
Oh (ah-ah-ah)
Come Monday, it’s a dream (ah-ah-ah)
Broken my own heart again
Chasing something beautiful
Oh Lord, but I don’t understand what they say
Cause I get carried away
Commodifying all the pain

[Pre-Chorus]
The things they see in me, I cannot see myself
When you get bored of me, I’ll be back on the shelf
And when the ocean rises up above the ground
Maybe I’ll drown in…

[Chorus]
California
You only like me when you think I’m looking sad
California
I didn’t think you’d end up treating me so bad
California
You only like me when you think I’m looking sad
California
I didn’t think you’d end up treating me so bad
[Outro]
Oh, I, oh, I
Oh na, na, na, ne