“California Dreamin'” is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics of the song are about a man in a cold winter landscape longing for the warmth of California.
According to John Phillips in a Bravo documentary, and Michelle Phillips in an NPR piece, the song was written in 1963 while they were living in New York. He dreamed about the song and woke her up to help him write it. At the time, the Phillipses were members of the folk group The New Journeymen which evolved into The Mamas & the Papas.
They earned their first record contract after being introduced to Lou Adler, the head of Dunhill Records, by the singer Barry McGuire. In thanks to Adler, they sang the backing vocals to “California Dreamin'” on McGuire’s album This Precious Time. The Mamas and the Papas then recorded their own version, using the same instrumental and backing vocal tracks to which they added new vocals and an alto flute solo by Bud Shank. P.F. Sloan did the guitar introduction. McGuire’s original vocal can be briefly heard on the left channel at the beginning of the record, having not been completely wiped.[4] The single was released in late 1965 but it was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles upon its release, Michelle Phillips remembers that it took a radio station in Boston to break the song nationwide. By early 1966, the song peaked at #4 and stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. “California Dreaming” and “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” sharply divided the popular music market in March 1966.
By Mamas and Papas
Lyrics
| California dreaming All the leaves are brown And the sky is gray I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day I’d be safe and warm if I was in L. A. California dreaming on such a winter’s day I stopped into a church I passed along the way Well, I got down on my knees And I began to pray You know the preacher light the coal He knows I’m gonna stay California dreaming on such a winter’s day All the leaves are brown And the sky is gray I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day If I didn’t tell her I could leave today California dreaming on such a winter’s day |
加州之夢 樹葉都已枯黃 天空陰沉沉的 在冬日裡，我走在路上 若我人在洛杉磯，我會感到舒適而溫暖 但那只是冬天裡的加州之夢 我停下來，走進一間教堂 穿過門前小路 我跪下雙膝 開始祈禱 牧師點起了煤炭取暖 他知道我將會留下 但那只是冬天裡的加州之夢 樹葉都已枯黃 天空陰沉沉的 在冬日裡，我走在路上 若我不曾告訴她今天我會離開 但那只是冬天裡的加州之夢 |