Got the Golden State Blues

Posted by: Monica Gagnier on August 04

Like most people who grew up in the 1960s, I had music class in elementary school. I have many happy memories of singing tunes from the Up With People traveling show as well as American standards such as This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie.

I’ve written about this before in a personal blog, but I was quite surprised as an adult to learn that I had been cheated on the lyrics of This Land Is Your Land. I never learned the last verse in school:

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
If this land’s still made for you and me.

Since I moved to Beacon, N.Y., five years ago, my appreciation of folk music has been revived by the pleasure of seeing Pete Seeger singing songs like She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain during the Sunday farmers’ market.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about California’s budget cuts and the hardship I witnessed while working as a volunteer at The Well in the Desert in Palm Springs earlier this year. I was thinking about writing an omnibus blog entry on California, where personal income has fallen for the first time in 70 years, but instead a folk song came into my head.

It arrived accompanied by music, which is strange, since I don’t know how to read or write music. I had to sing my folk song into a tape recorder so I wouldn’t forget the tune.

The last time I wrote a song was in fifth grade, so maybe I’m having a Sixties flashback. But I also think songs are a way to reach people who are sick of reading bad news and overwhelmed by blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts.

Here are the lyrics to Got the Golden State Blues, which I’ve registered with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). Even though I’m not a professional musician, I want to protect my intellectual property.

They call California the Golden State
That's how it used to be
But lately the Golden State
Looks like fools' gold to me

The Silicon Valley's turned to lead and
Real estate's gone south
Even those stars in Tinseltown
Look down in the mouth

Be glad you're not in my shoes
I got the Golden State Blues
Be glad you're not in my shoes
I got the Golden State blues

Back in '78, Prop 13 seemed a sure shot
But all it's really done since then
Is tie Sacramento
Up in knots

Two-third majority votes and
Citizen referendums
They've worked together
To create a giant conundrum

It's raining in Santa Cruz
I got the Golden State blues
It's raining in Santa Cruz
I got the Golden State blues

Those lovely social programs
Must be funded sooner or later
But no one wants to raise taxes
Least of all the Terminator

Old Walt had a grand vision
But he didn't understand
Californians would run away from life
In favor of Disneyland

Are you unemployed too?
I got the Golden State blues
Are you unemployed too?
I got the Golden State blues

Though the future looks quite bleak
For folks in the Golden State
The Big One isn't here just yet and
Californians can innovate

We'll legalize marijuana
Pump out Tesla electric cars
You don't need an astrologer
To know California has a lucky star

We'll be waving bye-bye to
The Golden State blues
We'll be waving bye-bye to
The Golden State blues

Please read this blog entry with tongue placed firmly in cheek. It was written that way.

I still believe in the ingenuity of the Silicon Valley and I'm not a proponent of legalized marijuana.