I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Why's everyone still singing about California?
Haven't we heard enough about the Golden State?
I guess if you like sandy beaches and blue ocean water
There's something about it, to which I cannot relate
I need to see the leaves change and the snowflakes falling
I need to hear the call, the wind whistling through the winter pines
[Chorus]
Why's everyone still singing about California?
Haven't we heard enough about the Golden State?
And people still follow them dreams to sweet California
And from time to time I pass on by, but I will never stay
Sure there are beautiful people, in the city of lost angels
They're living like they're kings and queens, from some royal age
But fortune and fame won't save you, when California
Is wiped out by the ring of fire or a great earthquake
[Chorus]
No, I will never stay
Never stay
Never stay
Haven't we heard enough about the Golden State?
I guess if you like sandy beaches and blue ocean water
There's something about it, to which I cannot relate
I need to see the leaves change and the snowflakes falling
I need to hear the call, the wind whistling through the winter pines
[Chorus]
Why's everyone still singing about California?
Haven't we heard enough about the Golden State?
And people still follow them dreams to sweet California
And from time to time I pass on by, but I will never stay
Sure there are beautiful people, in the city of lost angels
They're living like they're kings and queens, from some royal age
But fortune and fame won't save you, when California
Is wiped out by the ring of fire or a great earthquake
[Chorus]
No, I will never stay
Never stay
Never stay
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Page
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is a beautiful song. I think this song can be taken straight forward. But often in movies, shows, and throughout life we hear of people "packing up" and "following their dreams" and moving out to CA. We sort of put CA in our minds with beautiful people, beaches, an almost idealized way of life. The title of the song "The Golden State" - we picture it this way - in this golden, angelic light. The singer can't relate. He can't go along with everyone's dreamy and idealistic approach to life. He thinks there is more to life, than the surface beauty.
"But fortune and fame won't save you, when California Is wiped out by the ring of fire or a great earthquake"
In the end, you will need to hold on to something deeper and more meaningful.
"And from time to time I pass on by, but I will never stay"
We all have some feelings and some times that we think superficially. But the singer never remains there in the long term.
I think this song is fairly straight forward. As a musician/artist/performer in Canada it's sort of assumed that you have to go to California if you want to achieve your dreams. If you stay in Canada it's a lot harder to start your career. I think that's true for most people who aren't American.
I also think Dallas is expressing his love for the Canadian wilderness specifically with the line:
"I need to see the leaves change and the snowflakes falling I need to hear the call, the wind whistling through the winter pines"
I've always felt like California is mythologized beyond its reality. The first time I was there and saw an overweight or poor person, trash on the ground, low income housing, etc. I almost couldn't reconcile it in my mind. It wasn't paradise, it was just... more America.
Maybe a while ago it was new and fresh and mostly dreamers moved there. "People STILL follow their dreams..."
This song grabbed me right away, in a straightforward way, saying, when are we going to drop that fantasy?