California

I love this song.

I definitely think it's about a guy who loves this girl, but knows he's not good for her. He wants her to get away because he knows he's dragging her down. She might also be kind of young/naive:

"All of the feelings that I know you've never felt And all of the simple words you never said I want you to keep them like a secret to yourself They're not for me"

^He knows that although she might think she loves him too,she's just young/naive/infatuated and caught up. He actually does love though, and while he doesn't truly want her to leave,he knows it's what's best for her. He wants to resist doing anything to hold her back, and encourages her to resists any of his persuasions:

"I want you to wander silent past my outstretched arms I want you to hide yourself from all I see And though my heart will fight until its dying breath You're not for me"

Ok my take on this song is the following. I am in the same situation that's why I guess I can feel what the author wants to convey. When you've been in an identical situation you know exactly what the song is about, so here's what I think.

This song is about sacrificing own love for a happier future of the one you love. They say true love is when you can let go of your dear one in his pursuit of happiness. I'm facing the same. I have to let go of the person i dearly love because he wants a better life and brighter future in another country, so I gotta say goodbye to him and set him free. Yes it is very hard, it hurts, we've been together for a long time, but if he wants a better place - let it be, I have to let him follow his heart. So this song is about setting free the close one. The guy knows he is not what his girlfriend really needs for life, and he has to part with her. He wishes her a better life in California, a better guy although he regrets he cannot be that one.

A small addition: as soon as I heard the music of the song I liked it, the tune, the rhythm, the beat. I felt some great connection with it but didn't listen to the lyrics. But then it started to grow on me more until i decided to check out the lyrics and when I read them I learnt why i was so fond of this song. It is exactly about what I'm experiencing atm. You need to change California for Spain - and that would be absolutely right for my case. It is now on my playlist and i can't stop listening to it. I love it!

I really love this song too...

On its face, the song seems to be about young love, but in a weird way I think this song could easily be meant as a message from a father to a daughter. The kind of father that has a special connection to his daughter, but knows she needs some encouragement to fly the nest. But then that's not very rock n roll, so it's probably about naive young love. I had that once. Don't waste your youth, it goes by fast.

One of my ex boyfriends recently played this song for me and told me how much he loves it. I don't know if I'm reading into this too much but, I felt like he played it for me to kind of dedicated indirectly. He's not very good at expressing his emotions. The more I listen to it the more I loved it the more I heard the lyrics the more it broke my heart. Then reading these interpretations of the meaning really put things in perspective for me about how he might feel about our relationship. It really hurts me to think that the person you love can really think they aren't good enough for you. No matter how much you try to love and help someone it doesn't matter if they don't want to help themselves. I don't know maybe he doesn't feel this way and it was just a song he liked but it felt like a message.

I think the man in the song thinks he's not good enough for the girl. She loves him and for whatever reason he does't think he is worthy of her.

"All of the feelings that I know you've never felt And all of the simple words you never said I want you to keep them like a secret to yourself They're not for me"

Someone else said they think that has to do with age or maturity level, but I think its simpler than that. He is pretty much telling her to leave him be. Don't come to me with your feelings or to talk. Not because he hates her, but because he must not have any self worth and feels like someone else can treat this girl better than he can. He does love her and being away from her is the only way he will be able to move on.

When Brian Died, No, After He Died, I Found This Song And It Seemed Like He Was Singing It To Me. I Turned It Up And Danced.