California is a promotional single by Grimes. It is the second track on her fourth studio album, Art Angels, and was released as the fourth promotional single.
Background[]
In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, she explained that California came about on a night when, feeling depressed, took a number of tequila shots. In the midst of the haze, she wrote the song’s hook.[1]
Meaning[]
As stated on her SiriusXM takeover,[2] California is a hate track towards the music website Pitchfork. This hate may be the result of various misinterpretations of her words, to which Grimes has expressed her discontent about in several of her tweets. More generally, It's about "the bad side of music journalism".[3]
Part of the lyrics confess Grimes' "ambivalence about lofty expectations for her own success".[4]
In a retrospective thought about the song, Grimes said this:[5]
❝ “California,” I think I was just doing Taylor Swift cosplay, but it’s also vaguely about how the media is obsessed with portraying you as this troubled soul or something. ❞
Trivia[]
- An unleaked demo from November 2, 2014, was 3:55, 37 seconds longer than the final.[6]
- Many publications and reviews have wrongfully stated that California samples Pon de Replay by Rihanna.[7]
- A remix by HANA of this song is included in the official NBA 2K17 tracklist.[8]
- It is the fourth act of Art Angels.[9]
Media[]
Artwork[]
The artwork for the song depicts many words throughout the drawing: "fairy cemetery", referencing a term Grimes often calls herself (that being "faery", or "fairy") and "born: year of the dragon"; which directly concerns Grimes as she was born in 1988, the year of the Dragon on the Chinese zodiac calendar.
Video[]
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Title | California | |
| Premiere | 09 May 2016 | |
| Length | 3:26 | |
| Director | Grimes, Mac Boucher | |
Behind the Scenes
_001.jpg "Instagram (24 Nov 2015) 001.jpg (176 KB)")
Background
Lyrics[]
This, this music makes me cry
It sounds just like my soul, oh
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
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
Baby I'll drown, in...
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
Oh, I, I, I
Come Monday, it's a dream
Oh, I, I, I
Broken my own heart again
Chasing something beautiful
Oh, but I don't understand what they say
Cause I get carried away
Commodifying all the pain
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
Baby I'll drown, in...
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
Oh, I, oh, I
Oh na, na, na, ne
References[]
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/grimes-the-triumph-of-a-self-made-oddball-20151105?page=3
- ↑ http://blog.siriusxm.com/2015/11/06/grimes-friends-take-over-siriusxmu-in-honor-of-art-angels-release/
- ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/1843222/caroline-polachek-alexis-krauss-grimes/news/
- ↑ https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a35362/grimes-profile/
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/grimes-aespa-k-pop-media-ai-music-1234853710/
- ↑ https://vk.com/photo-9986050_358797348
- ↑ https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/interviews/interview-grimes-art-angels-touring-and-her-arcane-art
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FcBEx08pGk
- ↑ https://youtu.be/OsCfufAp2tM?si=aMtehlDqKvhhvQ9v&t=5
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/729783028076019712