San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native)

Album: Fever Tree (1968)
Charted: 91
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • San Francisco was the focal point of the hippie counterculture in the late '60s. Some famous songs were written about this place and time, including "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" by Scott McKenzie and "San Franciscan Nights" by The Animals. There was also "San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native)" by Fever Tree, a song about a guy who is ready to leave his girl to return to the city.
  • Fever Tree was from Houston. The only member of the band who had spent much time in San Francisco when they wrote this song was keyboard player Rob Landes, who had relatives in nearby Berkeley.
  • The song was written by the group's guitarist Michael Knust along with the husband-and-wife team of Scott and Vivian Holtzman, who produced the album.
  • The instrument at the beginning of this song is a Hohner Clavinet, which Rob Landes often played at their concerts. "It had actual strings in it and they were plucked like a harpsichord," he told Songfacts in 2017. "Each string was amplified. I wish I still had that instrument! I'm sure it is a collector's item by now."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Which Songs are About Drugs?

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?