California Sober

Album: F-1 Trillion (2024)
Charted: 34
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Songfacts®:

  • Imagine, if you will, a road trip along California's Highway 1, that impossibly scenic route where the Pacific Ocean crashes against cliffs that seem precariously glued to the continent by nothing more than a prayer and some wildflowers. It's along this winding stretch of Americana that Post Malone and Chris Stapleton find themselves in "California Sober," a track from Malone's debut country album, F-1 Trillion.

    The song tells the story of Malone and Stapleton's encounter with a bewitching hitchhiker described as "trouble in some daisies." She promptly takes these two for a ride in every sense of the word, relieving them of their wits, wallets, and possibly their better judgment.
  • The term "California sober" refers to a lifestyle choice where one uses weed but abstains from other drugs and alcohol. This is, of course, a lifestyle choice that has gained traction in recent years, especially among those who prefer a softer landing than total abstinence.

    Post Malone has been candid about his alcohol dependency - his song "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol," for instance, details his struggles with booze. The song's lyrics suggest that Malone has experimented with different approaches to recovery, including "California sober."
  • Musically, "California Sober" is a heady blend of bluegrass, country and rock. Malone and Stapleton penned it with Malone's longtime partners in musical crime, Louis Bell and Charlie Handsome, alongside Nashville songwriter Mark Holman ("Cole Swindell's Single Saturday Night," Morgan Wallen's "Don't Think Jesus").
  • The musicians are:

    Aaron Sterling: drums
    Craig Young: bass
    Derek Wells: electric guitar
    Todd Lombardo: acoustic guitar
    Paul Franklin: pedal steel guitar
    Dave Cohen: keyboards
    Larry Franklin: fiddle
    Wes Hightower: background vocals
  • Post Malone kicked off the 2024 CMAs in full cowboy regalia with a high-energy rendition of "California Sober" alongside Chris Stapleton.

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