California Kids

Album: Weezer (The White Album) (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song glorifies the beauty of Weezer's home state. It is actually an update of "California," a track from Rivers Cuomo's 2013 Japanese-language Scott & Rivers side project, with additional English lyrics. When Cuomo and his producer, Jake Sinclair, went through a backlog of 250 songs, this was the only one that made onto the Weezer (White Album).
  • The song is the opening track of Weezer's California-themed White Album. Rivers Cuomo told Pitchfork: "The inspiration behind the songs were my experiences hanging around the Westside of Los Angeles, which has been our home since Weezer began. Hanging out with people in Venice and Santa Monica, the beach, the Hare Krishnas, the Sikh on roller blades with the guitar, girls on Tinder within a 4 mile radius, seeing other bands, the kids from La Sera. I would just tweet out 'does anybody wanna hang?' and then I'd get together with people who responded and talk about life.

    I love California. I wanted the album to make you feel like you were there with us SoCal weirdos even if you're in Milwaukee in December."
  • Rivers Cuomo wrote this song with Dan Wilson, his collaborator on the 2010 Weezer track "Ruling Me." These are some high-IQ songwriting sessions: Both Cuomo and Wilson attended Harvard.
  • Fun Fact: producer Jake Sinclair is such a diehard fan of Weezer, he was once in a tribute band called Wannabeezer.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Victoria Williams

Victoria WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!