California Sun

I was born in New Jersey

Thirty years ago

Raised in the suburbs

I went to public school

I left home at eighteen

And I headed out west

I met a pretty girl

And ended my quest

Our lives were just beginning

With so many dreams to see through

I ran away with her

From the world and all it's fools

Out on the Pacific

Condo penitentiary

We lived like convicts

Of our own misery

Our enemies were chosen

With so far still to run

We seethed in the heat of

The California sun

Back in New Jersey

My mother cried

My daddy had a heart attack

And man, he almost died

I got back out on that highway

And I headed home

I held my daddy in my arms

And all the ripped seams were sown

I went back to California

To pick up the pieces of my life

My girl got pregnant

And she became my wife

On a rainy winter's day

Just before the new year

A baby girl was born

And for a minute I felt no fear

Behind the walls on Main Street

I guarded like a loaded gun

I'd open up the blinds sometimes to let in

The California sun

Back in New Jersey

I found myself again

I couldn't make the ends meet

And I felt my poor back bend

I crawled home to the shelter

Of my daddy's house

I moved my family east

It was the only way out

Through storm after storm

I weathered my pain

With a family to provide for

And a pride to regain

I worked towards being someone

With someplace to go

And on the streets of my hometown

I wondered if I'd ever know

Know what it was

That was pushing me to run

From the shadows of my past into

The California sun

I left New Jersey

Just after one year

I was back up on my feet

And there was nothing left there

Back to California

I took my family

And I did what I had to do

Just like my daddy before me

A father and a husband

Without a sacrifice

That's the bottom line

Where I'm living my life

I've picked up all the pieces

And I've put them in their place

The moon and the stars

And those planets out in space

Heaven and Hell

Let they kingdom come

Until then I'll be basking in

The California sun