Well you know when you're young there's such a distance between you and your family
You just can't see things from the same point of view
Papa wants a lawyer and mama she wants an author
And all you want is for them to want you

Well, I saw lot of bad signs and we had some real bad times back on the east coast
And I guess you could say it took California to bring us close
There was a lot of hard livin' and some stone cold women on the east coast
And I saw my papa turn away when I need him most
And California, she's an angel oh so heavenly dressed
And the Pacific she's a woman The Lord must have loved her best
I've got a California rainbow come give them thunder clouds a rest
Oh and the mountain is my friend now, she put me to her test
Well you know every father has dreams and schemes fo his own kid
And dreaming it ain't been declaired no capital crime
But I just hope when I grow up to have my own kids
That I'll love them all I can and let 'em make their own minds
Now you know how a mother can hold the son through understanding
And my father he once held me close by crying
Whoa, and my mama's love it don't ever leave me standing
And papa's love it just leaves me smiling
Whoa, and my mama she's a rainbow,
gotta see hen on Sunday when she's dressed
Whoa, and my papa he's a good man, he gives me and mama his best
Whoa, my mama she's a rainbow, come to give them thunder clouds a rest
And my family is my friend now California put us through her test