Great music from the 1970’s! And it’s about Southern California, too! And it’s true! This song is never played anymore, but really it ought to be. It’s just too great to be left off the airways. It’s almost criminal not to play a song this great.
Albert Hammond was not well known, but he did have this one great hit. Love that hair too!
He’s mostly just a songwriter more than a singer. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Elton John, Mama Cass, The Association, Steppenwolf, Sonny & Cher, Johnny Mathis, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, Jose Feliciano, Perry Como, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Helen Reddy, Glenn Campbell, The Oakridge Boys, The Carpenters, Jefferson Starship, Leo Sayer, Chicago, and a bunch of others you probably never heard of.
One more great song of the California Dream, which was all wrapped up in White California, which is dead and gone and mourned to this day, especially by me. It was one of those you had to be there times and places. Sorry if you missed it!
Lyrics. A hint to understanding this song. It’s not really about the weather. It’s about life, the ups and downs of life, specifically the Hollywood Dream and Los Angeles, the City of Angels itself. John Rechy, Nathaniel West, Dashiell Hammett, The Eagles, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Sunset Boulevard – the street and the movie. Fortune and misfortune at the edge of the Earth where the cliffs drop off into the sea. Where people go to die. Everyone goes to LA to die. Everyone. Get it?
Got on board a westbound seven forty-seven
Didn’t think before deciding what to do
Ooh, that talk of opportunities
TV breaks and movies
Rang true
Sure rang true
Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I’ve often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours
Man, it pours
I’m out of work, I’m out of my head
Out of self respect, I’m out of bread
I’m underloved, I’m underfed,
I want to go home
It never rains in California
But girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours
Man, it pours
Will you tell the folks back home I nearly made it?
Had offers but didn’t know which one to take
Please don’t tell ’em how you found me
Don’t tell ’em how you found me
Gimme a break
Give me a break
Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I’ve often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours
Man, it pours
