IN CALIFORNIA
This one you can actually almost replicate on guitar. When playing, keep thumbing the A
to keep that open C note, and play the bottom two strings with your index and middle
I can’t be bothered tabbing it, so here at the chords:
A/Dmajb5: x 0 x x 9 10
A: x 0 x(6)5 5
Am x 0 x(5)5 5
A/D: x 0 x 2 3 2
Asus2b5: x 0 x 4 4 5
A/G: x 0 x 4 3 3
E/B: 0 x 9 8 7 x
E/Amaj7: 0 x 6 6 5 x
E/G: 0 x 2 4 3 x
E/A: 0 x 7 6 5 x
E/Aaug: 0 x 2 3 2 x
E: 0 2 2 1 0 0
CAPO 3
A/Dmajb5, A
A/Dmajb5, A
A/Dmajb5 A
my heart became a drunken runt
Am A/D
on the day i sunk in this shunt
A
to tap me clean
Asus2b5
of all the wonder
A/G
and the sorrow i have seen
A
since i left my home
A/Dmajb5, A
my home on the old milk lake
Am A/D
where the darkness does fall so fast
A
it feels like some kind of mistake
Asus2b5 A/G
just like they told you it would
A
just like they told you it would
E/B E/Amaj7
when i came into my land
E/G E/A
i did not understand
E/G E/Aaug
neither dry rot or the burn pile or the bark
beetle or the dry well
E/Am E
or the black bale
B
but there is another
E
who is a little older
G#m
when i broke my bone,
E
he carried me up from the riverside
B
to spend my life in spitting distance
E
of the love that i have known
G#m
i must stay here
E
in an endless eveningtide
B
and if you come and see me
E
you'll upset the order
G#m
you cannot come and see me
E
for i set myself apart
B
but when you come and see me
E
in California
G#m (F#) B
you cross the border of my heart
B B7
well, i have sown untidy furrows 'cross my soul
E Em
but i am still a coward
B B7
content to see my garden grow so sweet
E Em (F#)
and full of someone else's flowers
G#m (F#) E
sometimes i can almost feel the power
(F#) G#m (F#) E
sometimes i am so in love with you
(F#) G#m (F#) E
like a little clock that trembles on the edge of the hour
(F#) G#m (F#) E
only ever calling out "cuck-oo, hoo-oo, hoo-oo"
(F#) A/Dmajb5
when i called you
A
you little one
Am
in a bad way
A/D
did you love me?
do you spite me?
A
time will tell
Asus2b5 A/G
if i can be well
A
and rise to meet you rightly
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/j/joanna_newsom/in_california_crd.html ]
E/B E/Amaj7
when moving across my land
E/G E/A
brandishing themselves like a burning branch
E/G E/Aaug
advance the tallow-colored, wall-eyed deer
E/Am E
quiet as gondoliers
B E
well, i wait all night for you in California
G#m
watching the fox pick off my goldfish
E
from their sorry, golden state
B E (sus4)
and i am no longer afraid of anything
G#m E
save the life that here awaits
B
i don't belong to anyone
B7 E Em
my heart is heavy as an oil drum
B
and i don't want to be alone
B7 E Em
my heart is yellow as an ear of corn
B
and i have torn my soul apart
B7 E Em
from pulling artlessly with fool commands
G#m (F#)
some nights i just never go to sleep at all
E
and i stand
(F#) G#m (F#) E
shaking in the doorway like a sentinel, all alone
(F#) G#m (F#)
bracing like the bow upon a ship
E
and fully abandoning
(F#) G#m
any thought of anywhere but home
(F#) E
my home
(F#) G#m (F#) E
sometimes i can almost feel the power
(F#) G#m (F#) E
and i do love you
(F#) G#m (F#) E
is it only timing that has made it such a dark hour
(F#) G#m (F#) E
only ever chiming out "cuck-oo, hoo-oo, hoo-oo"
F#
*stabs*
G#m (F#) E (F#)
cu-ckoo, cu-ckoo, koo, ha-a, ha-hour, ha-a, ha-a
G#m (F#) E (F#)
cu-ckoo, cu-ckoo, koo, ha-a, ha-hour, ha-a, ha-a
G#m (F#) E (F#)
cu-ckoo, cu-ckoo, koo, ha-a, ha-hour, ha-a, ha-a
G#m (F#) E (F#)
cu-ckoo, cu-ckoo, koo, ha-a, ha-hour, ha-a, ha-a
A/Dmajb5
my heart
A
i wear you down
Am
i know
A/D
gotta think straight
keep a clean plate
A
keep from wearing down
Asus2b5 A/G
if i lose my hay
A
just where am i going to lay?
G A F G A
for it has half who need to be hanging around
G A F G A
Here among the Daphne blooming out of the big ground
G A F G A
i'm a native too, but i'm overgrown
G A F G A
i am sure my roots are near here as rich as rope
G F
here down
A
in California
