Tryin’ to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born.
Led Zeppelin begins “Going To California” talking about the woman he left. She was unkind: she smoked all his stuff and drank all his wine. So obviously he needs to find a better woman. So, he heads to California. Maybe literally, maybe not. California is where dreams come true and he is looking for his dream girl.
Some of his friends tell him all women are the same, but he doesn’t believe them…so off he goes. It turns out to be harder to find this woman than he thought it would be. In fact, this dream woman might not exist. But he is going to keep trying.
The guitar combined with the mandolin creates a unique sound that we don’t hear elsewhere from Led Zeppelin, maybe anywhere. It sounds kind of magical. It goes great with the theme of the lyrics. When you combine that with the echo from Plant’s lyrics, it forms a mystical song about the search for love.
The bridge on “Going to California” is pretty crazy. It works, but I could never imagine putting that bridge with this song. While Zeppelin gets critiqued for their tendency to borrow from other bands, this is a unique combination that I don’t think we would hear from any other band. All of these unique pieces combine to make “Going to California” one of Led Zeppelin’s finest songs.
Going To California Lyrics
Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank, all my wine
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going to California with an aching, in my heart
Someone told me there’s a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers, in her hair
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let ’em tell you that they’re all the same
The sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow, could ever follow today
The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake
Seems that the wrath of the gods
Got a punch on the nose, and it started to flow
I think I might be sinking
Throw me a line, if I reach it in time
I’ll meet you up there where the path runs straight and high
To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings…
La la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin’ to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems…
written by Page and Plant