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Santa Barbara

from 100 Summers by James Lee Baker

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about

The first time I flew to the West coast was for a work trip to Santa Barbara. I remember feeling the balmy, humid, salty air on my face when the glass sliding doors of the airport opened up. I remember the palm trees dancing like a steady luau welcoming me. In the years that followed my visit to SB, I relocated to the Bay Area for work and spent nearly three years as a resident of California. In the turmoil of a decaying long-term relationship, I pulled in my own experiences and tied this song together.

In a way, the second verse is a kind of double entendre. While I’m talking about the city and its hay days and eventual struggles, I’m really talking to myself and trying to give a needed pep talk — “you were a treasure chest of the gold rush, once a dangerous and lawless place”.

lyrics

I said farewell to San Francisco
At the cusp of spring and summertime
I’m following the winding slopes
Down the 101 to Anaheim

She kept the house, gave me the car
She wouldn't drive the hills of the city streets
So I packed my things and I headed south
I had to get the hell out of North Beach

When the freeway met the ocean
And the ocean met the setting sun
I felt the page of my story turn
As the road merged into Highway 1

Santa Barbara I have come
to hear your mission bells ring
To feel the warm sand on my feet
And the balmy Pacific breeze
On my skin
I'm here to start a new life again

You were a treasure chest of the Gold rush
Once a dangerous and lawless place
A bandit and a gambler’s haven
Found in the spoils to these United States

Your tragedies, they redefined you
Like a phoenix quickened in the hills
Rebirthed from the ashes of
Earthquakes, wildfires and oil spills

And I am nestled in the bosom
Of your Santa Ynez mountainside
Cradled in your June Gloom fog
That looks like a blanket from the outside

Santa Barbara I have come
to hear your mission bells ring
To feel the warm sand on my feet
And the balmy Pacific breeze
On my skin
I'm here to start a new life again

credits

from 100 Summers, released September 4, 2020

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James Lee Baker Denver, Colorado

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