Californ-i-ay 1944

by James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 6Jan2025
2025

There are poets who sing
Of that mythical Kingdom of Arcady
But alack! and unfortunately
They're not up with the times
For there isn't a thing
In that secondhand Kingdom of Arcady
That compares with the sun or the sea
Of that gold spangled coast
Pardon us if we boast when we toast

Californiay
Where each plum and each prune
Is as big as the moon
Californiay
Where December comes dolled up like May
There are gals to attract us
There's gold in the cactus, so bless the day
That we found Californiay
For without it there's no U.S.A.

In this new Eldorado
There's free avocado for everyone
And there's none that weighs under a ton
In this fabulous clime.
We have luscious persimmon
And ditto our women, who rival each
Gladiola, magnolia and peach
So we say to each friend
Who may seek Journey's end
We commend

Californiay
Where the rain doesn't rain
It just drizzles champagne
Californiay
Where romance is the theme of the day
From San Pedro to Fresno
No maiden there says "No" when love is nigh
For in gay Californiay
Everything is tremendous,
titanic, stupendous
The ocean is better and bluer and wetter
The mountains are higher
The deserts are drier
The boys have more shekels
The girls have more freckles
Californiay
Oh, without it there's no U.S.A.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Californ-i-ay 1944
From the film "Can't Help Singing", 1944
Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg
Music by Jerome Kern
© MCMXLIV by T.B.Harms Co.   New York
*
sequence & karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Monday 6 January 2025 at 10.26
in association with Fred Feild, The Sheet Music Singer
*
James Pitt-Payne