33. Bunch of boys with toys

I love California. I have visited many times, up and down the West Coast. I think my favorite places are La Jolla ( San Diego), Laguna Beach, Manhattan Beach and  Santa Barbara. I have visited 23 of the 50 USA states and still like California the best.

The Golden State is the 3rd largest state after Texas and Alaska, with a population of 39m.It's the 5th largest economy in the world. The pacific coastline is 840 miles long - I've driven up and down many times. Key features include, a fertile central valley, The Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley and ancient forests. Silicon Valley is a global technology Centre, home to Apple, Goggle, Meta and Tesla. Hollywood is also the entertainment capital of the world. The Aerospace hub includes Space X ,NASA and Lockheed. The state is a car centric society, but also a center for counter culture activities like the hippy movement and the LGBT community. Of course, it's also the home of Disneyland. ‘Boys with Toys’ ( the name of my song) is part of the culture of high-tech gadgets, computers, venture capital wealth, private jets, helicopters, supercars and billion-dollar toys ( like flying cars and rockets).It’s also a land of surfers and adventure seekers, everything from mountain bikes to skate boarders. ‘Boys with toys’ stereo types depict awkward male programmers  who write algorithms and live in incubator houses. Generally, it's about the pursuit of wealth, and to be on the cutting edge.

The state also gets a bad wrap around the cost of living, the homeless, the housing crisis and disastrous liberal policies enabling tent encampments. It also has high taxes and gas priced and finally it has seen companies leaving for states like Texas e.g. Tesla and  Hewlett Packard. Crime and the nanny sate are common complaints, as are poorly thought through environmental polices. Some refer to it as a  ‘state pf managed decline’

 The song is set up nicely with a fairly negative view of California , probably caused by me watching Elon Musk on CNN ! I spent a long time making my lyric video in order to get across the diversity of issues and views. For example, the lines in the song, ‘Rats feast on rubbish, roaming the streets. Stopping pool parties and condo treats. Militant guys are making it worse. May the Lord, have mercy on us. Called the Governor, ain ’t taking my call. Hippy dippy therapies in an urban sprawl  California is on fire, making a noise. The Valley, is run by boys with toys’ The rats in the street refers to San Franscico which suffered badly from the Opioid epidemic, but now seems to be getting its act together. Then the chorus kicks in with,’ California is on fire, making a noise. The Valley, is run by boys with toys. On fire refers to some of the chaos described but also the 9,000 wildfires every year with up to 4m acres burned. This is increasing every year as the fires get bigger and longer and temperatures get hotter, coupled with intense droughts, albeit 95% are human caused. For some its time to go !. The songs says, ‘Modern life, has stubbed out our fun. Mired in no man’s land, it’s time to run’ and then ‘Freedom is not for sale, gotta opt out’. At this point we meet a couple who are ready to move out, singing, ‘I wanna move way out of town Wanna keep three cats, slowdown’. The have a dream and it’s not California, ‘ Buying the farm was always our dream. That's the plan baby, to swim in a stream’ – there is no way they could afford a farm in this state. They are sick of debating liberal democrat versus staunch republican policies and principles, they sing, ‘No wrangling with Damm neighbours Just the wonder of woodland gazes. They conclude, ‘No need to combat an ugly autumn. Blueberry pancakes sound awesome’ They repeat their displeasure with ‘The Valley, is run by boys with toys’