California girls, this song is forgettable

Katy Perry - New Album Coming 2010

As a California Girl it is only fitting that I comment on the song,"California Gurls", linked above from Katy Perry. I will borrow a quote from my beloved Daria (Season One, Episode Eleven at about 2:55), "It has a beat and you can dance to it, if you have no shame."

As a summer anthem that Katy Perry song is about as boring as they come. I know what you guys are saying, trying to defend your precious Perry in her ill-fitting, gimmicky clothes, "But, Samina the song is soooo fun!" Yes, that may be true but it's also a terrible mess of California stereotypes. Perry is a California Girl (Santa Barbara) herself and I would expect her to know better. Not even an appearance from Snoop Dogg can save the song from mediocrity.

This isn't a post about how much I can't stand Perry. "Waking up in Vegas" was a solid track with a visually stunning video. Did any of her teeny-bopper fans even note the Penn & Teller cameo? However, "Hot N Cold" was a cookie-cutter track that I mistook for a Kelly Clarkson song until very recently. Plus, the ultimate California Girl, Gwen Stefani, already did the running in a wedding dress bit in a video. Baseball bats and weddings were also more artfully used in No Doubt's "Simple Kind of Life" video than in Perry's "Hot N Cold".

Fear not my friends. I don't always criticize without offering solutions. David and I picked through our iTunes and selected the songs we love about California. These songs are steps above Perry's "California Gurls". They may not all be summer jams that make you want to hit the beach but they speak volumes about the diversity, beauty and irony that is our home state.

Into the Great Wide Open- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
California- Tom Petty
Free Fallin'- Tom Petty
Diamonds On My Windshield- Tom Waits
Blue Jay Way- The Beatles
California- Phantom Planet
Freeway Time in L.A. County Jail- Sublime
Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt
I'm from L.A- Go Betty Go
California - Joni Mitchell
Van Nuys (es very nice)- Los Abandoned
I love you, California (official state song)
California, here I come (unofficial state song)
Do-re-Mi- Woody Guthrie
Going back to Cali- The Notorious B.I.G.*
Ventura Highway- America
California Dreamin'- The Mamas and the Papas
Californication- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hotel California- The Eagles
California Love- 2pac

There are songs we missed so here is a list on Wikipedia where some of these songs and more are listed.

*Biggie can say "Cali" because he is from the East Coast. Natives are bound by law to call it So-Cal.