"California" is a song by American rock band Phantom Planet. It was released as a single from their second album The Guest in 2002. The song is about driving on U.S. Route 101, traveling to see a concert.[1] Both the song and the band received major attention when it became the theme song on the Fox television show The O.C., and it soon became a top-10 hit in Austria, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The estates of Al Jolson and his songwriting team are co-credited for "California", presumably because the title and chorus bear strong resemblances to his own "California, Here I Come". Some websites refer to the Phantom Planet song as a cover of the Jolson tune. Some parts of the song, particularly the piano solos at the beginning and end, are similar to the Jolson song, but still contain several differences in melody. It also bears some thematic and melodic resemblance to Joni Mitchell's "California" from her 1971 album Blue.
The song was re-recorded in 2005 by Phantom Planet and re-released as "California 2005", a much mellower version of the song than the original. "California 2005" had its debut in the second episode of The O.C.'s third season, and is featured on Music from the OC: MX-5. Although normally this version of the song runs as the title song for The O.C., it was switched out for the Mates of State's cover version in a special episode where everything in the show took place in an alternate universe, hence a different song for the title sequence.
Music video
The music video for "California" was directed by Roman Coppola,[2] the cousin of the band's then-drummer Jason Schwartzman who co-wrote the song, and documents the band on tour, intercut with footage of the song dubbed over live performances of it at various tour stops. Coppola would later work with the band again months later on the music video for "Lonely Day" (also from The Guest),[3] the band's last single and video with Schwartzman before he left the band in mid-2003 to focus on his acting career.
The song was covered in 2006 – again for The O.C., this time being covered by Mates of State for the sixth installment of the Music from the OC series.
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