Golden State of Mind

Happy New Year! I made it through The One Week Digital Cleanse no worse for wear. Work's been pretty crazy lately, so I think the timing was just right to take that short holiday from distractions.

I have a new song for the New Year, "Empire State of Mind." I am a California girl through and through, but have a great love and admiration for New York, for the adventures I've had there, for the inspiration it's provided some of my favorite artists, for the impact it has on the world, so I get really pumped up every time the song from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys comes on the radio.

The song was debuted at a 9/11 tribute concert, and I can picture the fevered excitement of the Madison Square Garden crowd as the song built toward the chorus and Alicia Keys sang, "Let's hear it for New York!" for the first time. The place must have nearly melted down when Jay-Z called out, "Long live the Word Trade" in the second verse.

There's so much love displayed for New York by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys in every second of this song, it's hard not to be moved by it. Why else would the song be played nonstop from coast-to-coast? Why else would it have topped the Billboard charts? Why else would the Los Angeles Times have dedicated a cover feature in its Calendar section earlier this month? Even if you're not from New York, it's hard to ignore that kind of home state pride.

I have that kind of pride in my home state, too, but the success of "Empire State of Mind" has me wondering why California hasn't inspired the same kind of musical love that New York has. Sure, The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, The Doors, Everclear, The Mamas and The Papas, Gwen Stefani, Weezer and X have all performed songs about California, but even a classic as great as "California Dreaming" can't really match up to the extraordinary list of songs inspired by New York. This is a place that both Madonna and U2 have been inspired to write about, as well as Ryan Adams, The Beastie Boys, Billy Joel, John Lennon, John Mayer, Paul McCartney, The Ramones, Lou Reed, Run-DMC, Paul Simon and countless more.

Do people love New York more than California? Is New York somehow more inspiring, more dynamic, more invigorating than California? Why is there more musical love for the Empire State than the Golden State? Wikipedia has lists of songs about Los Angeles and New York City, and The Big Apple has it all over the City of Angels, 862 songs to 413.

So while I'm enjoying listening to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys profess their love for New York, I'd like to hear a little more love for California. A state of more than 163,000 square miles with more than 36 million citizens has to be enough to inspire a few more jaw-dropping, ass-kicking, arm-pumping songs.

In the meantime, "Empire State of Mind:"