Golden State

What do you do here
And who do you work with
I'm trying to get them to kick me out
But it isn't quite working
We got Kashmiri glass and some Nepalese shirts
When we moved out to Berkeley from Houston
While I lectured the class
You were lost in the stacks
Of the East Asian collection
Did your internship offer
Did you finish your masters
How's the rent up in Richmond
You're your parents disaster

Can your tiger hat protect you from the ocean
Walk across the Bay Bridge tied to who you think you'll die with
They say Outer Sunset's cute
Kids on Macbooks in their bedrooms
Well that's what I want I guess
Eat in cafes, San Francisco
Take a trip up to Astoria
Afraid there's nothing left here for ya
Is this new life worth it to ya?
Have a beer, here kid you've earned it
You've earned it

Come on then
Let's go off to New Zealand
Christchurch would be perfect
Is that what you're thinking
I'd bartend
And you'd work in a florist
I wish I could tell you
That it's what I wanted
Texas burns in flames behind me
Come and find me
We'll take shots until it's dark
Then wander barefoot through the grass of UC Berkeley
When will this all end dear
I think that I'll die here
News feeds would be tragic
Isn't that romantic

Flash back to 2015
In medias res and mis en scene
Every night I was smoking weed
On our couch in front of our house on Ward Street
Kimiko flew in from Japan
And I took her down to Stanford
To meet with some professors
While I sat up on the roof of my highlander
And surveyed the kids on campus
Wondering if this was the answer
The eastern ideal of excellence
And 4.5% acceptance rates
It's hard to illustrate the Golden State's effect on me
Without psychedelic imagery
Of veins cut open, bleeding colors endlessly
And I guess there's not a better city to walk in drunk at night
Come up on Corona Heights
To see the Bay Bridge strike the water back to Berkeley's lights
And part of me still sits there
Upon a rooftop, lost in drunk thoughts
Awesome sacred views of hillocks
Repeating mantra, saying hold on
To this darkened landscape for a moment longer
And hear the ghosts of science grad school
Whisper to you not to do drugs
But to look up
At the vast and empty stars above 2010s California
Pacific dreams can't be lost
And you are not lost
Cause I have found you here in this song