Singing the California Dream

In Los Angeles, it's not enough to make it as an actor; "I'm working on my album," is the requisite LA hobby. Filtered through starlets' medically plumped lips it sounds more like, "um workin' on my ahbum." (It's hard to enunciate after excessive collagen injections -- you know, scar tissue buildup.)

"Making it" as a musician is undeniably one of the most cliche of the California Dreams. But that's not to say we haven't gotten a lot of great songs about the Golden State out of it. We've used Rufus Wainwright's California quite a bit to promote our series. But we need help compiling a comprehensive list of the best songs ever recorded about California, from the obvious to the obscure. Please post your ideas in the comment section below.

And to those musicians out there working hard to make your California Dreams come true, sans lip plumping, send us your musical version of the California Dream. You can either post a link to the song below or send us an email here and we'll respond by telling you where to drop the mp3. If it's awesome, we'll air it.

--Shereen Meraji

2:36 PM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink

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