CALIFORNIA SUN^©

Live 23 Oct 1999 version

[exit LIGHT OF DAY]

Well I'm a-going out west where I belong
Where the days are short and the nights are long
Well they walk and I'll walk
They twist and I'll twist
They shimmy and I'll shimmy
They get plastic surgery, I'll get plastic surgery
We're out there a-having fun
In that warm California sun
We're out there a-having fun
In that warm California sun

[reenter LIGHT OF DAY]

Page last updated: 06 Nov 2009

Intro

Credited to Henry Glover and Morris Levy, CALIFORNIA SUN is best known as a The Rivieras song. Check out the original The Rivieras version for more details.

Live History

Bruce Springsteen performed CALIFORNIA SUN (or snippets of it) a few times in his career. As far as it's known, the first time was during the 26 Oct 1984 Born In The USA Tour show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. It was part of the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band encores staple DETROIT MEDLEY.

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CALIFORNIA SUN reappeared during The Reunion Tour when a snippet of the song was sometimes bridged in the middle of LIGHT OF DAY. This was done a total of 4 times as far as it's known, all of them again in California. The above lyrics are for the 23 Oct 1999 performance. In the CALIFORNIA SUN snippet, Springsteen made a humorous reference to plastic surgery being fun in the "Californian sun".

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The song was played, in it's entire form for the first time, but heavily modified, during the fifth annual Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation benefit that was held on 09 Nov 2007 at Chelsea Piers, New York City, NY. See the live 09 Nov 2007 version for more details.

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The last know appearance of the CALIFORNIA SUN was during the Magic Tour when a snippet was again bridged in the middle of LIGHT OF DAY on 07 Apr 2008 at Honda Center, Anaheim, CA.

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Available Versions

List of available versions of CALIFORNIA SUN on this website:

• Live 23 Oct 1999 version
• Live 09 Nov 2007 version
• Original The Rivieras version

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for transcribing these lyrics. Much of the above info about the live history of the song is taken from Brucebase and Backstreets.