I was born in New Jersey
Thirty years ago
Raised in the suburbs
I went to public school
I left home at eighteen
And I headed out west
I met a pretty girl
And ended my quest

Our lives were just beginning
With so many dreams to see through
I ran away with her
From the world and all it’s fools
Out on the Pacific
Condo penitentiary
We lived like convicts
Of our own misery

Our enemies were chosen
With so far still to run
We seethed in the heat of
The California sun

Back in New Jersey
My mother cried
My daddy had a heart attack
And man, he almost died
I got back out on that highway
And I headed home
I held my daddy in my arms
And all the ripped seams were sown

I went back to California
To pick up the pieces of my life
My girl got pregnant
And she became my wife
On a rainy winter’s day
Just before the new year
A baby girl was born
And for a minute I felt no fear

Behind the walls on Main Street
I guarded like a loaded gun
I’d open up the blinds sometimes to let in
The California sun

Back in New Jersey
I found myself again
I couldn’t make the ends meet 
And I felt my poor back bend
I crawled home to the shelter
Of my daddy’s house
I moved my family east
It was the only way out

Through storm after storm
I weathered my pain
With a family to provide for 
And a pride to regain
I worked towards being someone
With someplace to go
And on the streets of my hometown
I wondered if I’d ever know

Know what it was
That was pushing me to run
From the shadows of my past into
The California sun
I left New Jersey
Just after one year
I was back up on my feet
And there was nothing left there
Back to California
I took my family
And I did what I had to do
Just like my daddy before me

A father and a husband
Without a sacrifice
That’s the bottom line
Where I’m living my life
I’ve picked up all the pieces
And I’ve put them in their place
The moon and the stars
And those planets out in space
Heaven and Hell
Let they kingdom come
Until then I’ll be basking in
The California sun