Golden Broken Dreams

Oh! I see the lines defining
Crime rates are climbing, climbing
I'm feeling lost inside this stormy view
Oh! My worries keep on rising
Fear keeps on binding, binding
I need a place where I can just feel true
Oh! There's chaos in the evening
Sirens are screaming, screaming
I question if there's any justice here
Oh! My heart is heavy teeming
With shadows and dreaming, dreaming
Of a life where peace replaces fear
Oh! The streets are full of danger
Faces of strangers, strangers
Wondering if they'll take my hope away
Oh! The city's lost its splendor
To crime's relentless, endless
Fight the urge to run, but I can't stay
Oh! Golden dreams are fading fast
Shop windows boarded, past
Their prime, a paradise now lost to time
Oh! Tent cities line the boardwalk
Where movie stars once talked
Of fame, now shadows of a brighter day
Oh! Hills ablaze with wildfires
As if the state's funeral pyre
Burns bright, while people struggle just to cope
Oh! The fault lines keep on shifting
As prices keep on lifting, lifting
Beyond what working folks can hope to pay
Oh! The silver screen's gone static
As studios turn dramatic, dramatic
With empty lots where dreams once came alive
Oh! I'll pack these burnt-out embers
Of all that I'll remember, remember
And seek a place where hope can bloom again
Oh! California's in my rearview
A new life to pursue, pursue
I drive away as tears fall from my eyes