California Soul

If you watch as much sports on TV as I do--although I would never wish that on anyone-- then you have probably seen a Dockers commercial or two. Over the last few years, I have found myself looking forward to the apparel company's latest campaign, and it has nothing to do with the clothes themselves. I don't think I own one piece of Dockers gear. It's a little too preppy for me, but I digress.

What I really love about the current wave of Dockers commercials is the way they portray San Francisco (one of my favorite cities) and the cool music they use. A couple of years ago, it was Madeleine Peyroux's "Don't Wait Too Long." You remember the scene with the two trolley cars, right? I fell in love with that song for a while.

And now, it's happened again.






Not only do I love the way the commercial is shot and edited--it does a great job of showing San Francisco's cool factor-- but I just love that damn song. After seeing the commercial about 5-6 times, I had to find out the name of the song and the artist.

Marlena Shaw's recording of "California Soul" appeared on her 1969 album "Spice of Life." Besides the Dockers commercials, the song has also been sampled in several hip-hop songs, and you can hear it in the background of a scene in "The Italian Job," although the song did not appear on the movie's soundtrack.

Besides just being an all-around catchy tune, the lyrics make the song enduring as well. Listen to the entire song below. I also found the lyrics so you can sing along. Enjoy!





Like a sound you hear
That lingers in your ear
But you can't forget
From sundown to sunset
It's all in the air
You hear it everywhere
No matter what you do
It's gonna grab a hold on you
California soul, California soul

They say the sun comes up every morning
And if you listen oh so carefully
The winds that ride on the high time
Whistle in melody
And so the people started to sing
And that's how the surf gave birth untold
To California soul, California soul

When you hear the beat
You wanna pat your feet
And you've got to move cause
It's really such a groove
Puts a brand new kind of thinkin' in your mind
And you can't go wrong
Cause you're groovin' all day long
California soul, California soul

They had the melody and the beat
But it still didn't seem complete
Until they saw two lovers kissin
They knew just what was missin
So happy they were rockin and reelin
Because that added that lovin feeling
To California soul, California soul

Like a sound you hear
That lingers in your ear