I was only twenty-one when I wrote this song. I had been hitch-hiking out West and got stuck in Redding, Ca. for about eleven hours. Two Indian boys from Yakima joined me on the road, and we sorted this song together to pass the time.

Where do you want to go?

Counting all the headlights on the highway
Trying to make the night time not so long
Well, it’s cold outside, Mister, can I have a ride
Hey, mister, want to listen to my song

My friends all say that Galen, he’s a loner
He don’t need much ‘cause he’s married to the road
Well, sometimes I get tired, when the last joint has been fired
And I’m laying in bed and sleeping all alone

chorus

I’m going home to California
Mister can’t you tell I was born and raised
standing in the sunshine, won’t you lend a hand,
You see I’m just an honest man from by-gone days

Don’t you know it’s getting kind of lonesome
Trying to ride a rainbow to the end
And my hands they just got froze, and my mind was overdosed
When I lost someone I used to call a friend

I can see the sunshine on the mountain
Driving down on highway number five
I know I’ll never find, the girl I left behind
But I need someone to talk to to survive