CR ee卻alley
John and Mitchie were gettin' kind of itchy
John和Michelle Phillips（當時the New Journeymen團員）對新音樂非常渴望
Just to leave the folk music behind;
對以前的民謠失去了興趣
Zal and Denny workin' for a penny
Zal Yanovsky和Denny Doherty為了錢而工作
Tryin' to get a fish on the line.
努力嘗試著“釣大魚”（拿到音樂合同）
In a coffee house Sebastian sat,
就在John Sebastian坐著的那家咖啡廳裡
And after every number they'd pass the hat.
就在所有人經過了那頂禮帽之後
McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher in L.A.,
有人說Roger McGuinn（the Byrds成員）和Barry McGuire現在在洛杉磯很厲害
You know where that's at.
你明白我的意思吧？
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.
而除了Cass Elliot之外，沒有人會長胖的
Zallie said, 'Denny, you know there aren't many
Zal說“你知道的，Denny'
Who can sing a song the way that you do; let's go south.'
'沒有多少人能夠像你那樣唱歌，咱們往南走吧“
Denny said , Zallie, golly, don't you think that I wish
Denny說“天啊，Zal，你知不知道”
I could play guitar like you.'
“我多麼希望能像你這樣彈吉他”
Zal, Denny, and Sebastian sat (at the Night Owl)
Zal, Denny和Sebastian就坐著（在格林尼治村的夜鴞咖啡廳）
And after every number they'd pass the hat.
就在所有人經過了那頂禮帽之後
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher in L.A.,
有人說Roger McGuinn和Barry McGuire現在在洛杉磯越來越厲害
You know where that's at.
你明白我的意思吧？
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.
而除了Cass之外，沒有人會長胖的
When Cass was a sophomore, planned to go to Swathmore
當Cass還是個大二學生，想要去斯沃斯莫爾學院
But she changed her mind one day.
但在某天她改變了主意（去到了華盛頓的美利堅大學）
Standin' on the turnpike, thumb out to hitchhike,
站在高速公路上，伸出手攔了一輛順風車
'Take me to New York right away.'
“快，帶我去紐約吧”
When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps;
當Denny遇到Cass時，他給了她愛的碰撞
Called John and Zal and that was the Mugwumps.
於是把John和Zal叫到一起，組建了the Mugwumps這支樂隊
McGuinn and McGuire couldn't get no higher
Roger McGuinn和Barry McGuire現在在洛杉磯不能更厲害了（兩人在1965年發行了三首冠軍單曲）
But that's what they were aimin' at.
但他們依然擁有目標
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.
而除了Cass之外，沒有人會長胖的
Mugwumps, high jumps, low slumps, big bumps -
The Mugwumps樂隊，高高低低，跌跌撞撞
Don't you work as hard as you play.
你工作時不應該像你演奏時那樣努力嗎？
Make up, break up, everything is shake up;
組建，解散，所有人都在重組
Guess it had to be that way.
估計事情也只能這樣
Sebastian and Zal formed the 'Spoonful;
John Sebastian和Zal Yanovsky組建了樂隊“the Lovin' Spoonful'
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful.
而John, Michelle和Denny則配合出了美妙的和聲
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire in L.A.,
Roger McGuinn和Barry McGuire現在在洛杉磯火到不行
You know where that's at.
你明白我的意思吧？
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass.
而除了Cass之外，所有人會長胖的
Broke, busted, disgusted, agents can't be trusted,
破產了，很煩惱，經紀人根本不值得信任
And Mitchie wants to go to the sea.
而Michelle想去海邊（在美屬維爾京群島）逛逛
Cass can't make it; she says we 'll have to fake it -
Cass她去不了，她說我們要假裝一下
We knew she'd come eventually.
但我們知道，她反正最後會來
Greasin' on American Express cards;
把美國運通的信用卡塗上油（表示不再打算還款）
Tents low rent, but keeping out the heat's hard.
住在廉租房裡，但想要遠離酷熱實在太難
Duffy's good vibrations and our imaginations
Hugh Duffy（他們所去的海邊的一傢俱樂部的老闆）的俱樂部的美妙體驗
Can't go on indefinitely.
還有我們的想像力不能無限期地持續
And California dreamin' is becomin' a reality.
然後歌曲“California Dreamin''便成為了現實