It's the third night now
When nobody has gone
Even the strength to curse has gone
Cold hands can be warmed up
Only by the clink of coins
Though you are twenty-five years old
Veins howl from hunger
Like pipes in an old house
And you were close to falling when
Your beloved walked past
He was the one not so long ago
He didn't recognise you
California, it's you - California!
That ballet, like it was yesterday, friends
He was the one who allowed you to try for the first time
It was downhill after that, he haunts from a mirror today
Brought out from underneath lipstick
A foreign face, not yours
Kneeling among the crumbs of dreams
You cried:
It wasn't supposed to be like this!
The lamp has gone
In this darkness you didn't know
If it were blood or tears that were flowing
California, it's you - California!
Night from day differs in that you can't see the ceiling
Don't even ask about feelings
When you walk past lines of nameless bodies
It doesn't bother you, it's as if nothing was there
Hunger remains, only hunger remains...
Hunger has eaten longing
Hunger has even killed embarrassment
You still remember, he'd say:
California - don't be afraid!
The body would lose feeling
Dreams would lose colour
You remember one thing, he'd say:
California - don't be afraid!
He passed by again
Something broke in you for the last time
Then the crowds around you gathered
He lay there quietly
And nobody saw
What you held in your hands
And nobody saw
How you went the other way...
He'd say: don't fear
Don't fear anything! California!