The Mamas & The Papas :: California Dreaming

[postlink]http://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/mamas-papas-california-dreaming.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZLIw7t3sMendofvid
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California Dreaming

               
[Note: both guitars are capoed at the 4th fret; the names in brackets
 indicate the chords as fingered.]

Intro:

6-string acoustic:

C#m                                                 Ab7sus4  [N.C.]
[Am]                                                [E7sus4]
v   v   v   v     v   v   v   v     v   v   v   v     v
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-0-
-----0---3--1--0-|-----------------|-----------------|-0-
---2-------------|-------%---------|-------%---------|-2-
-2-----2---------|-----------------|-----------------|-0-
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-2-
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-0-
        ^^^^^^^ triplets

12-string acoustic:

v   v   v   v     v   v   v   v     v   v   v   v     v
-----------------|-----0-1-0-------|-----------------|---
-----------------|-------------3---|-1---3-1---------|---
-----------------|-----------------|---------4--2--0-|-2-
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---
-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---
                                   triplets ^^^^^^^

Verse 1:
                   C#m    C#m7/B        A
                   [Am]   [Am7/G]      [F]
All the leaves are brown
                  (all the leaves are brown)


        B    Ab7sus4                Ab7
       [G]   [E7sus4]               [E7]
And the sky is gray  (and the sky is gray)


A               E         Ab7   C#m
[F]             [C]        [E7]  [Am]
I've been for a walk
               (I've been for a walk)


     A     Ab7sus4              Ab7
    [F]    [E7sus4]             [E7]
On a winter's day  (on a winter's day)


               C#m    C#m7/B     A
               [Am]   [Am7/G]   [F]
I'd be safe and warm
               (I'd be safe and warm)


     B     Ab7sus4               Ab7
    [G]    [E7sus4]              [E7]
If I was in L. A.  (if I was in L. A.)


Chorus:
           C#m   C#m7/B    A 
           [Am]  [Am7/G]  [F]
California dreamin'
             (California dreamin')


    B           Ab7sus4    Ab7
   [G]          [E7sus4]   [E7]
On such a winter's day


Verse 2:
Stopped in to a church
I passed along the way
Well I got down on my knees
                     (got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
You know the preacher likes the cold
                              (preacher likes the cold)
He knows I'm gonna stay (knows I'm gonna stay)


[repeat chorus]


Instrumental break:


flute solo over verse (hold C#m [Am] through first two lines or
  3-1/2 bars) and chorus chords


Verse 3:


All the leaves are brown
                   (all the leaves are brown)
And the sky is gray (and the sky is gray)
I've been for a walk
               (I've been for a walk)
On a winter's day (on a winter's day)
If I didn't tell her
           (if I didn't tell her)
I could leave today (I could leave today)


Coda:
           C#m   C#m7/B    A
           [Am]  [Am7/G]  [F]
California dreamin'
             (California dreamin')


   B              C#m     C#m7/B    A
  [G]             [Am]    [Am7/G]  [F]
On such a winter's day (California dreamin')


   B              C#m     C#m7/B    A
  [G]             [Am]    [Am7/G]  [F]
On such a winter's day (California dreamin')


   B             Amaj7    C#m
  [G]           [Fmaj7]   [Am]
On such a winter's day

*http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/mamas_and_the_papas/california_dreaming_crd.htm


Storyline, Chungking Express (Hongkong, 1994):

The movie comprises two different stories, told one after the other, each about a romance involving a policeman. Aside for a brief moment when the first story ends and the second begins, the two stories do not interconnect. However, the three main characters from the second story each momentarily appear during the first.

First story

The first story concerns Taiwan-born cop He Qiwu, also known as Cop 223 (played by Kaneshiro). Qiwu's girlfriend May broke up with him on April 1 (April Fool's Day). His birthday is May 1 and he chooses to wait for May for a month before moving on. Every day he buys a tin of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1. By the end of this time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it will have expired forever. Meanwhile, a woman in a blonde wig (played by Brigitte Lin) tries to survive in the drug underworld after a smuggling operation goes sour. On May 1, Qiwu, looking for romance, approaches the woman in the blonde wig at a bar (the Bottoms Up Club). However, she is exhausted and falls asleep in a hotel room, leaving him to watch movies alone. She leaves in the morning and shoots the drug baron (played by Thom Baker) who had set her up. Qiwu goes jogging and receives a message from her on his pager wishing him a happy birthday. He then visits his usual snack food store where he collides with a new staff member, Faye. At this point, a new story begins.

Second story

In the second story, the unnamed Cop 663 (played by Tony Leung) is similarly dealing with a breakup, this time from a flight attendant (Valerie Chow). He meets Faye, the new girl at the snack bar (played by Faye Wong). She falls for him in secret, and frequently breaks into his apartment during the day to redecorate and "improve" his living situation. Gradually, her ploys help Cop 663 to cheer up, and he eventually realises that Faye likes him and arranges a date at the restaurant 'California'. However, Faye stands him up after a last-minute decision to see the world before settling down; she leaves him a fake boarding pass with a date a year from now. In the last scene, Faye arrives back in Hong Kong, now a flight attendant; she finds that Cop 663 has bought the snack bar and is converting it into a restaurant. Their future however always remains ambivalent. by yasirfarabi

This movie starts what I like to call director Wong Kar-Wai’s prolific period. In two years he released three movies. That’s not really fair, though because ‘Ashes of Time’ took forever to make and just happened to be released at the month after ‘Chunking Express’. ‘Fallen Angels’ was released the year after and is a kind of after-thought to ‘Chunking Express’. In any case, this movie is considered by a lot of people to be Wong Kar-Wai’s best movie. Maybe that’s because it’s his cheeriest movie to date. Now, that might sound impressive but if you’ve seen his other movies, ‘cheeriest’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘nice little package’. The movie is basically divided in two parts, both talking about love. The first part has Takeshi Kaneshiro eating pinapples and the second has Tony Leung talking to his stuffed toys. 

The movie seems to have this very spontaneous flavour that isn’t present in Mr. Wong’s other movies. The handheld cameras movements and the way the actors handle themselves seem to be very unrehearsed. This movie also won, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, best picture and best director over ‘Ashes of Time’, which Mr. Wong spent about 3 years doing. Now, when you know how much of a perfectionist and how much control Mr. Wong likes to have over his movies, and that this one is considered by many to be his best, and it looks and feels different from his other movies, what does that mean? I’m not really sure, but all I know is that the movie is very intelligent. You have the requisite Wong Kar-Wai symbolism and themes. 

One theme that isn’t really explored much in his movies, or at all, actually, other than in this one is that people seem to be like food, whether it be pinapples or chef’s salad. Food is very prominent in the movie. Takeshi Kaneshiro doesn’t stop eating or drinking for his entire segment and Faye Wong works in a corner take-out shop. Other things that can be interesting is that Mr. Kaneshiro runs so that he sweats so that he doesn’t have water to cry. Maybe another very subtle hint of something to that effect is that Tony Leung’s cop character always drinks black coffee, which is a diuretic. In any case, many of Mr. Wong’s movies have very hot and muggy atmospheres, so this movie just might be a more overt mentioning of something he’s explored before and since. 

You also have many people dreaming; indeed, the two most prominent songs in the movie are The Mamas and the Papas’ ‘California Dreamin’’ and The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’ (as sung by Faye Wong). The music is definitely an extention of the characters more than any other movie Mr. Wong has done. It’s more obvious, in any case. Like Jacky Cheung in ‘As Tears Go By’ and Maggie Cheung in ‘Days of Being Wild’, the main characters here have their own dreams. In here, everybody has their own problem and dreams of fixing that problem. Mr. Kaneshiro wants love, for example. Simple enough. 

The problem with that is that nobody seems to want to listen to anybody else, as well. Brigitte Lin is always wearing the sunglasses (‘I don’t want to talk’). People are in their own little world. To me, the most striking time this is shown occurs when Tony Leung is telling the story of the flight attendant and in the flashback he’s playing with the little plane. Another, more evident time happens pretty much whenever you see Faye Wong on screen. She’s always wrapped up in ‘California Dreamin’’. Particularly when she’s cleaning Mr. Leung’s apartment, she’s in her own little world (and she also plays with the little plane!). This brings up another point – Faye Wong is good for Tony Leung, but he doesn’t notice it. So even though the movie doesn’t seem to be too planned out, it certainly has its share of thought behind it. 

One last thing is the movie is far funnier than any other Mr. Wong movie. This can almost pass as a comedy, especially Mr. Kaneshiro’s bits. (‘It’s people like you who are hung up on freshness.’) When he’s calling people trying to get dates, you get one of the best jokes. Which reminds me, if you’re familiar with this movie and ‘Ashes of Time’ (and the two ‘A Chinese Odyssey’ movies directed by Jeff Lau and starring Stephen Chow), check out ‘A Chinese Odyssey 2002’. 

Mr. Wong doesn’t seem to like to do things normally. He always has his own ideas about how to do things. That makes his movies very interesting. All his movies are great, and this one is no exception. It may have a lighter tone than the rest of his movies, but the interior monologues of the characters ask some pretty serious questions. Some of the analogies can get a bit comical, but it doesn’t take away from their meaning. I also have to say that this movie contains one of my favorite shots ever. It’s simple, but I love it. I can safely say, then, that this is a great movie all around. by. pat00139

*http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109424/synopsis
*http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/reviews.mhtml?id=7867&display_set=eng

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