Analysis of California Sunset by Neil Young

California is known for its impeccable beaches, wine, Disneyland, Redwood Trees, and the famous Hollywood, which identifies the location as a spot for relaxation and enjoyment. In describing the beauty and calmness, California provides musicians such as Neil Young in his song "California Sunset" illustrate the beauty and enjoyment the location provides for its inhabitants and tourists. Young wrote and released the song in 1985, which led to various people enjoying the music and releasing covers such as The Clampetts. The song's popularity is based on its authenticity of describing California as a state of opportunities based on the availability of resources which, when properly exploited, such as tourism, brings major profits to the people and government, thus the improved economy. In understanding California, the analysis focuses on explaining the song "California Sunset" by Neil Young based on its illustration of California's beauty and opportunities based on the imagery and sound used in the song.

Young's imagery in his song elaborates California as a land of beauty and refreshment because of the various scenic sites such as the beach the state contains. Young describes California as a land of beauty, space, and light based on the sunset, which he describes as "all the colors in the sky/Kiss another day goodbye" (Young lines 6-10). The song emphasizes California's eternal beauty, especially the sunset, which many people enjoy to refresh their minds and relax, thus a destination for a vacation. The emphasis on the imagery of the California sunset identifies the location to have warm conditions, which make people wear light clothes while on vacation. Further, the imagery in the statement "The golden state!" identifies California as valuable and worth because of its greater importance to those who live and travel to California with its beauty giving people peace of mind (Young line 25). The beaches are therapeutic as they relieve people of their troubles, and with the sunset in the evening, the place is inevitable for those who seek sanity and calmness in their lives. Based on its beauty, California provides various opportunities such as employment and businesses such as in the hotel industry and tourism. Therefore, the song identifies California as a scenic beauty providing various beneficial opportunities to the society.

The song is lyrical, which identifies California as a constant supply of beauty and refreshment, indicating the flow of opportunities and promises based on its sound. Young makes the song lyrical through various repetitions made in the song, such as "California Sunset," which emphasizes the beauty that is vital for humans as it allows them to relax as nature is believed to provide refreshment. The rhyme scheme in the song makes the song lyrical such as "light" and "might" and "Sunset" and "West" (Young lines 21-24). Young plays the song with a guitar which gives the smooth sound, which illustrates California as a cool and relaxing place based on the relaxed chords that Young plays on the guitar. The song as country music meant for relaxation identifies California as a relaxation destination as elaborated through the song's genre type. 

In his song "California Sunset," Neil Young defines California as a land of beauty and opportunities with the availability of beaches and Hollywood, which makes the state popular. The song's popularity is due to the authentic description of California, which entices listeners to travel to California to experience the warm weather and relax on the beach while watching the sunset to the West. The song's sound emphasizes California as beautiful based on the lyrics identified from repetition, rhyme scheme, and song's genre type as country music. Therefore, Young convinces people to visit California for adventure, especially the sunset.