Welcome to California, son   This is where men are made   Grab yourself a pick and a shovel   If you've got the will   We've got the way      In 1849, you saw the gold with your own two eyes   You scavenge for something that shines like the son   You ravage through dirt and the greed and the blood   You came for the metals now you're remembered in stone   You can't see the sun is going down on you      You're a crook, you're a gambler, it's all for their sake   You lost it all you gave them all they could take   Don't know where you are, you don't know where you've been   It's a race 'til your death that you'll never win   It's a place and a time you're bought and sold   You'll see that you're not worth your weight in gold      Is this your better way?   You watch the California sun go sinking down into the bay   Is this your better way?   You watch the California sun steal all your dreams away      The saloons and the gambling the whore house hotels   They're lit up all night by their own private hells   Now a broken man so far from his home   It now comes to this he stands drunk and alone   Without a dime to your name or one ounce of fame   It's time to die, now who do you blame?