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My Gen X Playlist: San Andreas Fault – Natalie Mechant

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I’ve been doing OK on my Kalshi betting app. Occasionally it forces me to do a little research prior to placing a bet. Recently there was an opportunity to bet if a 7.0 earthquake would hit this month. Seven-point-oh is a pretty big one and I don’t hear about them in the news often. Betting no sounded like easy money.

I grew up in Southern California where an occasional tremor was a normal part of life. They’re not abundant, nor are they uncommon either. I remember an early morning quake after a night of drinking. My college roommate yelled at me to stop shaking his bed as it rumbled. When I yelled across the room that it was an earthquake and not me, we each did the will the house collapse on my head math and both fell back asleep. It’s an earthquake. No big deal. I nursed a pretty big hangover that day and wished the house had collapsed to put me out of my misery.

I once worked downtown on the 57th floor. The buildings downtown needed to be on rollers to stave off the negative impact of an earthquake. When one hit, you could feel the building sway back and forth. It’s really a strange feeling. I once remember feeling a little motion sickness.

I’m not sure if this is true, but I was warned that the pressure might suck out the windows if my door was closed during an earthquake. Really? Fifty seven floors is a long way down without a parachute. Were they bullshitting me, trying to scare me? Odds are they were, but it was worth stepping outside my office just in case.

OK, I digress. Back to the bet. I looked up the frequency of 7.0 earthquakes and was pretty surprised at what I found.

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 16 major earthquakes in any given year. That includes 15 earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range and one earthquake magnitude 8.0 or greater.

USGS

This was a shocker. Needless to say, I didn’t bet on that one. I wouldn’t feel like a winner if I bet on an earthquake and it won. This betting app is suppose to be my low cost form of entertainment. I don’t need to know the Vegas odds on karma to help me decide this one.

Natalie Merchant released San Andreas Fault in 1995 on her debut solo album Tigerlily. I never knew the meaning behind the song until now.

The song “San Andreas Fault” by Natalie Merchant is about the lure of the American West and the illusion of paradise. The lyrics talk about the promise of wealth, fame, and success that draws people to California, specifically Los Angeles, and the disappointment and disillusionment that can come with chasing after that dream. . . The fault represents the cracks and faults in the dream of the West, and the destructive consequences of building a dream on such shaky ground. . . It reflects on the fleeting nature of fame and fortune, and the potential for it all to come crashing down.

Songmeaning

Although Merchant might be right, I still admire people who chase their dreams. I’m guessing it’s mainly because I’ve never had a passionate dream to chase after. I wonder if I’m alone on this. Maybe. But more so, I’m suddenly aware that I may never truly ever understand that feeling at all. This realization doesn’t make me sad, though. I feel more curious and also a tinge that I’m missing out on something.

If you’ve ever chased a dream and feel comfortable sharing, please drop it in the comments below. I don’t mind living vicariously through you.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk & honey over there

You'll be the brightest star
The world has ever seen
Sun-baked slender heroine
Of film & magazine

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk & honey over there

You'll be the brightest light
The world has ever seen
The dizzy height of a jet-set life
You could never dream

Your pale blue eyes
Strawberry hair
Lips so sweet
Skin so fair

Your future bright
Beyond compare
It's rags to riches
Over there

San Andreas Fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Earth divided
Plates collided
Such an awful sound

San Andreas Fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Terra cotta shattered
And the walls came
Tumbling down

O, promised land
O, wicked ground
Build a dream
Tear it down

O, promised land
What a wicked ground
Build a dream
Watch it all fall down

22 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: San Andreas Fault – Natalie Mechant”

  1. I’ve made myself many dreams, for the feeling I should have one! Enjoyed this post, esp. since looking out for earthquakes is new to me. A large one in the early 90s had a lot of people thinking about moving to FL, though most did not. 🙂

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    1. Earthquakes only have a temporary impact (except that big one in the early 90s in LA). Well, I suppose if you factor in aftershocks, maybe a little bit more But… tornadoes? Hurricanes? Those absolutely terrify me. I’m can’t even imagine those….

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  2. I think you made the right decision, karma-wise. Great song choice… don’t think I knew this one. As we’ve discussed before, Natalie’s voice is so gorgeous. Song has a great sound to it.

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  4. Great song, great album. I have a live album by country artist Mickey Newbury (worth checking out, by the way) who does an interesting twist on the California earthquake theme. The lyrics:

    “On his mountain sits a long, gray bearded, ancient hermit,
    Sadly starin’ at the caption in the San Mateo Times.
    It reads ‘Today the prophets all agree that California is to be swallowed in the twinkling of an eye.’”

    “He goes thumbin’ through his growin’ stack of half unfinished rhymes,
    Till he finds the one he once submitted to the New York Times,
    They just laughed at him and said, ‘you senile, wino, drunk old fool, get outta here you must have lost your mind.”

    “So he went back to his mountain, where he began to pray. He prayed for those in ignorance who would treat a man that way. For the truth will fall like his mountain, Lawd, on all that have grown deaf, the day the world is swallowed up, and California’s left.”

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  5. I’m not sure if this is true, but I was warned that the pressure might suck out the windows if my door was closed during an earthquake. 

    That is frightening!

    I’ve never heard this song before! Thank you for sharing it. 💜

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  6. NYC is the other place people go to try to realize their dreams of artistic success. My sister moved down there decades ago (with a lot of support from my parents) to try to make it in music. It didn’t work out well for her — or for them. It’s a real dilemma for parents. Should you support your kids dreams no matter what?

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    1. I think that’s great that they supported her dream. I can only imagine how difficult that might be for a parent given the difficult making it in that industry. I don’t know how I’d react if I was in that situation. You never want to see your kids struggle. At least your sister gave it a shot. There’s no coulda, woulda, shoulda…. She went for it.

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      1. Well, I’m not sure I entirely agree. If parents bend over backward to support one child’s “dream” in an industry with a 99% failure rate, it does send a certain message to their other children.

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      2. I think I’d put a time limit on it. Maybe a few years. That might give enough time to figure out how to live/survive before cutting the cord and they have to pursue it without the training wheels.

        I occasionally read a blog of someone who was pursuing music. I think she just hit thirty and wasn’t able to make her passion her livelihood. I wonder how she makes ends meet. She does have a degree from a pretty good university. I wonder if she ends up working a 9-5. At some point, you have to face reality, pay your rent, put food on the table, fund your 401K etc. Maybe young people don’t consider that? But even though it’s a 5-8 year setback, she still has time to switch gears.

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      3. It really depends on the people I think. It takes so much determination and resilience and luck to be a professional artist, parents who enable it to drag on may in fact be creating an adult who never really grows up. My sister ended up with pretty major Peter Pan Syndrome, which hurt us all.

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      4. I know a few people whose parents enabled them and they never became self sufficient. They always relied on their parents to take care of them and not on themselves to take on their own responsibilities. The parents thought they were being loving. While true, it came from good intentions, but it didn’t do the kids any favors. Now in their 50s, they still would struggle if they had to stand on their own two feet.

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  7. My Dad was a dreamer. He chased after many “get-rich-quick” schemes and even started his own business, but none of them were very successful. His greatest accomplishment was passing down his “you can do anything you put your mind to” spirit to us and to his grandchildren.

    Life is pretty boring if you don’t take a risk and go on an adventure every now and then!

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