{"id":897153,"date":"2026-10-28T04:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T04:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/897153\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T04:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T04:52:10","slug":"for-60-years-people-have-misheard-the-pretend-to-pray-lyric-in-california-dreamin-it-totally-changes-the-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/897153\/","title":{"rendered":"For 60 years, people have misheard the ‘pretend to pray’ lyric in ‘California Dreamin’.’ It totally changes the song."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d is arguably The Mamas & the Papas\u2019 most popular hit, embraced by hippie Boomers<\/a> upon its 1965 release and beloved by generations<\/a> since. There\u2019s just one problem with the song<\/a>: a whole bunch of listeners have gotten a key lyric dead wrong<\/a> for 60 years.<\/p>\n

JB Eckl<\/a> explains in a Sacred Riffs video<\/a>: \u201c\u2018California Dreamin\u201d may be the only hit song whose central event is a fake prayer.\u201d The lyrics describe someone stopping into a church, kneeling, and pretending to pray to get out of the cold.<\/p>\n

However, countless people have misheard the lyric \u201cand I pretend to pray\u201d as \u201cand I began to pray.\u201d Clearly, pretending to pray and beginning to pray are two very different things. So what\u2019s the deal?<\/p>\n

The real-life story behind the \u2018pretend to pray\u2019 lyric<\/p>\n

As Eckl explains, Michelle Phillips added the church story to the song because it reflected something that had happened in real life. Phillips and her husband, John Phillips, were outside in a New York winter, and Michelle wanted to go into St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral. \u201cBut John wouldn\u2019t go in because he had strong, negative feelings about religion, stemming from his parochial school childhood,\u201d Eckl says.<\/p>\n

John presented the beginnings of the song \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d to Michelle, and she added the church memory to the lyrics. John reportedly hated the addition and wanted to change it, but it stuck.<\/p>\n

Eckl says he\u2019d spent his life thinking the lyric was \u201cI began to pray,\u201d not \u201cI pretend to pray.\u201d Many people in the comments agreed, and they aren\u2019t the only ones.<\/p>\n

Cass Elliot had the lyric wrong, too<\/p>\n

Cass Elliott, the other female band member, sang the lyric as \u201cbegan\u201d in the background vocals on the album and on tour until Michelle corrected her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were somewhere in the Midwest in the middle of a tour, and we were doing a sound check,\u201d Phillips told her daughter, Chynna<\/a>. \u201cWe were singing \u2018California Dreamin\u2019,\u2019 and we get to that lyric and Cass says, \u2018Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What\u2019d you say?\u2019 \u2018I got down on my knees and pretend to pray.\u2019 And she says, \u2018That\u2019s not the lyric.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Yeah, what do you mean? I wrote it. It is the lyric.\u2019 She said, \u2018Oh, well, I sang \u201cI began to pray\u201d on the record.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t feel bad if you thought it was \u201cbegan.\u201d Even a quarter of the band had it wrong for a while there. <\/p>\n

How \u2018pretend to pray\u2019 alters the meaning of the song<\/p>\n

Some people were dismayed to learn that what they thought was a lyric of devotion was actually a lyric of doubt. Eckl spends a little time exploring the verse and its meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of pretending to pray changes the character of the moment completely,\u201d Eckl explains. \u201cWhat is prayer if you\u2019re not sure if you believe? People sometimes enter sacred spaces for warmth, for community, for beauty, sometimes out of desperation, and only discover later if there was anything spiritual about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lyric about the preacher liking the cold because he knows it will keep people there adds another layer to the song\u2019s narrative. Some might see it as cynical. Others might find hope in it (especially if they hear the line as \u201cthe preacher lights the coals,\u201d which is also a common mishearing).<\/p>\n

Finally, Eckl discusses the song\u2019s iconic alto flute solo and, surprisingly, ties it to the Persian mystic poet Rumi.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the poetry of Rumi, the flute represents longing, spiritual homesickness,\u201d Eckl shares. Interesting, considering \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d was originally written about physical homesickness. Eckl leaves listeners with food for thought: two lines from a Rumi poem speaking from the flute\u2019s perspective:<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I was cut from the reedbed, I have made this crying sound\u2026anyone pulled from a source longs to go back.\u201d <\/p>\n

Really puts \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d in a whole new light, doesn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n

You can find more Sacred Riffs takes on the intersection of spirituality and rock n\u2019 roll on JB Eckl\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n