Sophie B. Hawkins - California Here I Come

What this video is

Released in 1992 as the second single from Sophie B. Hawkins' debut album Tongues and Tails, 'California Here I Come' arrived during a pivotal crossover moment when MTV's major-rotation model could amplify literary, emotionally complex female artists into mainstream visibility. The song's bridge draws on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and incorporates the Lord's Prayer, signaling a high-culture literary…

Why it matters

Represents the 1992 confluence of adult-contemporary pop, alternative rock, and female singer-songwriter traditions at a moment when Columbia Records was successfully cross-marketing 'serious' women artists to MTV audiences. Bridges the gap between Chrissie Hynde-era rock credibility and the…

The director

American filmmaker, photographer, and music video director. Graduated with a film degree from Loyola Marymount University. Began directing music videos in the late 1980s and became a defining visual voice of the MTV generation throughout the 1990s and 2000s.…