About The Song
“California Blue” surfaced in mid-1989 as the third single from Roy Orbison’s posthumous album Mystery Girl (issued January 1989). Co-written by Orbison with Traveling Wilburys bandmates Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty and produced by Lynne, the track plays like a dusk-tinted postcard: steady backbeat, 12-string shimmer, and Orbison’s unmistakable tenor carrying a tune equal parts melancholy and hope.
The recording dates to April 1988, when Orbison cut the song with Lynne, Petty, and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell in Los Angeles (famously at Campbell’s home studio/garage). The core players stayed close: Orbison on lead and acoustic, Lynne stacking keys, bass, and electric guitar, Petty on acoustic and harmonies, Campbell on acoustic and mandolin, and Ian Wallace on drums. The palette is classic late-’80s Lynne—tight, dry, and melodic—yet it leaves air around Orbison’s voice so the longing can bloom.
Lyrically the song is a workingman’s sigh aimed west. “Working all day and the sun don’t shine… I feel the rain fall the whole night through”—the verses sketch small details of grind and drift, and the chorus opens into that wistful pledge to “get back to you, California blue.” It’s Orbison’s trademark chiaroscuro: sadness set to something you can hum, with harmonies that turn solitude into a shared feeling.
On the album, “California Blue” sits alongside fellow Lynne collaborations (“You Got It,” “A Love So Beautiful”) and Bono/Edge’s “She’s a Mystery to Me,” completing a circle of friends who rallied around Orbison in his final year. Released as a single in July 1989 with “In Dreams” on the B-side, it extended the long afterglow of Mystery Girl across radio formats and international markets.
Charts tell the travel story. In the UK the single logged three weeks, peaking at No. 77. In West Germany it became a respectable FM staple, reaching No. 34, and in Belgium it cracked the Ultratop Top 40 (mid-30s peak). Ireland pushed it into the Top 40 as well, while Australia placed it at No. 65. In North America the song made inroads at formats built for grown-up pop and roots country: U.S. Adult Contemporary (No. 44), U.S. Hot Country Songs (No. 51), and Canada’s RPM Top Singles (No. 75).
Much of its pull comes from texture and touch. Lynne’s production favors chiming guitars, tambourine lift, and a pocket that never rushes; Petty’s and Lynne’s harmonies tuck in just behind the lead so Orbison’s vowels can bloom on the refrain. It’s modern without smothering the voice, the kind of track that fits a car radio at twilight as neatly as it sits between power ballads and roots rock on late-’80s playlists.
Heard now, “California Blue” feels like a quiet statement from Orbison’s final chapter: a simple melody, a humane lyric, and friends playing in service of the song. It may not have matched the blockbuster run of “You Got It,” but its afterlife has been steady—compilations, catalog playlists, and a still-circulating video—because it captures exactly what he did best: turn private ache into something clear, singable, and strangely consoling.
Video
Lyric
Working all day and the sun don’t shine
Trying to get by and I’m just killing time
I feel the rain fall the whole night through
Far away from you California blueCalifornia blue dreaming all alone
Nothing else to do California blue
Everyday I pray I’ll be on my way
Saving love for you California blueOne sunny day, I’ll get back again
Somehow, someway but I don’t know when
California blue, California blueLiving my life with you on my mind
Thinking of things that I left far behind
It’s been so long doing all I can do
To get back to you California blueCalifornia blue
(California blue)
Dreaming all alone
(California blue)Nothing else to do
(California blue)
California blue
Everyday I pray I’ll be on my way
Saving love for you California blueOne sunny day I’ll get back again
Somehow, someway but I don’t know when
California blue, California blueStill missing you California blue
Still missing you California blue
Still missing you California blue