California Girls
The Power of the Dog“California Girls” introduces section 3 with a line expressing a wish for California girls. Its placement gives the section a musical epigraph before the text locates the scene in La Jolla, California, in 1981.
Text and Attribution
The section heading names “California Girls,” followed by the lyric “I wish they all could be California girls.” The line is attributed to Brian Wilson and identified with the song of the same name. The evidence supports the lyric as the passage’s framing text, but does not establish a further connection between the song and the events that follow.
Placement and Setting
The epigraph precedes the location and date: La Jolla, California, 1981. That immediate sequence ties the California reference in the lyric to the chapter’s stated setting, while leaving the lyric’s broader significance open.
