Russian Hill
Roger McGuinn Lyrics

Last night in the middle of a dream
The song is about a dream that the singer had.

I started thinkin' 'bout Russian Hill
The singer is reminiscing about a specific place.

And Ferlinghetti with his Coney Island mind
The singer is associating this place with a specific person, Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

And you and me with some time to fill
The singer remembers being in this place with someone else with nothing in particular to do.

We ate in Chinatown, we rode the cable car
The singer did touristy things while in this place.

We did what tourists always do
In this place, the singer engaged in the same activities as most other tourists.

But in the dream you were a movie star
In the singer's dream, the person they were with was a famous movie star.

And I was someone too
In the dream, the singer also had some level of fame.

Was that the two of us in love
The singer questions whether they were in love with the person they were with in this place.

Why did it end so soon
The singer is reflecting on the fact that this experience was short-lived.

I don't believe in fallin' out of love
The singer doesn't think it's possible to fall out of love with someone.

I never met the man in the moon
The singer has never had any supernatural experiences.

If it's so hard to find the key
If something is difficult to achieve,

It's not the singer, it's the tune
it's not the person doing it, it's the quality of what they're doing.

Sun high in the California sky
The singer is now in California.

We walked the beach around Monterey
The singer spent time on a specific beach in Monterey, California.

True Confessions in a Sausalito bar
The singer went to a bar in Sausalito, California and read or heard about True Confessions.

The windows shinin' across the bay
The singer could see the lights reflecting off of the windows of buildings across the bay.

The age of innocence and searchin'
The singer is recalling a time of youth and exploration.

In the dark for what we'd never seen
The singer was searching for experiences they had never had before.

And we could taste the sweetness
The singer remembers the pleasure of those new experiences.

Of our lives in bitter mescaline
The singer may have taken or is referencing a drug called mescaline.

Was that the two of us in love
The same question is asked again.

Why did it end so soon
The same sentiment is repeated.

I don't believe in fallin' out of love
The same sentiment is repeated.

I never met the man in the moon
The same sentiment is repeated.

If it's so hard to find the key
The same sentiment is repeated.

It's not the singer, it's the tune
The same sentiment is repeated.