This song always makes me think of being a kid in 1976 and riding in the back seat of the family station wagon at night, after a swim meet. My Mom would have the radio on and I would lay down and watch as the various neon lights of fast food chains were reflected on the window. We might head to McDonalds for some 'food' or a 'milkshake'. There is a down to earth late night quality to this song, the reverb on the vocals and music, the simple jangly guitar chords, the drum fills. I always liked the name-checking of the various cities in the US - Phoenix, Tacoma, Philadelphia, Atlanta, LA. When I got older I often wondered why Tacoma was included, since it's way smaller than the other ones. I thought it might have been a nod to the Tacoma Dome, but that wasn't constructed until 1983. It must be that it sort of rhymes with Arizona. Arizona - Tacoma - Oklahoma - Bologna. Catchy stuff, Steve Miller. He includes all of northern California in his lyrics. Why limit himself to one city when 'the girls are warm' in an entire area? There were probably a lot of girls in northern Cali who heard this song and thought, "Hey, I live in northern California and I'm warm. He's singing about me!"
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