California Dreamin

I always heard it as "begin" but National Public Radio says it's pretend.

Wow!

And it's "the preacher like the cold" in the next line...

So how to reconcile the begin+ to +began+, the +pretend+ to +pretended+ (if you decide it is pretend), and the +like+ to +liked...

It's like the whole past/present tense has been distorted and yet it all sounds so natural in the song. How powerful is that!:!

I always heard it as "pretend", but I'm not sure that's right, because the rest of that part is in the past tense.

Very clearly "pretend" in this performance.

I notice that some lyrics sites have "the preacher locked the door". I've also found "the preacher did succumb", and the "the preacher digs a call" - but referring to versions recorded by other artists, not the Mamas and Papas. I wonder if those artists misheard the original or deliberately changed the lyrics.

Some sites also note that "in the soundtrack version of this song, the words "I pretend to pray" have been changed to "I began to pray"", but I'm not sure what soundtrack this refers to.

Jose Feliciano version, with "the preacher digs a call".

...and what is the significance, if any?

(I'm assuming it is the issue of whether you use the church for your own benefit, or you are going to the church as a believer to gain benefit, or that you are simply believing, or that you are seeking haven in a land which will give you haven, but in any case, the Mamas and the Papas want/wanted to put forward the concept that any channel would be enough in order to get you there)- and the preacher ditto.

What?

He went into the church because it was warm.

Wow, I've been missing that subtext all my life ... I just thought, like Vinny, that it was warm in the church and maybe he pretended to pray to make it look like he had a reason to be there. And I thought maybe "pretend" rather than "pretended" because it fits the melody.