All the Gold in California

Chasing Dreams That Aren’t Ours

"All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else’s name."

Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers didn’t just write a song about broken dreams—they wrote a warning. All the Gold in California critiques the illusion that success equals happiness, exposing how ambition can lead us astray. The song reminds us that not everyone gets their name on the vault, and sometimes, by the time we reach it, we realize it was never meant for us in the first place.

It’s a message that hits especially hard in The Righteous Gemstones (Season 3, Episode 8: “I Will Take You by the Hand and Keep You”), where an absurd yet deeply revealing moment plays out: two warring families, the wealthy yet dysfunctional Gemstones and their bitter, militant cousins, the Montgomerys, suddenly break into song together. And not just any song—All the Gold in California.

At first, it seems like dark humor. But beneath the irony lies something brutally honest. Both the Gemstones and the Montgomerys are chasing different kinds of "gold," and neither is finding what they’re looking for.

The Irony of Glittering Gold and Tarnished Dreams

There’s a poetic symmetry in the way the Montgomery-Gemstone feud unfolds, brilliantly underscored by their impromptu duet. Pete Montgomery, driven by resentment, believes he’s been cheated out of wealth and respect by Elijah Gemstone. He embodies the song’s lyric, "Can scar a man forever right down to your soul," his bitterness festering into a violent vendetta—an inheritance of anger passed down like a family curse.

But here’s the twist: the Gemstones, despite their massive fortune and megachurch empire, are just as lost. Without their father’s steady leadership, they’re flailing, drowning under the weight of the institution they’re supposed to guide. They’re living the painful truth of another lyric: "Living on the spotlight can kill a man outright." Desperate to be heroes, they instead become cautionary tales.

And then, in the middle of this mess, both families start singing. For a moment, their voices blend in harmony, exposing the bitter truth that "everything that glitters is not gold." The Montgomerys' blind entitlement and the Gemstones' hollow faith reveal a shared emptiness. Different paths, same outcome. They’re all chasing the wrong dream, and it’s leaving them spiritually, morally, and emotionally bankrupt.

Chasing "Somebody Else’s" Gold

That’s the real message behind the song—and the show. How often do we chase after success that doesn’t actually belong to us? How many of us are running after things we were told would make us happy, without stopping to ask if they actually do?

Psychologist Tim Kasser, author of The High Price of Materialism, found that people who prioritize external success—money, status, power—tend to report lower life satisfaction than those who focus on relationships and personal growth. A 2020 study in the Journal of Positive Psychology echoes this, showing that materialistic individuals are 20% more likely to feel chronic dissatisfaction. And social media only makes it worse—a 2022 APA survey found that 64% of adults aged 18–34 feel pressure to "keep up" with the curated success they see online, fueling cycles of envy, burnout, and self-doubt.

For the Montgomerys, the “gold” they’re after is dominance and revenge. For the Gemstones, it’s influence and control disguised as faith. But in both cases, they aren’t really chasing fulfillment—they’re chasing validation. And when we tie our self-worth to external markers of success, we set ourselves up for the same kind of emptiness.

Redefining Gold: Success on Our Own Terms

The Righteous Gemstones scene, much like Gatlin’s lyrics, forces us to ask: Whose dream am I chasing? Therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab puts it this way: "When we conflate self-worth with achievement, we outsource our happiness. True fulfillment starts with asking, ‘Is this goal mine, or did I inherit it?’"

For the Montgomerys, the answer is clear—their violent crusade is a twisted family legacy, passed down like an heirloom of hate. The Gemstones, on the other hand, inherit a dynasty built on faith and fortune but struggle to define what that means without their father’s leadership. Both families are clinging to external symbols of success, hoping they’ll fill internal voids. But they won’t. They never do.

And this isn’t just fiction. The rise of “quiet quitting” and the Great Resignation are real-world examples of people rejecting empty ambition. Gallup reports that 59% of employees disengage when their work serves only corporate profit, not personal purpose. And a 2023 Pew Research study found that 56% of workers under 50 now prioritize meaningful work over high salaries—a dramatic shift from previous generations.

People are starting to realize that not all gold is worth chasing.

Final Thought: What’s Worth More Than Gold?

At its core, All the Gold in California isn’t just about money—it’s about illusions. The promotions, the prestige, the perfect social media life—they’re all things we chase, believing they’ll bring us happiness. But as the song (and The Righteous Gemstones) remind us, real wealth isn’t something we can hoard. It’s found in connection, purpose, and the ability to define success on our own terms.

The Montgomerys and the Gemstones realize too late that the treasure they’re fighting for—whether money, legacy, or power—won’t actually fill the void. But we don’t have to make the same mistake. Maybe it’s time to stop chasing someone else’s dream and start figuring out what actually makes us whole.