I want to put together a playlist. I’m looking for songs that are set in or concerning Los Angeles, either directly or obliquely. (Songs about San Francisco or Northern California would be out.)
I think I Love L.A. by Randy Newman is a washout as a city anthem, but I’ll include it for completion’s sake. California Dreaming says “if I was in L.A.,” but that’s an homage. Warren Zevon had Mohammed’s Radio (allegory about SoCal), Desperadoes Under the Eaves (Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel, Gower Avenue), Join Me In L.A. (duh), Carmelita (Alvarado Street), and Gridlock (does gridlock occur anywhere besides L.A.?). Billy Joel had Los Angelenos, and L.L. Cool J had Goin’ Back to Cali.
X, “Los Angeles”
Don Henley, “Sunset Grill”
Sheryl Crow, “All I Wanna Do”
Michelle Shocked, “Come a Long Way”
Tom Petty, “Free Fallin’”
Concrete Blonde, “Still in Hollywood”
Missing Persons, “Walkin’ in L.A.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge”
Gotta have at least one version of MacArthur Park.
I like that song. I took a trip to L.A. a couple years ago, and it seemed like every street sign would get the song running through my head again. I think it was written during a time when Randy Newman was not capable of being heartfelt and sincere, but that he does love L.A., warts and all.
Guy Clark trying to just get off of the L A Freeway without getting killed or caught. (You can hear the whole song here, on* Old No. 1*. Listen to a few more before you leave.)
Another vote for “Carmelita.”
And I’d like to recommend Tim Buckley’s whole album, Greetings From LA. Don’t know if any of the songs mention LA specifically. But it’s just that fine.
So you’re not differentiating between actual setting (e.g., “All I Wanna Do”) and metonymy (e.g., “Hurray for Hollywood”)? If you did, it would focus your list a little.
Robot Arm: I guess if you’re not from around here (no offense). But I just think that someone who was born and raised here, who’s part of a whole musical family, could do better justice to the city than reading a few street signs and adding “Look at that bum over there: he’s down on his knees.” :dubious: Then again, Newman made Baltimore sound like the ballsack of the universe, so perhaps I should be content with what he gave L.A.
guizot: No, both are okay. I want as many options as possible; I can always cull if necessary.
Sunset Strip, and in a lesser sense the other tracks on Roger Waters’s album Radio KAOS.
Hey Pretty drive by remix, by Poe.
April 29, 1992 by Sublime.
Garden Grove by Sublime.
There’s Watts-born songwriter Stew: “Re-Hab” (“she started painting saints / 'cause in Echo Park that passes for artistic”), “The Drug Suite,” “L.A. Arteest Cafe,” and, with The Negro Problem, “Comikbuchland (The Rain in Leimert Park Last Tuesday).”
The Collins’ Kids “Hot Rod” mentions Mulholland Drive and zips by in a Ramones-like 1:20 in this video.
Terry Scott Taylor’s “Papa Danced on Olvera Street” (song, lyrics)
And, if Orange County is close enough, there’s his very different “Hey John Wayne,” addressed to the John Wayne statue at John Wayne Airport (song. lyrics)
One song that should not make the list is Death Cab for Cutie’s “Why You’d Want To Live Here”. Yes, it’s set in and about Los Angeles, but it’s not exactly a love letter to the city…more like hate mail.
:dubious: Then again, Newman made Baltimore sound like the ballsack of the universe, so perhaps I should be content with what he gave L.A.