# Songs set in Los Angeles
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 10, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802 "2010-08-10T07:44:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/1 "2010-08-10T07:44:57Z")
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_.
Any others?
---
### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/2 "2010-08-10T07:55:46Z")
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”
---
### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/3 "2010-08-10T08:13:06Z")
Frank Black, Los Angeles
---
### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/4 "2010-08-10T08:13:13Z")
Gotta have at least one version of **MacArthur Park**.
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> 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.
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.
---
### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/5 "2010-08-10T08:16:52Z")
Delbert McClinton’s “Two More Bottles of Wine”
> [@](#):
>
> Lord I’d be in the sun all day
> But I’m sweepin’ out a warehouse in west L.A.
> But it’s all right 'cause it’s midnight
> And I got two more bottles of wine
Guy Clark trying to just get off of the L A Freeway without getting killed or caught. (You can hear the whole song [here](http://www.guyclark.com/music.html#oldno1), 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greetings_from_L.A.). Don’t know if any of the songs mention LA specifically. But it’s just that fine.
---
### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/6 "2010-08-10T08:17:50Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> …for songs that are set in or concerning Los Angeles, either directly or obliquely…
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.
---
### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/7 "2010-08-10T08:23:51Z")
**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.
---
### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/8 "2010-08-10T08:28:07Z")
Soul Coughing, Screenwriters Blues
Sublime, April 29, 1992
---
### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/9 "2010-08-10T08:32:41Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> **guizot** : No, both are okay. I want as many options as possible; I can always cull if necessary.
Will you likewise accept Pasadena, Compton, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, etc.? (Those very distinct cities that get lumped in by the ill-informed?)
---
### Author:  [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/10 "2010-08-10T12:25:26Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/11 "2010-08-10T12:28:11Z")
Grateful Dead, “West L.A. Fadeaway”
Motley Crue, “Saints of Los Angeles”
Meat Loaf’s “Los Angeloser” seems to sort of reference L.A., but I’m not sure if that really counts.
Motorhead “Angel City”
---
### Author:  [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/12 "2010-08-10T12:32:42Z")
Another Randy Newman - [My Life Is Good](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAmCNRwyw4)
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/13 "2010-08-10T12:36:14Z")
“To Live And Die In L.A.” by Wang Chung (from the movie).
---
### Author:  [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/14 "2010-08-10T12:37:17Z")
[Old LA Tonight - Ozzy Osbourne](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qzfDosk3-8)
---
### Author:  [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/15 "2010-08-10T12:44:09Z")
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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13nIZN5Fu2A).
---
### Author:  [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/16 "2010-08-10T12:52:00Z")
_Surfin’ USA_ by the Beach Boys mentions several beaches in LA county.
---
### Author:  [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/17 "2010-08-10T12:57:47Z")
> [@Critical1](#):
>
> Frank Black, Los Angeles
No, not the one in South California, they got one in South Patagonia. 😉
“Malibu” by Hole (with hook contributed by Billy Corgan)
---
### Author:  [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/18 "2010-08-10T13:04:06Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> 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.)
>
> Any others?
Journey has “City of the Angels”, with rather generic lyrics, but I think it fits your criteria.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/19 "2010-08-10T13:33:42Z")
Terry Scott Taylor’s “Papa Danced on Olvera Street” ([song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Lv1p1JUWg), [lyrics](http://www.danielamos.com/tst/avocadofaultline/papadancedonolverastreet.html))
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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhdPtdFqxm4). [lyrics](http://www.danielamos.com/tst/johnwayne/heyjohnwayne.html))
---
### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802/20 "2010-08-10T13:36:33Z")
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.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-set-in-los-angeles/549802.md?page=2)