For New York, it's about the hustle, the traffic, the
frenetic energy. Paris is about the lights; London the pomp and circumstance. For L.A. it's the drive, the music coursing through you when you do.
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Breakin' Like the Waves at Malibu |
The L.A.-ness
of L.A. music isn't merely in the lyrics; Cali's infused in the sound itself, like a whiff of hot asphalt, 6. Steely Dan: "...that fearsome excavation on Magnolia Blvd."), pot smoke, and eucalyptus; music
calibrated for car stereos. 7. Laurel Canyon to Lookout Mountain: "But I couldn't let go
of L.A./ City of the fallen angels." Joni. Fumble with Spotify: 8. "Oh California I'm coming home/ Oh make me feel good rock 'n' roll
band/. I'm your biggest fan/ California I'm coming home." I track down her oak-shrouded bungalow on Lookout Mountain Road and put on "Our House." A cat crosses
my path. Maybe Joni's old place is like Hemingway's, with all its kitten descendants. 9. Just behind the Canyon Country Store on Rothdell Trail is
Laurel Canyon's most famous address (8826 Lookout Mountain Avenue), Morrison's Love Street house. Living
there with Pam Courson, Morrison penned the lyrics to Waiting
For the Sun and The Soft Parade." "I see you live on Love
Street, there's this store where the creatures meet..."
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Canyon Country Store |
10. Sunset to Gower and Warren Zevon's "Desperadoes Under the Eaves":"I was
sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel/ I was staring in my empty coffee cup/ I
was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lying/ All the salty margaritas in Los
Angeles/ I’m gonna drink 'em up...Look away, down Gower Avenue/Look away…" Gower! Of all the streets in L.A., Zevon
chose that one. Never was such a gorgeous melody attached to such a
humdrum street.
11. Jack's Mannequin (Andrew McMahon), "Holiday From Real." Maybe the ultimate song about L.A.; L.A. as the character in a play:
12. Leave it to Colin Meloy to fill a musically jaunty ode to L.A. with polite, old-timey wordsmithing about burnt cocaine and streetwalker style. The Decemberists songwriter tackles his love-hate relationship with the city—"An ocean’s garbled vomit on the shore"—as a relatable, alluring addiction. L.A. has its faults, but its whimsical charms keep you coming back, "wretched, retching on all-fours," whether out of pure love or borderline addiction. Los Angeles, I'm Yours...
Perhaps the most well-known muse in musical history, Los Angeles has long inspired odes to its beaches and women, its hard city streets and its celebrity siren call. Many are love songs, some are full of more vitriolic verse and others still are die-hard, head-banging anthems: No matter how you feel about the City of Angels, there's a song for that.
She thinks
I'm much too thin
She asks me if I'm sick
What's a girl to do
With friends like this
She lets me drive her car
So I can
score an eighth
From the lesbians
Out west in
Venice
Oh,
California in the Summer
Ah, and my
hair is growing long
Fuck yeah,
we can live like this
But if you
left it up to me
Everyday
would be
A holiday
from real
We'd waste
our weeks
Beneath the
sun
We'd fry our
brains
And say it's
so much fun out here
But when
it's all over
I'll come
back for another year
I'll look
for work today
I'm spilling
out the door
Put my
glasses on
So no one
sees me
I never
thought that
I'd be
living on your floor
But the
rents are high
And LA's
easy
Oh, it's a
picture of perfection
Ah, and the
postcards gonna read
"Fuck
yeah we can live like this...
We can live
like this"
But if you
left it up to me
Everyday
would be
A holiday
from real
We'd waste
our weeks
Beneath the
sun
We'd fry our
brains
And write
it's so much fun out here
Hey Madeline
(hey Madeline)
You sure
look fine (you sure look fine)
You wore my
favorite sweater
Being poor
was never better
A safety
buzz (A safety buzz)
Some cheap
red wine (Some cheap red wine)
Oh, the
trouble we can get in
So let's
screw this one up right
But if you
left it up to me
Everyday
would be
A holiday
from real
We'd waste
our weeks
Beneath the
sun
We'd lie and
tell our friends
It's so much
fun out here
But when
it's all over
I'll come
back for another year
When it's
all over
I'll come
back for another
When it's
all over
I'll come
back for another year
12. Leave it to Colin Meloy to fill a musically jaunty ode to L.A. with polite, old-timey wordsmithing about burnt cocaine and streetwalker style. The Decemberists songwriter tackles his love-hate relationship with the city—"An ocean’s garbled vomit on the shore"—as a relatable, alluring addiction. L.A. has its faults, but its whimsical charms keep you coming back, "wretched, retching on all-fours," whether out of pure love or borderline addiction. Los Angeles, I'm Yours...
Perhaps the most well-known muse in musical history, Los Angeles has long inspired odes to its beaches and women, its hard city streets and its celebrity siren call. Many are love songs, some are full of more vitriolic verse and others still are die-hard, head-banging anthems: No matter how you feel about the City of Angels, there's a song for that.
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