My favorite description of L.A. (Los Angeles: motel, neighborhoods, to live in)

[Chicano3000X]

The Simpsons:

Simon Cowell: "So, how do you like L.A.?"
Moe Szyslak: "It's a helluva city. It's like someone stepped on New York and scraped it on the beach."

[BarcelonaFan]

I saw that episode and Moe asked a cabbie if he knew of any LA songs. The cabbie sneered at him and said they all suck. But they don't all suck. Red Hot Chili Peppers Under the Bridge is a great song about LA. Californication too.

I'm sure there are more I am not thinking of.

[readymade]

None of this really makes sense, as New York is absolutely NOTHING like LA. To compare the two, at all, is weird. And New York already has beaches. Um, and in my opinion, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are awful. AWFUL!

"LA Woman" and "Walkin' In LA" are both great LA songs, though!

[aajn1983]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

I saw that episode and Moe asked a cabbie if he knew of any LA songs. The cabbie sneered at him and said they all suck. But they don't all suck. Red Hot Chili Peppers Under the Bridge is a great song about LA. Californication too.

I'm sure there are more I am not thinking of.

Lol, are you kidding?

A short list of songs about LA from Wikipedia. Seriously, I don't think any other city in the world has inspired as many songwriters as Los Angeles.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_about_Los_Angeles

[nickdahammer]

That's a helluva list. I would also add 'On the Nickel' and 'The One that Got Away' (Tom Waits). I also read that Elvis Costello wrote 'Motel Matches' about Hollywood. 'Riot on Sunset Strip' (The Standells) is another. And not really an L.A. song but a fave of mine: 'San 'Berdino' by Frank Zappa.

[NeilKenes]

Additions:
"California" ~ by Delta Spirit
And "California Stars" - by Wilco

"Los Angeles is a spread out diverse group of neighborhoods all connected by and under the angel of light." - kenestar

[jimmykem]

My favorite description of LA is from director Werner Herzog:

"I moved to Los Angeles because my wife and I decided we had to live in the city with the most substance in the United States. And I do not regret it for a second. Don’t be misled by the superficial glitz and glamour of Hollywood. It’s the city with the most cultural substance. If you want to go into finance, go to New York. If you’re in the oil business, go to Houston. If you want substance, go to Los Angeles. I’m just proclaiming the banalities of tomorrow."

He also said in another interview:

"If you go to Florence, it has all surface beauty, but like Venice, it's simply a museum of Renaissance times. Los Angeles is raw, uncouth and bizarre, but it's a place of substance. It has more new horizons than any other place."

And the Chili Peppers are awesome. They are quintessential LA.

[munchitup]

The Minutemen are also quintessential LA, their album Double Nickels on the Dime is about driving on the 10.

[aajn1983]

btw, that's only the partial list from wikipedia.

the actual list was too long, and exceeded the 70,000 words per post limit.

anyway. point made. TONS of songs about LA.

a handful of artists have even made entire albums dedicated to LA/SoCal.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by Chicano3000X

The Simpsons:

Simon Cowell: "So, how do you like L.A.?"
Moe Szyslak: "It's a helluva city. It's like someone stepped on New York and scraped it on the beach."

At the same time they removed NYC's 24/7 excellent transportation system (where one doesn't need a car).