Los Angeles, in Lyrics
I am often asked to compile songs using a specific theme or for a certain locale. So for this trip to LA, I was inspired to create a set list for my iPod with a few tracks that either focus on or make reference to the area. Here they are, accompanied by a sample of lyrics from each.
Come a Long Way (Michelle Shocked)
The sun was sinking into the sea
But a ball of fire inside of me
Was burning my motor and driving me hard
Past the big hair on the Boulevard
Dogs of LA (Liz Phair)
The canyon air is like a breath of fresh L.A.
I was a Star Trek crew member, with my Beatle boots and my Super-8
And I raced you to the top, the camera gets a stuttered shot
Of me approaching a painted shrine
I kissed the Buddah and made him cry
Electrolite (REM)
If you ever want to fly
Mulholland Drive
Up in the sky
Stand on a cliff and look down there
Don’t be scared, you are alive
First of the Gang to Die (Morrissey)
You have never been in love,
Until you’ve seen the stars
reflect in the resevoirs
Going Back to Cali (LL Cool J)
* Guilty Pleasure Alert! Oh please – you know you had the Less Than Zero soundrack on cassette back in ’87 too.
I’m going back to Cali, rising, surprising
Advising realizing, she’s sizing me up
Her bikini – small; heels – tall
She said, she liked the ocean
She showed me a beach, gave me a peach
And pulled out the suntan lotion
Heartbreak World (Matt Nathanson)
Let’s move out of Los Angeles
Just drive until this summer gives
And forget the lies we use to live
‘Cause we’re gone
Los Angeles, I’m Yours (The Decemberists)
There is a city by the sea
A gentle company
I don’t suppose you want to
And as it tells its sorry tale
In harrowing detail
Its hollowness will haunt you
Its streets and boulevards
Orphans and oligarchs it hears
A plaintive melody
Truncated symphony
A Sorta Fairytale (Tori Amos)
Things you said that day
Up on the 101
The girl had come undone
I tried to downplay it
With a bet about us
You said that
You’d take it
As long as i could
I could not erase it
Screenwriter’s Blues (Soul Coughing)
Your Cadillac breathes
Four hundred horses
Over blue lines.
You are going
to Reseda
to make love
to a model
from Ohio
whose real name
you don’t
know.
Why You’d Want to Live Here (Death Cab for Cutie)
I’m in Los Angeles today
Asked a gas station employee if he ever had trouble breathing
and he said, “It varies from season to season, here.”
It’s where our best are on display
Motion picture actors’ houses maps are never ever current,
So save your film and fifteen dollars.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some rest so I can be a proper tourist before the event tomorrow night.