Wednesday, July 08, 2009

who wrote the definitive song about los angeles?

From an interview between Tom Waits and Beck:
Tom Waits: Not every town gets their song. Actually, Sinatra tried to do a song about Los Angeles. It was really lame. Really lame. It embarrassed the s*** out of me.

Beck Hansen: That was in the 80's right?


TW: "LA, You're a Lady." It was one of those lame, awful... Maybe it's the rhyme or the rhythm of the name Los Angeles.


BH: Yeah I don't think anyone has written a definitive LA song.


TW: Maybe it's the rhyme or the rhythm of the name Los Angeles.


BH: Yeah, I don't think you can...


TW: But Chicago or St Louis, such cool sounding names. New Orleans. So many songs about New Orleans.
Without thinking about it more than three seconds, I'd pick Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." The satire, the bad-'80s quality of the production -- it still feels absolutely right in its depiction of this town. But maybe I'm forgetting a better choice.