Under the California Sun I Am Trying to Pull Myself Back to Track Again
The 50 best LA songs
We count down the peak tunes about Los Angeles—hear them all and accept your say
Perhaps 1 of the near well-known muses 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 poesy and others still are dice-hard, head-banging anthems: No affair how you experience about the City of Angels, in that location'southward a song for that. We've chosen the 50 tunes that best encompass the LA experience—be it good, bad or ugly—and ranked them appropriately. Dig in, listen up and let united states of america know what nosotros got correct and wrong (or missed completely) in the comments section.
Listen to the best LA songs on Spotify
Written by Michael Chen, Evelyn Derico, Sara Fay, Gillian Glover, Michael Juliano, Adam Lehrer, Amanda Montell, Danielle Nevidi, Ramona Saviss and Kate Wertheimer
50–41
"Shangri-LA" past Yacht (2011)
Quite maybe the nearly endearing compliment to Los Angeles, Yacht'due south 2011 single paints the city as preferable to the Pearly Gates and the perfect place to build a utopia. Sure, Claire Evans and her band would exist merely equally at home in Hell (their words, not ours), but we won't argue with calling LA a shangri-la—fifty-fifty if about everyone else might. To infringe from the chorus, "if we can't go to Heaven, let u.s.a. go to LA"—hallelujah.—Kate Wertheimer
"Los Angeles is Burning" by Bad Religion (2004)
When the Santa Ana Winds brainstorm to blow and fan the wildfire flames, Angelenos start to lose their minds. Greg Graffin and company are no stranger to the seasonal "murder wind," and the Valley-based punk veterans draw on the perennial inferno every bit a metaphor for our ain deluded reality and media-induced paranoia. How very punk rock. That the animated track came less than a year after the colossal 2003 firestorm just adds to the imagery of when "Malibu fires and radio towers conspire to dance again."—Michael Juliano
"Los Angeles, I'm Yours" by the Decemberists (2003)
Leave it to Colin Meloy to fill a musically jaunty ode to LA with polite, one-time-timey wordsmithing about burnt cocaine and streetwalker way. The Decemberists songwriter tackles his love-hate relationship with the city—"An ocean's garbled vomit on the shore"—every bit a relatable, alluring habit. LA has its faults, but its whimsical charms keep you coming back, "wretched, retching on all-fours," whether out of pure dear or borderline habit.—Michael Juliano
"Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins (1998)
Remember when this song was all over the airwaves in 1998? Perchance you weren't living in LA back then, so you didn't quite catch all the lyrical beloved for (and jabs at) this city. Shawn Mullins'south scratchy, spoken verses tell the story of a woebegone LA native with famous parents and child stars for friends. Nosotros're not entirely sure if his explanation of Angelenos' ambition as "kind of like Nashville with a tan" is a dig or non, simply Mullins keeps telling us that "everything is gonna be all right," and that'south just well-nigh the most comforting thing to hear when you're stuck in LA traffic and running 35 minutes late.—Sara Fay
"I Wish" past Skee-Lo (1995)
As an essential LA jam, "I Wish" is as perpetually underrated as the song's vertically challenged protagonist, South LA rapper Skee-Lo. Offering a more than humorous and self-deprecating have on life in the concrete jungle than its mid-'90s Death Row counterparts, the 1995 Grammy-nominated unmarried basks in a dominicus-tinged sample of Bernard Wright'south "Spinnin'" backside Skee-Lo'south rapid recitation of his genie lamp desires: "I wish I was a fiddling bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a daughter who looked practiced, I would call her." Given that Skee-Lo reportedly measures in at five-pes-eight, might we suggest a game of ane-on-i with Prince?—Michael Chen
"Santa Monica" by Everclear (1995)
At first listen, Everclear's catchy 1995 ode to the oceanside city sounds pretty prissy. Simply in reality the song may hearken to something darker: Lead singer Art Alexakis' girlfriend committed suicide when he was a teen, an act he afterwards tried to duplicate by jumping from the Santa Monica Pier. With this in mind, the song turns into a poignant tribute, though one we still tin can't help singing every time we swim out past the breakers.—Gillian Glover
"California Stars" past Wilco (1998)
Fifty-fifty the about staunch W Coast cynics can't escape the utterly sublime sincerity and enchantment of "California Stars." Written (just never released) by Woody Guthrie during a belatedly '30s stay in Long Beach, this 1998 recording manages to plough a couple of beautifully-penned stanzas—"I'd like to rest my heavy head this evening on a bed of California stars"—into a magically disarming acoustic statement for dreaming your troubles away in California. Give thanks Jeff Tweedy and the late Jay Bennett of Wilco for crafting a West Coast complement to "This Land is Your Country": Virtually every syllable is perfectly engineered for a sing-forth, and so information technology's no surprise the vocal is a staple at Wilco shows and Tweedy solo sets.—Michael Juliano
"Back in LA" past BB King (1991)
Rock & Ringlet Hall of Famer and electric blues hero BB King got his start in Los Angeles back in the belatedly 1940s. 50 years later, after recording over xxx albums, touring the globe and amassing iii lifetimes' worth of accolades, Male monarch was back. Gibson in hand, the icon started off this white-hot track from his '91 anthology, In that location Is E'er One More than Time, crooning "From Hollywood and Vine to the Sunset Strip, there's so much goin' on, you tin lose your grip." As his electric guitar wails against a backdrop of brass, BB King serenades our relentless town, reminding u.s. that in the same breath, LA will "practise you so incorrect" and then "do you then right." —Amanda Montell
"Regulate" past Warren G (1994)
Warren G and Nate Dogg'south hard-edged 1994 hip hop striking reps LA every bit a boondocks full of girls and guns—from Long Beach to the Eastside, the rap duo find themselves facing firearms, thievery and hot babes. It soundtracked the '94 basketball film In a higher place the Rim and maintains its M-funk throne today with a spot on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. In that location are one-liners aplenty in this track, but you can't be only whatsoever geek off the street to pull 'em off. —Amanda Montell
"All I Wanna Practise" by Sheryl Crow (1993)
Sheryl Crow's breakthrough hit from her '93 debut album is the perfect soundtrack for a carefree girls' night out. Her relate of escaping 9-to-5 obligations with bar buddy Billy was actually adjusted from the poem "Fun," by Wyn Cooper; Crow'southward producer found a book of his verse in a Pasadena bookstore and the residue is history. Crow's fun-loving chorus is all her ain, though, as is the song's Santa Monica Boulevard setting.—Gillian Glover
twoscore–31
"Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre (1992)
With its opening line however setting off crowds at parties, this '92 W Declension gangsta rap classic never goes out of style. Dr. Dre and a pre-fame Snoop Dogg rep their 'hoods ("C-O-M-P-T-O-N and the metropolis they phone call Long Beach") and list off proof of how supremely Yard they are, all while remaining laid-back as tin can be.—Danielle Nevidi
"Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" by Father John Misty (2012)
Fear Fun is the most contempo solo projection of quondam Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman, and was recorded upon his relocation from Seattle to LA. The whole album, and this vocal in particular, embraces a black sense of humour that Tillman says was inspired by LA's secretly miserable comedians. The concept of the song was based on a real-life romantic encounter Tillman had at the famous Hollywood graveyard, which happened only after he returned to LA from his grandfather'due south funeral on the East Coast. Tillman considers this "consummation" of his grandfather's death and the resulting song as a sort of memorial, and the weird fucked-up-ness of that makes this tune all the more intriguing.—Amanda Montell
"Hollywood Freaks" past Brook (1999)
Maybe it was the imminent anarchy of Y2K talking, but Beck got real experimental on his 1999 multi-genre anthology, Midnite Vultures. This gnarly funk track (featuring the likes of Hansen, John King and Michael Simpson) is like a wacked-out litany of '90s LA immoderacy, including dance floors, talk shows, hot dogs, No Doz and hot sex in back rows... the listing goes on. Beck—a born-and-rasied Angeleno who opened Spaceland (now the Satellite) and makes united states think twice about bashing Scientology—is at his weirdest and most wonderful on this very LA track.—Amanda Montell
"Los Angeles" by Frank Black (1992)
A guy from Boston criticizing your love hometown might strike a nervus with some. But when the song is this damn rockin'—and probably the best rail Frank Black ever recorded in his post-Pixies career—who cares? In typical loud-quiet fashion, Black wrestles with LA's multiple personalities and historical oddities in this 1993 runway that'due south every bit spacey and confused equally the metropolis it depicts.—Michael Juliano
"Going Back to Cali" past LL Cool J (1988)
Earlier he started wooing ladies with romantic ballads, LL Absurd J was a pioneering crossover rapper. Case in indicate, this 1988 Rick Rubin-produced, Cali-loving track, which became one of the first hip hop videos to play continuously on MTV. The chorus is still ambiguous as ever ("I'g going back to Cali, I don't think so": Are you lot or aren't you, Cool J?) but the residue is direct up, awesomely corny—"On Sunset it's a trip, where the Air-conditioning's common cold and the girls all the same strip"—replete with a surprisingly beautiful blackness-and-white music video showing off '80s LA at its finest.—Danielle Nevidi
"Electrolite" by R.E.M. (1996)
Hop in your auto, make your fashion up Mulholland Drive later on sunset and stake out a clear vantage point from which to gaze upon the city of lights that inspired "Electrolite," R.Eastward.M.'s 1996 farewell salute to the 20th century. In a 2006 Los Angeles Times interview, lead singer Michael Stipe explained that LA was the ideal backdrop for this song because "nowhere seemed more perfect than the city that came into its own throughout the 20th century." To this betoken, Stipe conjures up images of silver screen stars of foretime eras—Martin Sheen, Steve McQueen, James Dean: larger-than-life heroes to embody when looking out from high above in the Hollywood Hills. —Michael Chen
"Girls, Girls, Girls" by Mötley Crüe (1987)
The difficult rocking, girl-worshipping anthem from LA'south resident '80s heavy metal band could put nigh anyone in the mood to slap on a leather jacket, pack a wallet full of ones and head to the Sunset Strip. Tropicana, The Trunk Shop and Seventh Veil are just a few of Mötley Crüe's local hot spots for finding gorgeous women in nothing but a smile. "Trip the light fantastic for me, I'll keep yous overemployed," Neil Veil shrieks in this 1987 hit. We tin certainly requite these boys points for directness. —Amanda Montell
"Born In Eastward LA" past Cheech & Chong (1985)
"Light-green bill of fare? I'm from Due east LA." And and then Cheech Marin is mistakenly deported in this 1985 cult-classic parody, which would inspire a full-fledged comedy film of the same name two years subsequently. The song avoids the despairing pitfalls of immigration politics—an unsettlingly real event thirty years later—thanks to Cheech's sheepish fear of Tijuana and innocent beloved of the Eastside. In addition to the "Built-in in the USA"-borrowed tune, y'all'll find more clever jabs at Bruce Springsteen ("Now I know what information technology'due south like to be born to run") too as a Randy Newman callout toward the end—"Soto Street! We beloved it!"—Michael Juliano
"The Recipe" past Kendrick Lamar (2012)
Kendrick Lamar's first major single plays similar a nod to Westward Coast rap; the Compton rapper rhymes about his roots with a hypnotic mix past local producer Scoop DeVille and smug verses from Lamar'due south legendary mentor, Dr. Dre. Simply above all, the 2012 rails comes off as an unabashed LA canticle that praises this city's nearly invaluable assets: women, weed and weather. We'll let Kendrick take the last word on this: "What more than tin can I say? Welcome to LA."—Michael Juliano
"The Little One-time Lady from Pasadena" by Jan and Dean (1964)
If you don't live on the Westward Coast, you might fault Pasadena for a coastal city cheers to Jan and Dean's popular 1964 surf stone-inflected ruse. But if yous practise alive hither, you know your geography—we promise—and the archetype of an elderly commuter in an overpowered motorcar. In fact, "She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard," is all too relevant these days equally Pasadena ranks among the worst cities in California for machine collisions. But we digress: The song's ultimate staying power owes a bit to cars, but much more to the directly-faced "Go granny, get," harmony and Dean Torrence's soaring falsetto intro.—Michael Juliano
30–21
"Valley Daughter" by Frank Zappa (1982)
While Frank Zappa may have intended "Valley Girl" to be a takedown of well-off, Galleria-haunting '80s teens, the song instead created a nationwide lexicon of Valley daughter slang—whoops. Though an uneventful composition by Zappa standards, his girl Moon Unit of measurement elevates the song into distinction with Valspeak squeals like "grody", "barf," and "bitchin'"; her excessive employ of "similar"; and musings on the pronunciation of "Andrea." Expert luck pinpointing the origin of all the Valley hate, just something was clearly already brewing by '82: "Simply I live, like, in a really proficient part of Encino and then information technology's okay."—Michael Juliano
"Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction (1987)
We love steel drums, nosotros honey Perry Farrell and yes, we definitely freak out when Jane'due south Habit ends their alive shows with this crowd-pleaser. The story behind the 1987 song is basically this: When the ring was showtime forming dorsum in the '80s, Farrell rented a group firm in Hollywood (convincing his landlord he was a gay interior decorator rather than a punk rocker), and had a housemate, Jane, who vicious in dearest with a heroin dealer, Sergio (of course) and couldn't kicking her addiction. Hence, the band'south name.—Kate Wertheimer
"The Only Place" by Best Coast (2012)
Best Coast'due south saccharine, sunny beloved letter of the alphabet to LA has all the subtlety of a romcom—seriously, simply imagine the vocal playing over a film intro with Amanda Seyfried jogging through palm tree-filtered sunlight. Merely equally singer Bethany Cosentino rattles through her list of SoCal'southward finest features (Sea? Babes? Sun? Waves? Check.) it's difficult to disagree with the unabashedly LA-loyal song. "Why would you alive anywhere else?" she repeatedly asks, and well, good question. There'due south only one acceptable response: "This is the only place for me."—Michael Juliano
"Life in LA" by Ariel Pinkish's Haunted Graffiti (2003)
Hailed as the godfather of chillwave, Ariel Pinkish has earned a permanent spot in the LA music scene with his muddy yet melodic oeuvre. His ode to a solitary life in LA is perfectly captured in this haunting lo-fi gem, a 2003 runway that finds the moody multi-instrumentalist somewhere between a '70s TV show theme and Joy Division.—Evelyn Derico
"It Was a Adept Solar day" by Ice Cube (1993)
What may exist gangsta rapper Ice Cube's greatest hit chronicles pretty much the best 24 hours a young dude in LA could ever take. Cube starts his day by having sex, shooting hoops and smoking a petty weed. After, he has a couple drinks, hangs out with his buddy for a while and and then bags a girl he'd been "trying to fuck since the 12th grade." Classy, Cube. Finally, he engages in a before-bed ritual of 2am fast food and a wee-hour cruise through South Central. Chill song, shine vibe and a good day indeed. —Amanda Montell
"Surfin' Safari" by the Beach Boys (1962)
The marine layer must've been thick in 1961 to infect a bunch of boys from Hawthorne with such a surfing obsession. A year and one anthemic verse afterwards, the Beach Boys cemented their identify in SoCal and surf history with a experience-good jangle and Chuck Drupe-inspired guitar solo. We might non become cruising in "woodies" looking for "honeys" anymore, but the Brian Wilson and Mike Love-penned ode to local surf spots—Huntington, Malibu, Rincon, Laguna and Doheny—however breathes life into a storied salt air Shangri-La.—Michael Juliano
"Redondo Beach" by Patti Smith (1975)
Nosotros wistfully envision a foggy South Bay morning when our stone & roll lady crush croons, "On Redondo Embankment, everyone is and then distressing, I was looking for you, are you gone?" The easy, reggae crush belies the 1975 tune'southward painful story of a lovers' quarrel turned suicide. This isn't your typical beach bum anthem, only we suppose this track from Smith's landmark debut, Horses, sets the tone for the laid dorsum but sometimes afar beach city.—Michael Juliano
"Low Passenger" by War (1975)
Referred to as the "Chicano National Anthem" by LA native George Lopez, this 1975 song by War pays homage to LA's low passenger car culture. Today, the widely played 14-line vocal is a staple at Los Angeles sporting events and is continually used in pop TV shows and movies. Lead vocalizer Charles Miller (who grew upwardly in Long Beach) is the deep voice behind the catchy beat—with lyrics reflecting the souped-upwardly, hydraulic cars that cruise the streets of LA—and sang this timeless ode to Cali's hot rods long before rim sizes were rapped almost. —Ramona Saviss
"California Love" by 2Pac (1995)
"Let me serenade the streets of LA," raps 2Pac—and serenade united states he does. The rapper fabricated a glorious return from his '90s prison stint with this comeback smash, which strikes golden with its irresistibly funky vibe and catchy claw, alongside the talents of beau Californian Dr. Dre and an oft-repeated declaration that California knows how to party. —Amanda Montell
"California Sun" by the Rivieras (1964)
Covered many times over by everyone from punk legends the Ramones to current buzz band Palma Violets, "California Sunday" is essential listening for a solar day'south frolic on the sandy beaches of LA. The virtually famous rendition of the song, recorded in 1964 by the Rivieras, became a surf stone classic that surely inspired impressionable teenagers across the country to pack their bags and head out West. So infectious is the track'due south signature guitar riff that we'll forgive the throwaway line about the frisky girls in old 'Frisco. To the beach!—Michael Chen
xx–11
"Los Angeles" by X (1980)
At just nether two and a half minutes, X's "Los Angeles" (from their 1980 debut album of the same name) is a archetype punk rock canticle. The lyrics tell the story of a woman beaten downwards by "Hell-A" who begins to lash out at others—a telling commentary about the city's diversity and the intolerance it can breed. The in-your-face up racial lyrics were a reflection of the time and early punk scene in LA. It's gritty and real—merely like X, and Los Angeles.—Gillian Glover
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Niggling (1989)
No, this archetype LA tune was not conceived while Tom Petty was riding the former Freefall coaster at Magic Mountain. Rather, "Free Fallin'" nostalgically recalls a childhood sweetheart in Petty's home state of Florida whom the vocalist left behind when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue rock & curlicue stardom. Packed with numerous references to everyday life in the Valley and complemented by an iconic video shot inside the Westside Pavilion mall, the 1989 hit evokes for many Angelenos the feeling of taking a leap into the great unknown in a city of myriad possibilities. If LA songs are to be judged—and they should be—past how uplifted we feel when nosotros crank them up in our cars and sing forth at the top of our lungs (see Maguire, Jerry), "Free Fallin'" rises to the acme. Well, the top 20.—Michael Chen
"Hooray for Hollywood" by Doris Twenty-four hours (1958)
Null rekindles the circumvoluted spotlights of Busby Berkeley-era Hollywood quite like this immortal earworm. Simply fifty-fifty in 1937, lyricist Johnny Mercer was already lodging indelible complaints about Midwestern transplants, phonies and curt-lived fame. That last signal, in item, was even more apparent 2 decades later when Doris Twenty-four hour period's sauntering, twinkling rendition ditched mentions of Shirley Temple and Aimee Semple for Lassie and Marilyn Monroe (or, more specifically, her chassis).—Michael Juliano
"Going Back to Cali" by the Notorious B.I.M. (1998)
We honey this song because of the numerous mentions of buttering ladies up at fast food joints. It's hilarious to imagine Biggie (anyone, really), "flossin' hoes" at Roscoe's or treating a girl to Fatburger in society to "eject her"—although we're sure the late, great rapper did all that and more. Likewise, this is the song nosotros all sing on our way home from road trips, when the sprawl of city lights comes into view and the inevitable traffic jam is nevertheless a twinkle of cherry-red taillights in the distance. And it's e'er good to be back.—Kate Wertheimer
"Under the Span" by Cherry-red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)
Anthony Kiedis—LA's ain unofficial king of stone—pays homage to his metropolis in this heartfelt track from 1991's Blood Saccharide Sex Magik. The vocal is named for a drug deal that took place under a span Downtown, which Kiedis considered to be a low betoken in his life. In times of isolation, however, he felt that his only friend was—you know it—the Urban center of Angels. The vocal almost failed to be, notwithstanding; Kiedis felt the emotional theme of loneliness didn't fit the ring'southward tone, just producer Rick Rubin persuaded him to pursue it. The song became a hit and a RHCP classic, earning itself a spot in our peak twenty.—Gillian Glover
"Direct Outta Compton" by Northward.Due west.A. (1988)
"You are now well-nigh to witness the strength of street knowledge." So began LA's reign every bit the stronghold of West Coast gangsta rap. The tinny howdy-hat ticks and shock lyrics in the 1988 hit sound tame today—and Compton itself isn't quite the AK-filled 'hood that N.W.A. described—only in that location's still a legitimate thrill from that opening, "Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube." The group packs then much raw personality and mental attitude into four minutes that it's no wonder the song blasted a previously ignored region and culture of LA onto the national mainstage.—Michael Juliano
"Screenwriters Blues" by Soul Cough (1994)
Soul Coughing front end man Mike Doughty was actually living in downtown Manhattan, attending Eugene Lang Higher, when he came upwards with this ode to LA in '94. He'd taken a brusque visit to LA the previous summer, which inspired him to craft this spoken word piece interwoven with a lounge-y industrial backdrop and Los Angeles-laden imagery. Doughty told the LA Times in 2007 that he feels no connection to the song now, having get frustrated with constantly being associated with LA when he was in fact a New Yorker. Whatsoever.—Adam Lehrer
"LA" by Elliott Smith (2000)
The sorely missed Elliott Smith recorded his terminal album, Figure 8, in Los Angeles in 2000. The tape displayed an upbeat and accessible yet refined quality that many critics deemed his best endeavour to engagement (or his best attempt always, as information technology would plough out). The album's dreamy track "LA" juxtaposes the city's beautiful weather condition and relaxed scene with the profound anxiety and loneliness fostered by a metropolis where everyone wants to be a star. "Things I've never done, cars parked in the sunday, living in the day, but last dark I was about to throw information technology all away." If only he hadn't.—Amanda Montell
"Hollywood Nights" past Bob Seger (1978)
Consider this 1978 track an ode to the transplant: An innocent Midwestern boy gets caught up in the big city with an irresistible girl, only to notice he'due south wandered besides far from home. But this isn't a sob story; Seger pushes the narrative forward with a locomotive rhythm and shout-it-from-the-hilltops chorus. At the end of the day, LA (and its rocky romances) may spit you out and carelessness you, but information technology sure is difficult to resist "those Hollywood nights in those Hollywood Hills."—Michael Juliano
"Desperados Under the Eaves" by Warren Zevon (1976)
With both sense of humour and compassion (not to mention groundwork vocals from local Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys), Zevon perfectly captures what it is to exist an alcoholic in LA. A transplant from Chicago, Zevon'due south upwardly-and-down career is the image of chasing stardom in the City of Angels. And for all the talk of gorgeous beaches, perfect atmospheric condition and Hollywood glitz, "Desperados" tells of the overwhelming sense of seedy sadness that lurks below the glistening façade of the city. —Adam Lehrer
10–one
"Los Angeles Blues" past Peggy Lee (1962)
Is there a cuter song out in that location virtually our off-white city? Nosotros're pretty sure not. Lee moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17 and was discovered while working at the Doll House in Palm Springs—where, instead of singing loudly over the crowd to get their attention, she perfected a sultry purr that would somewhen make her famous, as in this 1962 striking. Lee boasts about LA'south best offerings: sunshine, beaches, mountains, desert—and the kind of living that'due south blues-proof: BBQs, baseball games, surfing, skiing.... Does the LA tourism lath know almost this song?? —Kate Wertheimer
"Walking In LA" by Missing Persons (1982)
We're not sure who references this song (off 1982's Leap Session M) more—the people in LA who really don't walk, or the defiant ambulators who mock them. We're pretty sure it's the latter, but either style, this must be the most-referenced vocal in the metropolis, at to the lowest degree on sidewalks or while running for 1's life during inexplicably short crosswalk lights. Only "lame" joggers might boycott it—nobody likes name-calling.—Kate Wertheimer
"California Girls" by the Beach Boys (1965)
Written by Brian Wilson during an LSD trip in 1965, this tricky song reached number three on the Billboard charts and has since been covered by numerous bands (virtually famously by David Lee Roth in 1985), payed homage to by the Beatles and semi-stolen past Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg (Panthera leo? Tiger, comport, whatsoever). It'due south hailed every bit one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is Saved Past the Bell primary Mr. Belding's favorite tune. We can't argue with that.—Kate Wertheimer
"To Live and Die in LA" by 2Pac (1996)
This ballad, released shortly subsequently 2Pac's death as a single from his last recorded album, is a loving tribute to the artist'due south adoptive hometown. The '96 song pleads for amend race and gang relations in the city and alludes to local staples like the scene on Sunset and ghetto birds to a higher place. (It also has a pretty incredible music video, culminating in a chicken-and-waffles food fight exterior of Roscoe'due south.) Sadly, all the same, Pac breathed his last in Las Vegas, not LA.—Danielle Nevidi
"It Never Rains in Southern California" by Albert Hammond (1972)
London-built-in and Gibraltar-based Albert Hammond (begetter of Jr., the Strokes guitarist) released this soft rock hit in 1972. The vocal sounds plenty cheery with a flute riff and sunny title, merely pay closer attention and you lot'll find it takes a dark turn. "It never rains in California, but girl don't they warn ya. It pours, human it pours," Hammond croons, imparting the tale of a musician who moves to LA with high hopes of fame and fortune, only to stop up hungry and lost, begging a friend not to "tell the folks back home" of his failure. At least the atmospheric condition'southward prissy! —Danielle Nedivi
"Celluloid Heroes" by the Kinks (1972)
This tender Kinks fan-favorite from 1972 finds frontman Ray Davies namedropping iconic Hollywood stars left and right, trying to understand their successes and tribulations by putting himself in their shoes every bit he walks downwards the iconic boulevard. "Don't step on Greta Garbo," he warns, simply "stand close by Bette Davis." Davies both idolizes and humanizes the actors—a refreshing bespeak of view for both tourists traversing the Walk of Fame in awe too as locals who bruise the stars daily. Unsurprisingly, the immortalizing melody is a go-to for radio stations when paying tribute to an histrion who's passed.—Gillian Glover
"California Dreamin'" by the Mamas & The Papas (1965)
Arguably the best—and definitely the about recognizable—song about lusting after the Golden State, "California Dreamin'" was written by John and Michelle Phillips afterwards John heard it in a dream while living in New York in 1963, pre Mamas & Papas. Between the alto flute solo, the dreamy harmony and the band's lament that "I'd be safe and warm if I was in LA," the song is a hypnotic tout for SoCal. Rolling Stone has named the track #89 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Fourth dimension, and it's been covered by everyone from the Beach Boys to Alvin and the Chipmunks—even Meat Loaf got in on this activeness. Surprisingly, the vocal didn't catch on right away in LA, simply instead became a hitting in Boston. Maybe it makes sense… the track's message resonates more with people, indeed, dreamin' of LA than with those of united states of america living in the thick of it, perhaps fifty-fifty taking it for granted.—Gillian Glover
"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns North' Roses (1987)
Blender says it'south the greatest LA song of all time; VH1 says it's history'south greatest difficult rock song, period. "Welcome to the Jungle" is an aggressively sexy encapsulation of '80s metallic culture on the Sunset Strip and the cutthroat pursuit of fame. During the year it was written, in 1987, the Guns N' Roses brethren shared a coke-filled mansion in the jungle of West Hollywood, infested with groupies and fondly named the Hell House. Was anyone more than qualified to capture LA rock & roll in the mid-80s? Doubtful. —Amanda Montell
"LA Woman" by the Doors (1971)
During the making of Jim Morrison's last anthology with The Doors—before he joined the untimely 27 society—the chisel-jawed rocker recorded the vocals for "LA Woman" in the bathroom of the band's makeshift WeHo studio. He liked the room's "natural reverb"—almost every bit much as he liked ladies from LA—and we can't contend with him. The song is an absolute classic: a '71 rock record that would speak for LA girls for generations to come up: the lucky lilliputian ladies in the City of Light, the lost angels and everyone in between. It keeps our mojo rising and earned our number 2 spot.—Amanda Montell
"I Love LA" by Randy Newman (1983)
Information technology may not be the most, ah, complex limerick, merely Randy Newman'south 1983 canticle has a simple message y'all can't mess with—overwhelming love for the city (while having a shitload of fun). Every bit he dismisses the Frank Sinatra canticle towns of New York and Chicago, a crunchy synth kicks in—'80s production be damned—and a nasally announcement that "we was built-in to ride" inspires a sense of, dare nosotros say, pride in LA, Santa Anas blowing and all. Of course, this is still the aforementioned sardonic songwriter as always, so Newman's love of large, nasty redheads and the Beach Boys is balanced by a line like, "Look at that mountain, wait at those copse, wait at that bum over there, man he's downward on his knees." Dissimilar pretty much every other ode to Los Angeles, "I Love LA" doesn't tie itself to any one trope—the industry bubble, gangsta cred, embankment bum life—and instead professes the crazy idea that LA equally a whole, the very status of living in this weird and wonderful city, is a crusade worthy of celebration (and a rousing chorus). LA is too sprawling and disjointed to always have a schlocky communal anthem, simply after two decades "I Love LA" is still the closest affair we've got. And nosotros beloved it!—Michael Juliano and Kate Wertheimer
Listen to Fourth dimension Out'due south fifty best LA songs playlist on Spotify
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Source: https://www.timeout.com/music/the-50-best-la-songs
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