In tribute to my beleaguered city I bring you the official, indisputable, Top 50 songs about Los Angeles. 

Some items of note:

• There are a SHIT TON of songs about Los Angeles.  Like way, way more than you think.  
• Songs focused on areas of Los Angeles – Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Compton, Santa Monica, Malibu etc etc are eligible and well represented.  
• There are a decent amount of songs about Los Angeles that evoke imagery of burning the city down.  Hard to ignore the recent state of LA when you hear Bad Religion’s “Los Angeles Is Burning”, Public Enemy’s “Burn Hollywood Burn”, or Noah Cyrus’ “I Burned LA Down”.  Porno for pyros in full effect, I guess.
• There are an array of instrumental songs with LA-related titles created by jazz musicians, DJs, composers etc that were not considered.  No lyrics, no rating, sorry.  Also, I apologize to my Spanish speaking brethren but I only considered tracks in English.  What can I say, I got a C+ in high school Spanish and am woefully unqualified to consider lyrics in any foreign language.  

How the list was created: Every eligible song went through a simple 1-10 rating system based on the following criteria:

• Popularity: this is not a popularity contest, but how widely a track is known does matter. Popularity was measured by number of spins on Spotify.
• Relevance: the song doesn’t have to be a direct ode to Los Angeles. However, our city has to be more than a name check but an actual player in the narrative, either in subject or setting.  Put another way, Prince suggesting you call up your Beverly Hills shrink Dr. Everything’ll Be All Right does not make “Let’s Go Crazy” a song about Los Angeles.
• Quality: Ultimately the most important criteria: how good is it?  That’s why we’re here, right?  

The three categories were then averaged to give each track a final score.  There are several instances where multiple songs received the same score; ties were settled in the fairest way possible – by my fucking opinion.  You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.

HERE is the google spreadsheet with all of the songs ranked.  I guess I had some spare time on my hands.

The playlist featuring all of the tracks listed, as well as a few hundred that didn’t make the cut is below.  Listen along while reading!

 

50 “Valley Girl” – Frank + Moon Zappa Perhaps the dumbest song ever about LA, but it perfectly captures a moment in time in the culture of 80s LA, when under neon skies primates roamed the land, hunting and gathering their food at Hot Dog On A Stick at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Fer sure fer sure.  Fun Fact: Frank woke up 14 year old Moon Unit in the middle of the night to record her vocals.  This is widely regarded as a parent victory.

49 “West Coast Poplock”, Ronnie Hudson  Here the entire blueprint for 2Pac & Dre’s “California Love” is laid out, like Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love” paving the way for Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. Approximately 0.00001% of “California Love” listeners are aware of this.  Here’s to hoping that Ronnie was able to put his kids through college with the royalties from Cali Love.

48 “Spill The Wine”, War Celebrating Hollywood as the star in a daydream. “Spill The Wine” was inspired by an accident in which keyboardist Lonnie Jordan spilled wine on a mixing board during the recording session.  The inadvertent run out was the unofficial start of the 1970’s.

47 “Los Angeles Is Burning”, Bad Religion Two things I am not a particular fan of: Bad Religion, and my hometown burning.  But admittedly, this song does rock, and to be fair, LA was burning.  The song was meant as a commentary on the hyperbolic nature of the news media, and its lyrics are as pertinent as one of the Simpsons episode from a million years ago that predicted Trump would be president.

46 “Say Goodbye To Hollywood”, Billy Joel  A song about leaving Hollywood; some troubadours can’t stand the heat. But at least Billy has some grace about it.  Extra credit: check out Ronnie Spector’s cover, backed by the E Street Band, essentially a duet between Ronnie and the big man Clarence Clemons.

45 “Los Angelenos”, Billy Joel Oh look, a rock block! What is this, KMET in 1979?  I love the idea of the quintessential New York artist occupying two slots on the list. LA is like the girl you moved 3,000 miles to get away from, but still check her social media every few days to see what she’s up to. In their review of the album, Rolling Stone said “Los Angelenos “presents a hackneyed picture postcard of L.A. as sexual wasteland.”  Nailed it, Billy!

44 “Sunset Grill”, Don Henley One of those “this city is too much for me, but I can’t leave” songs. Its groove evokes that curve on Sunset before you get to the former Tower Records, auburn sky hitting the Strip just right.  “Sunset Grill” is a reference to a hamburger joint on the titular strip.  Sold and rebuilt in the 1990s, The Sunset Grill still sits across the street from El Compadre, next door to Guitar Center.  Rock on.

43 “A Long December”, Counting Crows  Perish the thought of only one more night up in the canyon, one more night in Hollywood. Adam seems pretty broken up about it, which is understandable.   Courtney Cox starred in the music video for “A Long December”.  Adam Duritz dated Cox AND Jennifer Aniston, barely coming up just short on the Friends trifecta. This has no relevance to this article, but is worth mentioning.

42 “La Cienega Just Smiled”, Ryan Adams A broken body, a broken soul. But La Cienega just smiles, waves goodbye.  Fun fact: In the summer of 1990 I met Bruce Springsteen and Patty Scialfa on La Cienega Boulevard. Had Bruce sign my Thomas Guide.  Glory days.

41 “Malibu”, Hole December 12, 1994 will go down as a defining day in this writers life, as it was the day I witnessed Courtney Love bitch out Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson backstage at the 91X Acoustic Xmas concert in San Diego. A peak 90s moment.  As for “Malibu,” Courtney lays it down with supreme sunburned conviction. 

40 “Sick Again”, Led Zeppelin An ode to the teen groupie troop “LA Queens”, who were definitely, positively of legal age when they made their way to Led Zep’s hotel room at the Riot House. 

39 “Angeles”, Elliot Smith  It’s a story as old as time – do you stick with the indie label in your hometown that helped launch your career, or head to the bright lights and big city of Los Angeles to reap greater rewards?  Elliot was temporarily at peace with his decision, but it didn’t last long.

38 “Time Spent In Los Angeles”, Dawes A lot of sentiment about Los Angeles, as well as songs about the city, come from transplanted artists who have come here to “make it”. Not the case here. Dawes are local dudes with that “I know where all the cool spots are” vibe. Unfortunately Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith were among the thousands whose houses were destroyed by the Eaton fire that swept through Altadena. Their performance of “Time Spent In Los Angeles” on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the wake of the fires hit me hard. 

37 “The LA Song”, People Under The Stairs Top 5 LA deep-cut references in “The LA Song”:

• 5. Charro’s 
• 4. La Barca
• 3. Busy Bee Market
• 2. Jerry Dunfey
• 1. Tricia Toyota 

Oddly, PUTS loved this city so much they have another song called “LA Song” (dropping the “the”). 

36 “California Dreamin’”, The Mamas And The Papas For every track about LA, there’s another that’s about California that may have a passing reference to Los Angeles. “California Dreamin’” walks a fine line to qualify as an LA song, but makes the cut for one crucial reason – while the chorus ponders the dream of hitting the west coast, the City of Angels is really what they’re after.  “California Dreamin’” put “The California Sound” on the map in the 1960s.  

35 “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince  A rap track slash TV show theme song – what’s more LA LA Land than that (the town, not the movie)? Originally titled “Yo Home to Bel-Air”, I’d write more about this song but you’d probably slap me across the face. 

34 “Beverly Hills”, Circle Jerks I’ve made my distaste clear – outsiders coming to our city and write a song shitting all over it can fuck off (even if, at times, they make cogent points). “Beverly Hills” gets a hardcore pass – the Circle Jerks are Hermosa locals, and thus free to shit on LA all they want. 

33 “To Live & Die in LA”, 2Pac (AKA Makaveli) 2Pac poetry, balancing his love for the city while smoking his enemies.  The video for “To Live & Die In LA” feels like an outsider’s dream of the Los Angeles Experience – hopping in a vintage convertible full of shorties, cranking up KDAY, grabbing some Fatburger.  Then you wake up and you’re still living in Missouri and it’s snowing outside.

32 “Screenwriters Blues”, Soul Coughing In celebrating Los Angeles, it’s important to get the WGA members’ perspective.  Exits to freeways, with the inevitable realization that we are all going to Reseda, someday, to DIE.

31 “This is How We Do It”, Montell Jordan, Wino It’s true: you gotta get your grove on before you go get paid.  Also you gotta love that even this hype house party has designated drivers.  Be safe out there.

30 “Celluloid Heroes”, the Kinks The saddest song ever written about the glitz and glamor of the movie business.  Celluloid heroes never really die, even as you stomp all over their star on Hollywood Boulevard. 

29 “California Love”, Dr Dre, 2Pac, Roger Trautman Sure this is a love song to Cali, but other than a scant shout out to Oakland, Sac Town and the Bay, all of the love travels down the 101 to the City of Angeles.  Roger Trautman rightly gets a song credit due to his “California loves to party” vocal, lifted from “West Coast Poplock”.

28 “Pink Pony Club”, Chappel Roan Seeing a young Ms. Roan perform this song without her usual level of glitz and makeup is this generation’s version of seeing the Kiss guys without their faces painted.

27 “Carmelita”, Warren Zevon, covered by Linda Ronstandt [Stefon voice] “Carmelita” has everything. Echo Park. Mariachi music. Heroin addiction. Methodone addiction. Pioneer Chicken addiction.  The song is ostensibly about a heroin addicted writer in love with a Mexican girl, but perhaps Zevon’s real subject is Los Angeles itself. 

26 “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”, Father John Misty Extra credit: check out the official video for this track, and enjoy Aubrey Plaza transform death, self destruction and passing out in the middle of the street with a bloody nose into a just another fun night in LA. The real meaning of “HFCS” has been speculated to be about the faking of attending funerals so a couple can schtup in the cemetery.  I have no notes.

25 “Heartattack And Vine”, Tom Waits Let’s let Mr. Waits tell the tale himself: “I was in a bar one night on Hollywood Boulevard near Vine Street, and this lady came in with a dead animal over her arm, looking like she’d obviously been sleeping outdoors. She walked up to the bartender and said, “I’m gonna have a heart attack,” and he says, “Yeah, right, you can have it outside.” I thought that was pretty chilly. So I re-named Hollywood Boulevard “Heartattack.”

24 “Tiny Dancer”, Elton John I was at a funeral once where one of the eulogizers ended their speech by playing “Tiny Dancer,” presumably because their grandma was of diminutive stature and dancing spirit, not because she was a seamstress for the band.  Well “Tiny Dancer” clocks in at over six minutes, a long time for the congregation to idly sit during a funeral and listen to a song on a boom box.  Well Aunt Rita* would have none of it – after a couple minutes, it was Rita’s turn to speak and a swift shutdown of Elton’s anthem brought the musical tribute to an unceremonious halt.  You had to be there but it was an unintentionally hilarous moment in an otherwise somber setting,  *Aunt Rita is a pseudonym to protect the innocent.

23 “LA”, Murs One of the enlightening things about this exercise is how many LAs there are.  For some it’s sunshine and cruising down the Sunset Strip.  For others it all depends on the set you claim.

22 “Los Ageless”, St. Vincent It would appear that St. Vincent accurately describes the push-pull relation so many have with this city with the age old conundrum…Los Angeles, how can anybody have you and lose you and not lose their minds?

21 “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo”, A Tribe Called Quest Without Q-Tip’s fandom of Sanford & Son, there would be no “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo”.  Without “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo”, there probably would be no Tribe Called Quest.  No Tribe, no reason to live.

20 “Los Angeles”, HAIM LA natives and Notre Dame High School alums HAIM astutely remind us that while Los Angeles may crush your dreams, it’s still beats the cold of New York City. The album cover photo for HAIM’s Women in Music Pt III which featured this track was shot at Canter’s Deli by Paul Thomas Anderson.  Just a top 5 Los Angeles-y statement all around.

19 “Regulate”, Warren G, Nate Dogg Based on a true story: One evening in 1993, Warren Griffin dusted off the Country Boy combo at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles and stepped out into the warm Hollywood air.  An unhoused man was sitting outside, trying to hawk a stack of old records.  Warren felt bad, so he handed the dude $250 for the stack.  Among those old dusty slabs of vinyl was a copy of Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’”.  And the central four bar loop from “Regulate” was born.  

18 “To Live And Die In LA”, Wang Chung

I asked Chat GPT to write a poem about Wang Chung and Los Angeles.  This is what they came up with:

In neon nights of LA dreams, Where shadows dance and engines gleam, We live and die in endless grace, Driving fast, we find our space.

We Wang Chung tonight, our hearts align, to live and die in LA's design. The skyline whispers tales untold, In city lights, the young, the bold.

Through winding streets, we chase the stars, In chrome reflections, here we are. The city roars with life anew, A symphony in red and blue.

In every corner, stories spin, Of hope and dreams, of loss and sin. With each mile, our spirits soar, On LA's veins, forevermore.

We live, we die, we laugh, we cry, In LA's arms, beneath its sky. To Wang Chung's beat, we find our way, In neon lights, we choose to stay.

 

17 “Los Angeles, I’m Yours”, The Decemberists Los Angeles cast as a beautiful disastrous cocaine smoking hot mess, but at least she’s our beautiful disastrous cocaine smoking hot mess.

16 “Compton”, Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre Kendrick/Dre’s “Compton” is positioned as an invitation to visit their hometown.  This led to me to google “Visit Compton Tourism”.  Turns out that Compton is a “hidden gem worth exploring.”  I’ll keep it in mind!  Kevin Bludso of Bludso’s BBQ fame is from Compton.  Bludo’s is delicious.  So there you go.

15 “City of Angels”, The Distillers Our scarred protagonist, full of growl, descends the late night underbelly of Los Angeles, bracing for a scam, settling for a warm meal at Clifton’s.

14 “Walking In LA”, Missing Persons If you see someone walking in Los Angeles, just know that it’s just a cheap cinematic trick. The video of Missing Persons’ performance of “Walking In LA” at the 1983 US Festival is a peak 80s Los Angeles moment, representing the largest number of white people dancing at a daylight concert in recorded history.

13 “Hollywood Swinging”, Kook & The Gang Not the most profound song ever written, but has there ever been a track that captures the “getting out of the limo to get escorted past the velvet rope of the club” vibe more than “Hollywood Swinging?”

12 “Hooray For Hollywood”, Various Artists Long long ago in a galaxy far far away I was surprising my then girlfriend/current wife with a surprise vacation. Didn’t tell her where we were going, just a sense of climate and probably to bring one nice outfit. Writing it now the idea seems insane. If I told my wife to pack a bag but not where we were going she is probably packing a pitchfork just in case. The surprise unfolded when she pressed play on the CD player in my ’96 Ford Explorer – Sinatra’s “New York NY” cued up, the future married couple off to the races.  If that happens to a young dumb couple somewhere else in the country on their way to LA for a surprise vacation,  “Hooray For Hollywood” is a safe go-to.  Sure, it lacks the Ol’ Blue Eyes coolness, but the experience of hearing it is similarly celebratory and meaningless. And meaningless is at times a cornerstone of the Los Angeles experience.

11 “West LA Fadeaway”, Grateful Dead  One of the Dead’s most visually cinematic bluesy tales, a song inspired by John Belushi’s death at the Chateau Marmont.  Little red lights on the highway, big green lights on the speedway – it’s a shame they couldn’t be more copacetic.  

Here’s the top 10 (this is getting exciting isn’t it?!)

10 “Cracked Actor”, David Bowie Another tale as old as time…aging star of the silver screen (in this case, A Lad Insane) turns to a prostitute for satisfaction. Suck, baby, suck.

9 “Electrolite”, REM A song inspired by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, supposedly.  More broadly, no matter who or where you are, you’re the star tonight (be it Martin Sheen, Jimmy Dean or Steve McQueen).  

8 “It Was A Good Day”, Ice Cube Top Ten Things That Made Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” A Good Day;

• 10: No Barking from the dog (I love my dogs, but it’s annoying when they bark incessantly)
• 9: No Smog (a rarity in Los Angeles)
• 8: 2AM Fatburger
• 7: Lakers beat the Supersonics 
• 6: Messed around and got a triple-double (note: per the song, this technically happened a week earlier)
• 5: Big winnings playing craps with the homies
• 4: No one known got killed in South Central LA
• 3: Win-win – Hooked up with a girl (Kim?); she had the Chronic
• 2: Didn’t have to use an AK
• 1: Goodyear Blimp says “Ice Cube’s A Pimp”

7 “Straight Outta Compton”, NWA A call to arms, “Straight Outta Compton” proved to be quite the multitasker – it put the South LA municipality on the map, challenged New York’s rap dominance, and allowed white suburban kids in LA to crank up the car radio of their red 1986 Nissan Sentra to celebrate a culture that was in their backyard, but might as well have been a million miles away.  

6 “LA Woman”, The Doors Free on a $50,000 bond following his conviction for indecent exposure, Jim Morrison met up with his fellow Doors to record a new album. Thought of as Mr Mojo Risin’s final goodbye to Los Angeles, “LA Woman” served as a swan song celebrating his contradicting feelings about “the city at night.”  Cool, mysterious, sexy.  Morrison would die in a Paris hotel room two months later.

5 “Hollywood Nights”, Bob Seger I’m going to take a small leap in assuming that the “Midwestern boy” of the story is Seger himself,  taken for a fantastical journey through the city of Hollywood and its surrounding beaches and rolling hills with the help of an enchanting sunshine girl.  We get to ride shotgun.  If you’re behind the wheel in real life and “Hollywood Nights” comes on, watch your speed – if it doesn’t cause you to put the pedal to the metal, you may have overdosed on beta blockers.

4 “Under The Bridge”, Red Hot Chili Peppers  Junky poetry through the prism of blood, sugar, sex and magik (sic).  Heroin kills, destroys friendships and families, breaks the bonds of love.  In this lament, our savior is the city we live in, the City of Angels. When all else fails, and we’re strung out and lonely, at least we have her love.  The city she loves us.

3 “Free Fallin’”, Tom Petty Things featured in the 1989 music video for “Free Fallin’” that no longer exist:

• The Westside Pavilion
• Elvis Presley
• Handy J Carwash on Ventura
• Future Dogs – the Hot Dog Stand Across The Street From Casa De Cadillac (this never actually existed)
• A Half Pipe stationed on Mulholland (this too never existed.  Could you imagine? One wrong turn and you’d end up face down on Coldwater Canyon!)
• Tom Petty

Now I’m depressed.  RIP Tom.

2 “Los Angeles”, X As Bret Easton Ellis closed out his debut novel “Less Than Zero”: There was a song I heard when I was in Los Angeles by a local group. The song was called “Los Angeles” and the words and images were so harsh and bitter that the song would reverberate in my mind for days. The images, I later found out, were personal and no one I knew shared them. The images I had were of people being driven mad by living in the city. Images of parents who were so hungry and unfulfilled that they ate their own children. Images of people, teenagers my own age, looking up from the asphalt and being blinded by the sun. These images stayed with me even after I left the city. Images so violent and malicious that they seemed to be my only point of reference for a long time afterwards. After I left.

1 “I Love LA”, Randy Newman Placing Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” at the pinnacle of our list seems almost predestined. After all, no other song on this list reverberates through stadiums after home teams notch a W. However, the essence of its claim to the title of quintessential LA song lies not merely in its opening disdain for rival New York, nor in the vibrant “I love LA / We love it!” chorus, nor even in the catalog of iconic city streets it mentions—though it certainly boasts all those delightful elements. The true brilliance of “I Love LA” resides in the deeper truths veiled beneath the veneer, mirroring the city itself. Much like Newman’s finest work, the song serves as a witty facade, concealing a more profound commentary. Indeed, today might be just “another perfect day” in a city known for its endless supply of them, yet the imagery of the Imperial Highway, the “big nasty redhead” riding shotgun in Randy’s convertible, and the bum on his knees, all stark reminders that while LA stands as the beacon for dreamers and their grandiose aspirations, it is equally a stage set with contradictions and unfulfilled promises. This duality, often overlooked by outsiders, is integral to understanding Los Angeles—you simply cannot have one without the other.