| "I Love L.A." | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRandy Newman | ||||
| from the albumTrouble in Paradise | ||||
| Released | 1983 (1983) | |||
| Studio | Warner Bros. Recording Studios,Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:29 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter | Randy Newman | |||
| Producers | Russ Titelman,Lenny Waronker | |||
| Randy Newman singles chronology | ||||
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"I Love L.A." is a song by the American singerRandy Newman. It was originally released on his 1983 albumTrouble in Paradise. The song is aboutLos Angeles, California, and itshook is its title, repeated, each time followed by an enthusiastic crowd cheering, "We love it!" The video for the song shows Newman and model Laura Howard driving around Los Angeles in a convertible.
Following the release of his sixth albumBorn Again (1979), Newman procrastinated writing songs for a follow-up album, and spent a good portion of the next four years relaxing at home with his family. Newman jokingly noted that because he often lounged by the pool, the gardener had to water around him.[1] To counter this lackadaisical lifestyle, Newman rented a recording studio in Los Angeles in 1983, which did not have any telephones to distract him. In this studio Newman recorded a song called "Something to Sing About", in which the narrator arrogantly boasts about the suburban opulence around him. Album producerLenny Waronker disliked "Something to Sing About" and opted not to include it on the singer's upcoming album.[2]
Although "Something to Sing About" was not used, the song's message of delusion and arrogance served as an inspiration for "I Love L.A." Another source of inspiration came from a conversation Newman had withEagles drummerDon Henley while on an airplane. Henley told him that he could no longer afford to charterLearjets, to which Newman sarcastically responded: "Jesus that's tough...you can't live on a million a year anymore". During the same flight, Henley suggested Newman should write a song about Los Angeles, as he was a native of the city. This conversation, as well as "Something to Sing About", not only served as the inspiration for "I Love L.A.", but also the themes of hedonism and disillusion found in the song's parent albumTrouble in Paradise.[3]
"I Love L.A." and the rest of the songs fromTrouble in Paradise were recorded atWarner Bros. Recording Studios inHollywood, with producers Waronker andRuss Titelman.Mark Linett served as theaudio andmixing engineer, while Bobby Hata was theaudio master.[4] Several members of the rock bandToto providedgroove instrumentation, andWaddy Wachtel played therhythm guitar.[5]
AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald believes "I Love L.A." is Newman's only attempt at writing an "anthem", as the song features an energetic and buoyant melody not commonly found in the singer's previous music.[6] "I Love L.A." begins with a soft openingverse, which features electric piano and saxophone instrumentation. The opening verse borrows the melody ofRodgers and Hart's 1937 song "The Lady Is a Tramp".[7] Newman begins this verse by deriding New York City as a place where "people dressed like monkeys", and saying Chicago should be left to the "Eskimos".[5] The soft verse then transitions to a more upbeat,pop rock driven melody, influenced by the sound ofthe Beach Boys.[6] This influence is evidenced when Newmanname-drops the band in the lyrics, as well as alluding to their 1963 song "Surfin' U.S.A."[6]
Following the musical shift, the lyrics now depict Newman driving downImperial Highway in Los Angeles with a "big nasty redhead" at his side.[8] Newman sings about rolling down the windows and pulling back the top of hisconvertible as he feels theSanta Ana winds brush against him.[5] He proceeds to name-drop several regions in Los Angeles such asSouth Bay,the Valley, theWestside, and theEastside and how everyone in these regions are happy because the sun is shining.[5] Thechorus features Newman singing the phrase "I love L.A." several times, whileChristine McVie andLindsey Buckingham of the bandFleetwood Mac respond each time with "We love it".[5]
After the first chorus, the music temporarily shifts to a newsection that removes the guitar and heavily emphasizes the synthesizer, before returning to its original melody in a different key.[9] Newman proceeds to point out various objects and people, such asMatterhorn Bobsleds,palm trees, homeless people, and beautiful California women.[8] Newman then name-drops several famous streets in Los Angeles:Century Boulevard,Victory Boulevard,Santa Monica Boulevard, and theSixth Street Viaduct. Each time he says the name of a road, McVie and Buckingham respond with the phrase "We love it".[5] Aguitar solo (played byToto'sSteve Lukather) follows, before the song ends with the chorus.[5]
Newman is well known for his sardonic lyrics, as he would often write a song from a character's perspective and mock thefirst-person character and others like them. This style of songwriting can be seen in some of Newman's other songs, such as the slaveholder's perspective in "Sail Away" (1972), and theredneck perspective in "Rednecks" (1974).[8] Despite its lively sound, "I Love L.A." also includes these sardonic lyrics, specifically about the shallow and dark aspects of Los Angeles.[6] When Newman is listing off various sites in Los Angeles, Newman is discussing how residents will talk about the lavish excess of the city (palm trees, beautiful women) in an attempt to hide the squalor (a homeless man begging for money).[5]
Nicholas Pell ofLA Weekly noted how there were other parts of the song that serve as subtle insults to the city. He noted the Santa Ana winds in reality are very unpleasant, as the strong winds blow palm leaves and furniture around, and often bring hot dry weather. Pell believes the four streets listed at the end of the song were the four "must avoid" streets of 1983, due to gang violence and urban neglect. Pell ultimately described "I Love L.A." as a "paean to the moral weakness and intellectual vapidity" of Los Angeles.[8] When journalistTimothy White asked whether or not "I Love L.A." was written as an insult to Los Angeles, Newman responded by saying he felt the lyrics were ambiguous.[5] In a separate interview, Newman confessed an affection for his native city despite its imperfections: "There's some kind of ignorance L.A. has that I'm proud of. The open car and the redhead, the Beach Boys... that sounds really good to me."[8]
"I Love L.A." was released in 1983 as thelead single fromTrouble in Paradise. At first, the single was considered a flop, as it failed to make theBillboard Hot 100, and was not distributed to retailers outside of theWest Coast of the United States.[10] The song did, however, reach #110 onBillboard'sBubbling Under chart during April 1983.[11]
The music video for "I Love L.A." starred Newman and model Laura Howard (later to appear in the music videos for "It's Money That Matters" and "Falling in Love" from Newman's albumLand of Dreams). After a brief prologue inblack and white depicting the poverty ofDumbo, Brooklyn, Newman drives Howard in a red 1955Buick Super convertible (borrowed from assistant director Robert Miller),[12] down the streets described in the song,[13][14] and passing by the Burrito King restaurant inEcho Park,Disneyland inAnaheim, theMelrose Avenue/Normandie Avenue exit onU.S. Route 101,Palisades Park inSanta Monica, and throughCentury City. Shots of Newman and Howard doing thetango at a rooftop party, Newman interacting with women onVenice Beach, and rapidly cut montages of the city'sArt Deco architecture and restaurant façades are interspersed.[15]
The following year, Los Angeles hosted theSummer Olympics, and the companyNike ran anambush marketing campaign during the event. The campaign included a commercial featuring excerpts from the music video while Olympic athletesMary Decker andCarl Lewis ran and jumped wearing Nike gear.[16] The commercial played throughout the Olympics, and as a result, "I Love L.A." received worldwide exposure.[16] It became one of the best-selling songs in Los Angeles, as citizens of Los Angeles saw the song as a celebration of their city.[10]
When Newman was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, he performed the song alongsideTom Petty,John Fogerty andJackson Browne.[17]
Credits adapted from theliner notes ofTrouble in Paradise.[4]
Musicians[edit]
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"I Love L.A." has been used in many feature films. The song was the first and the last music video aired onCable Music Channel.[21] The song was also used in some of the network's IDs and commercial promos.[22][23]
The sequence of streets in the song was parodied in the 1985 song "Born in East L.A." byCheech Marin. But instead of listing the streets sung by Randy Newman, listed are Soto Street, Brooklyn Avenue, City Terrace, andWhittier Boulevard, all streets ofEast Los Angeles.
The song is also played in the moviesDown and Out in Beverly Hills,The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!,Bean andVolcano, and its lyrics play a plot point in the 1985 filmGotcha!. The song was used in the closing credits ofCBS's coverage of the2025 Grammy Awards.
"I Love L.A." is played following major sporting events in Los Angeles if the home team has scored or won, notably when theDodgers,Lakers,Rams,Kings andGalaxy win. For a time, the Kings used it as their goal song. Newman also performed the song live atStaples Center just before the 2003 Lakers home opener as the team's2001–02 championship banner, signaling their three-peat, was unveiled.[24]
The Dodgers adapted the title to "We Love L.A." as a marketing slogan for the 2015 season, promptingLos Angeles Times writer Steve Dilbeck to quip, "It's not 'I Love L.A.' like in the song, butwe love L.A. Guess they wanted to save paying royalties to Randy Newman."[25]
In June 2014, as part of losing a bet with Los Angeles mayorEric Garcetti on theStanley Cup Finals between the Kings and theNew York Rangers,New York City mayorBill de Blasio sang the song onJimmy Kimmel Live!, wearing an "I Love L.A." T-shirt and accompanied by disadvantaged youth from the52nd Street Project.[26]
WhenMaroon 5 performed at theForum – where the Lakers played from 1967 to 1999 – on March 5, 2015, band frontmanAdam Levine brought out Newman to perform "I Love L.A." alongside as a special encore featuring an appearance from theLaker Girls, the team's cheerleaders.[27]
Following the Dodgers' victory in the2024 World Series,Nike created an ad featuring "I Love L.A." where the staff and players were listed out in acredits style, referencingthe city's role in the film industry.[28]
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