City in the Smog – From Joni to Neil

California and Los Angeles are the two most common locales in song. From “California Dreamin’” to Led Zeppelin’s “Goin’ to California,” the rock era has embraced the Left Coast. To paraphrase Mr. Mojo, “The West is Best.” But it’s not always about California dreams – at times the sentiments are nightmares, as well. L.A. is a metaphor indeed for broken dreams and loneliness as many times as it is one of hope and joy, and often, the sentiments are that easy to decipher. Joni Mitchell sings about California with a sense of home and comfort. After what seems a pleasant enough sojourn in France and the Grecian Isles, she sings:

And I might have stayed on with him thereBut my heart cried out for you, CaliforniaOh California, I'm coming homeOh make me feel good rock 'n' roll bandI'm your biggest fanCalifornia, I'm coming home…Led Zeppelin picks up on the Mamas and Papas theme with the line “Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.”Steely Dan in “Bad Sneakers” dream instead about going back east to get away from that “Fearsome excavation on Magnolia Boulevard,” or about the “Ditch out in the Valley that they’re diggin’ for me.”Neil Young shows the angst of those who love the Southland and hate it simultaneously in a rarity from Time Fades Away called simply, “L.A.”:By the look in your eyesYou'd think that it was a surpriseBut you seem to forgetSomething somebody saidAbout the bubbles in the seaAnd an ocean full of treesAnd you know, L.A.Uptight city in the smog, city in the smogDon't you wish that you could be here too?Don't you wish that you could be here too?Don't you wish that you could be here too?Well, it's hard to believeSo you get up to leaveAnd you laugh at the doorThat you heard it all beforeOh, it's so good to knowThat it's all just a show for youWhen the suppers are plannedAnd the freeways are crammedAnd the mountains eruptAnd the valley is suckedInto cracks in the earthWill I finally be heard by you?L.A.Uptight city in the smog, city in the smogDon't you wish that you could be here too?Don't you wish that you could be here too?Don't you wish that you could be here too?It’s all about the emotional relationship one has with the Golden State, love it or hate, or both, and maybe it's The Decemberists who nail down that quandary within us:
O great calamity,
Den of iniquity and tears
How I abhor this place
Its sweet and bitter taste
Has left me wretched, wretching on all fours
Los Angeles, I'm yours
Red Hot Chili Peppers continue the contradiction in "Under the Bridge:"
At least I have her love, the city, she loves me
Lonely as I am, together we cry
But, on a Saturday, the roof down, it's Randy Newman who sums it up:
Roll down the window, put down the topCrank up the Beach Boys, babyDon't let the music stopWe're gonna ride it tillWe just can't ride it no more
From the South Bay to the ValleyFrom the West Side to the East SideEverybody's very happy'Cause the sun is shining all the timeLooks like another perfect day...