I’m watching the Lakers-Mavericks game right now and ABC just played the Randy Newman song, “I Love L.A.” The song is frequently used by the media to celebrate Los Angeles (kind of like “New York, New York”). Nike used the song for commercials during the 1984 Summer Olympics held in L.A. The problem is that the song is a pretty nasty critique of Los Angeles.The song ridicules L.A.’s indifference to its own economic inequality:

Look at that mountainLook at those treesLook at that bum over there, manHe’s down on his kneesLook at these womenThere ain’t nothin’ like ’em nowhere

The song finishes with Newman celebrating the only unique thing L.A. has: streets (ex. Century Boulevard/We love it!).The Wikipedia article on the song points out that many of these streets traverse the wealthiest and poorest areas in L.A.The best part is that all of this seems lost on people that actually live in L.A. which only reinforces the songs point that people are insanely superficial in L.A. In my mind, this makes Newman seem pretty badass, a far cry from the popular conception.Update: If you’ve never actually heard the song, you can hear it here. I think the guy that put this video together falls into the category of people who don’t get it, but I could be wrong.