Los Angelenos
Song: Los Angelenos
Album: Streetlife Serenade (1974)
While I’ve already knocked the Streetlife Serenade album as slight compared to Piano Man it does have some songs that I’ve enjoyed.
“Los Angelenos” is a song that I would have previously called a guilty pleasure but as I get older I realize I no longer have guilty pleasures, I just have things that I like. Calling a piece of pop culture a guilty pleasure is basically just hedging your bets because you’re afraid someone is going to criticize your taste. It’s a defense mechanism that I can do without. If I’m going to dedicate my time to something it’s going to be something I like.
This is a very wordy way of saying that I like the song “Los Angelenos” and I’m not afraid to say it. I like it’s proto new wave synth, I like the slowly stomping rhythm section and keyboards. I like the cynical almost paranoid lyrics.
While the years have turned the lyrics to Los Angelenos into cliche they accurately reflect Billy Joel’s frustration and disillusionment with the record industry and LA in general. The lyric to the song are angry in a Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” kind of way, making fun of ridiculous behavior. Unlike the pure bile of a song like “Captain Jack”, the lyrics to “Los Angelenos” hint at some of the causes for the behavior of the people it is mocking. Billy Joel may not have liked the people he was surrounded by in LA in the early 70’s but at least he realized that they were overcompensating for something. It’s that little touch of empathy that makes all of the difference for me.
In the interest of full disclosure I’ll admit that I don’t like the way Billy Joel rolls his R’s in the latter part of the song at all but the rest of the song is pretty good.
Once I reach the end of my year of Billy Joel I’ll be putting together a personal best of list that I’ll probably drive around Los Angeles listening to in a completely serious, non ironic fashion. If I made that list today “Los Angeleos” would be on it.
