Oct 2026
A love letter with a wink
Randy Newman’s sunny ode to Los Angeles became the city’s victory anthem.
I Love L.A.
Randy Newman
“I Love L.A.” arrived on Randy Newman’s 1983 album Trouble in Paradise: big drums, bright horns and a list of street names shouted with open-top-convertible joy. Listen closely and the lyric is as knowing as it is affectionate — classic Newman.
The city didn’t mind the wink. The song was adopted by Los Angeles sports, ringing out after Dodgers and Lakers wins, and it has become shorthand for the city on screen and in stadiums alike.
More than forty years later it still does what it did on day one: turns a drive down the boulevard into a celebration.
