Seems to me that the only possibility for today’s earworm is Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”. Released in 1983, this is the anthem to the city and culture of the protean community that’s been drawing in dreamers for two centuries. Newman—like myself—is a native and he knows how to celebrate and mock in the same breath.
One of the things he calls out is the
Santa Ana winds, which are a major factor in the ferocity and uncontainable
wildfires that have raged across the county for a week. If you’ve never
experienced one of them, shut the fuck up about how if you were in
charge, you’d have put out the flames in less than a day. (It amazes me not
that Republicans are on the “we have to chastise Californians because their
disaster is of their own making, while the disaster of two hurricanes in
Florida and the Carolinas are completely different” wagon, but because Republicans
from California are climbing on that wagon to score points with the
Kleptocrat.) Santa Anas are dry and hot, and gust up to 100mph; not for nothing
are they known as “devil winds”.
Here's Raymond Chandler on them, in the novella
called “Red Wind”:
“There was a desert wind blowing that
night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the
mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin
itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives
feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything
can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.”
Well, possibly fewer cocktail lounges
these days. And some of the settings for Newman’s video have been incinerated.
But the city will reinvent itself. Again.
©2025 Bas Bleu
No comments:
Post a Comment