Hello LA
Hey whaddya say
Have you got any surprises
In store today
I’m new here
A transplant from NJ
I’m just taking in all these things
You got on display
Everything’s spread out
And widely spaced
It all feels laid back
But it’s still fast paced
Are people so shallow
And two-or-more-faced
As I heard when I still was
Back in my old place
The June gloom
Waiting for the sun
The surfer’s flu
The grunion run
Some things
That I’ll see
And I’ll say
That’s so LA.
Hello LA
What’s new today
Have you got something for me
That isn’t cliché
Do I have to recycle
Or can I throw it all away
Do we not save the environment
If we have to pay
Kabbalah
‘Mathematology’
Is it religion
Or spirituality
All these silly red strings
And the white clothes I see
Why do they all seem
So bogus to me
My street is closed
This better be good
A low-speed chase
Through my neighborhood
Is this another
Typical day
It’s so LA.
I came to this place where the sun always sets
I came to this place where people have no regrets
I came to this place to follow someone else’s dreams
And I’m finding that not everything is the way it seems
I came to this place where there’s always a blue sky
I came to this place where everybody’s always high
I came to this place where the extremes outweigh the means
But I’ll take slow steps
And I’ll tag those bets
I’ll make my way
In this here LA
 
Hello LA
What you sending my way
The definite article
On your numbered freeways
There’s smoke in the stratosphere
Smog alert days
The view disappearing
In the purple haze
It’s a cereal town
Fruits, nuts, and flakes
And the assorted actors
Are also candidates
I won’t even talk
About the earthquakes
Did you feel that?
It was nothing
Just a little shake
Helicopters
Are everywhere
Paparazzi
Are in the air
The bird
Is the word
That you heard
It’s so LA
The June gloom
Waiting for the sun
A movie shoot
This is gonna be fun
Will I ever
Find my way
Home today
Hello LA.
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
When I was newly arrived in Los Angeles after my cross-country drive in June 2003, it took a little while till I got acclimated to my new surroundings, as could be expected. A large part of that was seeing how this new place—a new planet, really—functioned on a day-to-day level. Are any of the things that this city and state are known for in the rest of the world true, or are they cliché? Is this place really as environmentally conscious as perceived in the rest of the country? Does the ground really shake that frequently? Is this the land of fruits, nuts, and flakes, as so many say? Well, little by little I found out the answers to these and many other questions, and after awhile none of it fazed me. This song is about these, and other assorted quirks I encountered during my time there.
Musically, this song is a mashup of The Doors' "Waiting for the Sun" and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor, Op.23, No. 5 ... if that sounds improbable, trust me, it works. It will be included on my projected album about my California experience, JRZguyinLA—I should only be able to record it in my lifetime.