"I Love L.A." by Randy Newman was originally released on his 1983 album “Trouble In Paradise”.

Following the release of his 1979 album, “Born Again”, Newman procrastinated writing songs for a follow-up record. He spent a good portion of the next four years relaxing at home with his family. Newman jokingly noted that because he often lounged by the pool, the gardener had to water around him. To counter this lackadaisical lifestyle, Newman rented a recording studio in Los Angeles in 1983, which did not have any telephones to distract him. In this studio Newman recorded a song called "Something To Sing About", in which the narrator arrogantly boasts about the suburban opulence around him.

Although "Something To Sing About" was not used, the song's message of delusion and arrogance served as partial inspiration for "I Love L.A."

Another source of inspiration came from conversations Newman had with Eagles drummer Don Henley while on an airplane. Henley told him that he could no longer afford to charter Learjets, to which Newman sarcastically responded: "Jesus that's tough...you can't live on a million a year anymore". It was Henley, a transplant from Texas, who suggested Newman, an LA native, write a song about Los Angeles, as many of the songs about the city were written by people who weren't from there.

This conversation, as well as "Something To Sing About", not only served as the inspiration for "I Love L.A.", but also the themes of hedonism and disillusion found in the song's parent album Trouble in Paradise.

Newman said, “There are other songs I have done that I think are more meaningful to me, but I think people do get the irony of the song.”

In 1984 the song gained worldwide exposure as it was used for a Nike commercial that tied into the Summer Olympics that were held in Los Angeles that year.

Various Sources