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Los Angeles Is Burning Lyrics

somewhere high in the desert near a curtain of a blue
the sane man skirts under the wind
but down here in the city of the lime lights
the fans of santa ana are witherin'
and you can’t deny that living is easy
if you never look behind the scenery
it's showtime for drag lines
and bedlam is dreamin' of rain

when the hills of los angeles are burnin'
palm trees are candles in the murder wind
so many lives on the breeze
even the stars are ill at ease
and los angeles is burnin'

this is not a test
of the emergency broadcast system
when malibu fires and radio towers
conspire to dance again
and I cannot believe the media Mecca
they're only trying to battle reality, catch it on prime time, story at nine
the whole world is goin' insane

when the hills of los angeles are burnin'
palm trees are candles in the murder wind
so many lives are on the breeze
even the stars are ill at ease
and los angeles is burnin'

a clock that reads
the end of days
shotgun roundabouts are bending in the haze

more a question than a curse
how could hell be any worse?

the flames are startin'
the cameras runnin'
so take warnin'

when the hills of los angeles are burnin
palm trees are candles in the murder wind
so many lives are on the breeze
even the stars are ill at ease
and los angeles is burnin'
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Mothership Music Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Writer
Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz
Duration
3:23
Submitted by
aerion On Apr 10, 2004
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30 Meanings

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Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

After watching the music video for this (yes i know music videos sometimes have their own agenda...) I think the song is about our callous media and their tendancy to explot tragic events. All the fictitious choas is just a flashy backdrop to a very real news agenda.

The Los Angeles fires are an example of how the News will peddle "reality", just like television peddles "reality" shows as actual reality when it's not. Our whole modern civilization can be summed up in one word... Marketing. The News will sensationalize events like LA fires to sell their programming. You can't turn to the News for real news anymore. That has caused this world to go insane because we can't distinguish reality from fiction. Most of the news outlets have an agenda and bring in reporters who will further that agenda, like Fox News and MSNBC, etc. Or they...

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Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

i dont know what this song is about, but i love it!!

more a question than a curse how could hell be any worse?

i love that line, its like my favorite.

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

It's a fictional story about Los Angeles catching on fire, and the media is explioting innocent, injured civilions in order to make money.

http://www.freewebs.com/thejakesite

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

Well, it isn't a completely fictional story, since California had some big fires last year...

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

Yeah, it's a true story, based on the media coverage of the fires, while the city was about to burn up behind them.Think of the media covering the tornados in The Day After Tomorrow. Same message.

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

Yeh it also represents on how low we've sunk to make a qucik buck.Cover the tragedies and hindering the help just for sick amusement.It will eventually kill us all

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

A few corrections on the lyrics.

"it's showtime for dry climes"

"they're only trying to peddle reality"

"a placard reads 'the end of days' Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze"

And yeah, it's basically a satire of our media. I love it.

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

Ahh, I wasn't completely sure if it was based on those or not.

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

After seeing the music video for this, it is definately about how the media "fuels the fire", making things seem worse than they are, and downplaying real news. Notice how all of the cameras spew flames, adding to the inferno. Also, notice all of the headlines while Greg the newscaster is onscreen. Its just a bunch of irrelevant clippings, and the one that caught my attention most, "You are not being brainwashed."

From what i can tell, this song is about the media distracting us with exaggerations to take our minds off of the real news.

Cover art for Los Angeles Is Burning lyrics by Bad Religion

Also, it's about how the media brainwashes people.