Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Songs In The Key of L.A. is the title of a new anthology featuring ditties from the Southern California Sheet Music Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.
This summer, the book's author, Josh Kun, has been dropping by to tell us about these songs, which chronicle life in the Golden State.
Today he's here to talk about the mid-century song, "Angeltown," written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans in 1959 inspired by Los Angeles Times columnist Gene Sherman to be the soundtrack of the city of L.A. It was adopted as the official song of the city of L.A in 1966.
Lyrics to "Angeltown":
Valley green, mountain white,
Ocean blue and beaches bright;
Heavenly just to be
In Angeltown.
Sunny days, starry nights
Miles and miles of sparkling lights;
Shiny new, all for you
In Angeltown.
Once you wander through its byways
Then you never can depart.
In a thousand sweet and sly ways
It will win your heart!
Settle down, build your fence,
Here the future’s present tense;
Room for all and we call it
Angeltown.
Find your love, bring her here
Honeymoon it ‘round the year;
Heaven waits at the gates of
Angeltown.