Los Angeles Is Burning

"Los Angeles Is Burning" is a single by the punk rock band Bad Religion from their 2004 album The Empire Strikes First. "Los Angeles Is Burning" was released to radio on April 27, 2004.[1] The song reached number 40 on the Modern Rock Tracks in July 2004.[2]

"Los Angeles Is Burning"
Single by Bad Religion
from the album The Empire Strikes First
ReleasedApril 27, 2004
RecordedNovember 2003 - February 2004 at Sound City in Los Angeles, California
GenrePunk rock, pop punk
Length3:23
LabelEpitaph Records
Songwriter(s)Brett Gurewitz
Producer(s)Brett Gurewitz
Greg Graffin
Bad Religion singles chronology
"The Defense" "Los Angeles Is Burning" "The Empire Strikes First"

Meaning and composition

According to bassist Jay Bentley, the lyrics argue that the media is sensationalistic. The music video features men with television cameras replacing their heads firing flame into the animated landscape of Los Angeles. Although the song was written at a time when there was a major wildfire nearby, the late 2003 Cedar Fire, Bentley makes clear that the song was using the fire as a metaphor.

Music video

The music video is shot in cut-out animation and depicts a man in shorts and a track singlet with a Crossbuster (Bad Religion's logo which features a black cross with a red prohibition sign over it) on it running through a burning, apocalyptic Los Angeles. People with TV news cameras as heads are also shown shooting fire out of their "mouths" (represented by the camera lenses). Frontman Greg Graffin plays a psychotic newsreporter who reads messages like "Panic & Fear Widespread; Retail Up 25%", "Four Horsemen Back In Saddle" and "You are not being brainwashed". Right before the guitar solo, the man shown running through the city burns when the flames catch up to him and the video transitions to the band playing the song among all the chaos in the city, before they burn too. At the end of the video, the entire city goes up in flames moments after Graffin does.

7" Picture Disk Track listing
Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Los Angeles is Burning"Gurewitz3:23
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Surface of Me"Graffin3:01

Charts
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Scotland (OCC)[3] 77
UK Singles (OCC)[4] 67
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[5] 3
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[6] 40

References
  1. "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  2. Billboard
  3. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  4. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  5. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  6. "Bad Religion Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2021.


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