I left my city for San FranciscoTook a free ride off a billionaire’s jetL.A., I’m from nowhere, who am I to love you?L.A., I’ve got nothing, who am I to love you when I’m feeling this way and I’ve got nothing to offer?L.A., not quite the city that never sleepsNot quite the city that wakes, but the city that dreams, for sureIf by dreams you mean in nightmaresL.A., I’m a dreamer, but I’m from nowhere, who am I to dream?L.A., I’m upset, I have complaints, listen to meThey say I came from money and I didn’t, and I didn’t even have love, and it’s unfairL.A, I sold my life rights for a big check and I’m upsetAnd now I can’t sleep at night and I don’t know whyPlus, I love Zac, so why did I do that when I know it won’t last?L.A., I picked San Francisco because the man who doesn’t love me lives thereL.A., I’m pathetic, but so are you, can I come home now?Daughter to no one, table for oneParty of thousands of people I don’t know at Delilah where my ex-husband worksI’m sick of this, but can I come home now?Mother to no one, private jet for oneBack home to the Tudor house that borned a thousand murder plotsHancock Park, it’s treated me very badly and resentfulThe witch on the corner, the neighbor nobody wantedThe reason for Garcetti’s extra securityL.A., I know I’m bad, but I have nowhere else to go, can I come home now?I never had a mother, will you let me make the sun my own for now, and the ocean my son?I’m quite good at tending to things despite my upbringing, can I raise your mountains?I promise to keep them greener, make them my daughters, teach them about fire, warn them about waterI’m lonely, L.A., can I come home now?I left my city for San FranciscoAnd I’m writing from the Golden Gate BridgeBut it’s not going as I plannedI took a free ride off a billionaire and brought my typewriter and promised myself that I would stay butIt’s just not going the way that I thoughtIt’s not that I feel different, and I don’t mind that it’s not hotIt’s just that I belong to no one, which means there’s only one place for meThe city not quite awake, the city not quite asleepThe city that’s still deciding how good it can beAnd alsoI can’t sleep without youNo one’s ever really held me like youNot quite tightly, but certainly I feel your body next to meSmoking next to meVaping lightly next to meAnd I love that you love the neon lights like meOrange in the distance
We both love thatAnd I love that we have that in commonAlso, neither one of us can go back to New YorkFor you, are unmovingAs for me, it won’t be my city again until I’m deadFuck the New York PostL.A., who am I to need you when I’ve needed so much, asked for so much?But what I’ve been given, I’m not sure yetI may never know that either until I’m deadFor now, though, what I do knowIs, although, I don’t deserve youNot you at your best and your splendorWith towering eucalyptus trees that sway in my dominionNot you at your worstTotally on fire, unlivable, unbreathable, I need youYou see, I have no motherAnd you doA continental shelfA larger piece of land from where you cameAnd I?I’m an orphanA little seashell that rests upon your native shoresOne of many, for sureBut because of that, I surely must love you closely to the most of anyoneFor that reason, let me love youDon’t mind my desperationLet me hold you, not just for vacationBut for real and for foreverMake it real lifeLet me be a real wife to youGirlfriend, lover, mother, friendI adore youDon’t be put off by my quick-wordednessI’m generally quite quietQuite a meditator, actuallyI’ll do very well down by Paramhansa Yogananda’s realization center, I’m sureI promise you’ll barely even notice meUnless you want to notice meUnless you prefer a rambunctious childIn which case, I can turn it on, tooI’m quite good on the stage as you may knowYou might have heard of meSo either way, I’ll fit in just fineSo just love me by doing nothingAnd perhaps, by not shaking the county lineI’m yours if you’ll have meBut regardless, you’re mine