That Night Looking Down on the Lights of Downtown Los Angeles

It was a good place to write a song from - physically and emotionally

It was 2014. Two years prior my youngest had come to live with me full time. We had moved a few miles East of downtown Los Angeles so she could attend a performing arts high school.

We rented an old house - a little beat up - that sat on more than two acres. We had coyotes, owls, snakes, hawks, bobcats, and other wildlife on the property and we LOVED IT! The properly included a large hill that overlooked downtown Los Angeles. The hill led to a 100 acre hiking park, so we were on that hill with the dogs daily.

Most nights, rain or shine, I would head up the hill as well (see picture below).

DTLA, or Oz, as we used to call it. My daughter’s school was at the edge of downtown.

A Great Horned Owl that lived in a tree in our front yard.

One night I was up on the hill with my guitar looking down at the lights of the city. My life was in a good place. My head was in a good place. I had been through two divorces a few years prior and had reached a place where being single, being a father, and writing music worked well for me.

I was playing music and my daughter and I were discovering the city and each other. We both agree it was a magical time for us.

I started playing a simple E Asus2 E riff that makes up the verse of this song. I wrote the first verse and the chorus while up on the hill and loved its simple message and driving cadence. I went down the hill to my office and finished the song that evening.

...
Bright lights and buildings at my back
Thumb out no plans on coming back
Concrete jungle and a woman got me down
Highway come and turn this life around
...

It remans a favorite of mine and was always a fun one to play with my band. I hope you enjoy.

Matthew Moran
November 28, 2022
PS: Leave a comment if you enjoyed this. I’d love to hear from you.

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HIGHWAY LYRICS

© Matthew Moran

VERSE
Bright lights and buildings at my back
Thumb out no plans on coming back
Concrete jungle and a woman got me down
Highway come and turn this life around

CHORUS
Around the bend, I ramble, turn & tumble
Escaping dreams that never were my own
Last time: Chasing dreams and making them own

VERSE
Jump back to times inside my head
Been chewed up, spit out, and left for dead
I’m not complaining just reflecting in my mind
The heartache & stories left behind

VERSE
I’ve heard said, “you gotta try your hand again”
I’ve folded my cards, thrown my chips in
I’m not playin’ lady luck, not playin’ hard to get
I’m playing life for keeps & my dream is one sure bet