Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951, in San Antonio, Texas) is a Mexi… Read Full Bio ↴Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951, in San Antonio, Texas) is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter.

Escovedo's family tree includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete's daughter, Sheila E (also Prince's former drummer and later a pop star). He began his music career with the Nuns, a mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. He co-founded the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File in 1979, which moved to Austin, Texas, in 1981 after a stint in New York City. The band released Sundown on Slash Records in 1982, but shortly after, Escovedo left to form the True Believers with brother Javier. The band recorded two albums for EMI and toured the country, often as an opening act for Los Lobos. However, EMI opted not to release the second album, which eventually led to the group's break-up. (It eventually surfaced as a bonus item when Rykodisc reissued the first set on CD in 1994.)

Escovedo released a solo album in 1992 on Watermelon Records, Gravity, uniting his wide variety of styles; the album was produced by Stephen Bruton of Bonnie Raitt's band. Escovedo also began gigging periodically with the band Buick MacKane, who fused old-school punk with 70's glam rock; after Rykodisc released Escovedo's With These Hands in 1996, they followed it up with Buick MacKane's long-awaited album. After Escovedo parted ways with Rykodisc, he signed with the Chicago-based alt-country label Bloodshot in 1998, who released the live album More Miles Than Money: Live 1994-1996 and the acclaimed studio set A Man Under The Influence.

In April of 2003, Escovedo collapsed following a show in Phoenix, AZ, and he was subsequently diagnosed with Hepatitis C. An outpouring of support from musicians led to a series of successful benefit concerts to help pay Escovedo's medical expenses and keep his music before the public, followed by a tribute album, Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, which was released in 2004.

In June 2010, Escovedo released Street Songs of Love.

Hollywood Hills
Alejandro Escovedo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Say goodbye
To Hollywood Hills
There's not much here
To keep us warm
Keep the mud off your heels

Hey do you remember me
I was the complicated one

I wore that silver leather jacket, you remember
That shined in the sun

Happiness can't be bought or sold
You shared what you had
But you gave me love
Gave me love
Precious love

I still got a photograph
You in that convertible
I think it was outside King City
Two lovers on the run

Now I'm standing here
In the middle of nothing, baby
I know you would hate it here
Everyone walking around half dead
The bars are always closed

Happiness can't be bought or sold
You shared what you had
But you gave me love
Gave me love
Precious love

I forgot what I was saying
I noticed
You haven't touch your drink
Maybe it's time, to put the boy to sleep

Happiness can't be bought or sold
You shared what you had
But you gave me love
Gave me love
Precious love

So say goodbye
To Hollywood Hills
There's not much here

To keep us warm
Keep the mud off your heels

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of Alejandro Escovedo's song Hollywood Hills immediately create an image of someone leaving behind a place that had been important to them. The singer seems to be bidding farewell to a lover with whom they shared happy moments in the past, but who has since moved on. The lyrics express a sense of longing for the past, with the singer taking a trip down memory lane and recalling the details of their romantic escapades, including the silver leather jacket and the convertible they rode in. However, the singer's reminiscing is interrupted by the present reality of the "middle of nothing" - a desolate place where happiness cannot be found, and where people seem to be living in a state of half-deadness.

The song seems to be a reflection on the fleeting nature of happiness and the futility of trying to cling to past memories in the face of an ever-changing world. The Hollywood Hills of the past may have been a place of warmth and love, but now it is just a memory, and the singer has to accept that life has moved on. The line "Keep the mud off your heels" suggests that the singer is now moving on to a new phase of their life, leaving behind the past with all its regrets and sorrows. In the end, the song seems to be a tribute to the power of love, which may be transient but can never truly be forgotten.

Line by Line Meaning

Say goodbye
Bid farewell

To Hollywood Hills
To the lavish lifestyles

There's not much here
There's no real happiness

To keep us warm
To cherish and comfort us

Keep the mud off your heels
Take care of oneself

Hey do you remember me
Do you recall me

I was the complicated one
I was the one always in turmoil

I wore that silver leather jacket, you remember
I had a flashy attire

That shined in the sun
That glimmered under sunlight

Happiness can't be bought or sold
Joy cannot be traded

You shared what you had
The things you possessed, you shared them