Los Lobos is a Mexican-American rock band from East Los Angeles, California… Read Full Bio ↴Los Lobos is a Mexican-American rock band from East Los Angeles, California, USA, heavily influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, blues, and traditional Spanish / Mexican music such as boleros and norteño.

Vocalist/guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louie Pérez met at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, and bonded over their mutual affinity for obscure musical acts such as Fairport Convention, Randy Newman and Ry Cooder. Pérez recalls, "We’re looking at each other, 'You like this stuff? I thought I was the only weird one.' So I went over to his house one day for about a year, which we spent listening to records, playing guitars, and starting to write songs." The two borrowed reel-to-reel recorders from a friend and created multi-track recordings of music spanning from parody songs to free-form jazz. They later enlisted fellow students Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano to complete the group's line-up in 1973.

Formed in the late 1970's, band members Dave Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Steve Berlin, Louie Pérez and Conrad Lozano became the bellwether for Mexican-American music in the U.S. when they recorded the music for "La Bamba" in 1987, which added popular acclaim to the critical praise they had received for their 1984 album "How Will the Wolf Survive?".

They have since become one of the mainstays of the Latin music scene as well as rock music in general, staying together through over 20 albums, and for almost three decades, through changing music climate and personal tragedies, they've continued cranking out albums and touring to dedicated fans.

The City
Los Lobos Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Come on, let's go out tonight
Out into the neon light
Sidewalk shining from the rain
From First and Hill to Sixth and Main

Two lovers kissing by the door
There's yelling from the second floor

Come on, let's go, go get high
Out in the neon night
Hit every spot along the way
From Paramount to Cudahy

A man is calling out a name
A rose wrapped up in cellophane

Come on, let' fall down tonight
Shoot out all the neon lights

People dancing real slow
The music plays 'til the rooster crows

Overall Meaning

Los Lobos's song “The City” is about experiencing the vibrant nightlife of a bustling urban setting. The song is a celebration of the energy and excitement of the city, with the singer inviting his companion to join him on a journey exploring the colorful neon-lit streets. The song starts with an enthusiastic invitation to explore the city under the bright neon lights. The street sidewalk glistening with rain from First and Hill to Sixth and Main creates a spectacular view. The second verse depicts a lover's kiss by the door of a neon-lit establishment, with the background noise of distressed shouts from the upper levels of the building. The third verse of “The City” depicts a heightened state of euphoria, where the singer urges his companion to get high and discover the treasures lurking in every neon-lit spot, from Paramount to Cudahy. He concludes by describing a peculiar situation where a man calls out a name while holding a rose in cellophane.

Line by Line Meaning

Come on, let's go out tonight
Let's go out tonight

Out into the neon light
Let's go out into the bright city lights

Sidewalk shining from the rain
After the rain, the sidewalk gleams

From First and Hill to Sixth and Main
Let's walk/drive from First St. and Hill St. to Sixth St. and Main St.

Two lovers kissing by the door
There are two people making out by the entrance

There's yelling from the second floor
Someone upstairs is yelling

Come on, let's go, go get high
Let's go get stoned

Out in the neon night
Out in the bright neon-lit city at night

Hit every spot along the way
Let's go to every place we can

From Paramount to Cudahy
Let's go from Paramount to Cudahy

A man is calling out a name
A man is yelling someone's name