Meaning of “Cold in LA” by Why Don’t We

“Cold in LA” is a love song recorded by the American band Why Don’t We. The lyrics of “Cold in LA” are about trying to save a beautiful romantic relationship from being ruined. In the song, the narrators (Why Don’t We) plead again and again with their respective lovers to stay with them and not leave them. They need the warmth of their love interest’s love and presence to successfully navigate the coldness of the city (Los Angeles) in which they live in. But interestingly enough, the city of Los Angeles (LA) isn’t noted for being cold. It has a hot-summer or subtropical-Mediterranean climate, which often makes the weather there hot.

Lyrics might be real

The lyrics of this song might be autobiographical. Why? Jonah Marais of Why Don’t We revealed on Twitter that the song is a special one for the band. He further added that he put a great deal of himself into the song. Owing to that, he referred to the song as one which was very close to him. 

Facts about “Cold in LA”

• Writer(s): The song was co-written by all five members of Why Don’t We (C. Besson, J. Avery, J. Marais, Z Herron and D Seavey).
• Vocals: All five members of the band also contributed vocals to the song.
• Production: Noted American music producer Mick Schultz worked with Why Don’t We to produce “Cold in LA”. Daniel Seavey of Why Don’t We is also given production credits on this track.
• Release Date: “Cold in LA” was released on February 14, 2019 (Valentine’s Day). Being a love song, it’s abundantly obvious the band deliberately released it coincide with Valentine’s Day.
• Record Label: It was released through Atlantic Recording Corporation (also known as Atlantic Records).
• 1st Interesting Stuff: The band wrote the song while on tour in Dublin, Ireland. According to the band, as of the time they wrote the song, they weren’t sure whether the weather was actually cold in Los Angeles or not.  
• 2nd Interesting Stuff: The band used a single day to write the song.
• 3rd Interesting Stuff: A number of songs were released on Valentine’s Day of 2019. However, this song was one of the biggest!  
• 4th Interesting Stuff: This was Why Don’t We’s second 2019 release. Their first for 2019 was the song “Big Plans“.

When Why Don’t We talk about the coldness of Los Angeles, isn’t it possible they could be using “cold” metaphorically to describe the unfriendliness of the city?

That’s a legitimate question. However, it is abundantly clear they are using cold in a literal manner. How do we know this? On the same day the song was released, the band took to Twitter to reveal to fans that they weren’t sure if the weather was actually cold in Los Angeles when they wrote the song. Why? Because they weren’t in LA when they wrote it. This is abundant proof they are actually using cold in the literal sense.

Which album does “Cold in LA” appear on?

It will appear on the second studio album of Why Don’t We.