You'll win prizes if you stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.
C'est si bon, come what may
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.

Oh, hold on tight, now, hold on to stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.
C'est si bon, que sera, sera
That's how we do it in L.A.

It's a lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely place
But it's the only, only, only, only, only place...

You'll win prizes if you stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.
Oh, hold on tight, now, hold on to stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.

It's a lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely place
But it's the only, only, only, only, only place...

You'll win prizes if you stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.
Oh, hold on tight now, hold on to stay
'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.

---

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

Everybody knows how shallow L.A. is, and a jaded Lindsey knew that just as well as anybody - L.A. and fame made him a star, but it took a lot away, too, including true love. Still, if you stay, you'll win the "prizes" - fame and fortune. "Come what may" you've got to try and survive in that dog-eat-dog place, "hold on tight." He pronounces "sera" incorrectly - it's actually pronounced like "hurrah," not like "hurray." Perhaps he did this deliberately to mock the false sense of continental elitism that comes with celebrity status (or, admittedly, he might not have realized he was pronouncing it incorrectly, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt).

At any rate, L.A. may be a "lonely" place, but it's the "only" place to achieve that musical success that he craves. "'Cause that's how we do it in L.A.!" By the way, the device of echoing "lonely" several times for emphasis is used again in the much more serious song Street of Dreams.