Songs About Washington D.C. that aren't about politics

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All I've got so far is the Magnetic Fields' "Washington D.C" (and
maybe "Government Center" by the Modern Lovers and "Don't Worry
About the Government" by the Talking Heads). That's not enough for
a CD. Any suggestions?

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:33 (twenty years ago)

all of fugazi.

― same initials (initials), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:43 (twenty years ago)

Parliament- "Chocolate City"

― D. Bachyrycz, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

Tsunami - "Match" (wherein DC is gonged as a "small-minded, big-mouthed, well-read but half-dead government town").

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:51 (twenty years ago)

Government Center is in Boston.

Go dig yourself some Gil Scott Heron.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

Postal Service - The District Sleeps Tonight

― paul c (paul c), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

Dismemberment Plan, "The City"

(also referenced in "Spider in the Snow" [As I would walk down K Street to some temping job] and "The Ice of Boston," which is about Boston but [Hey mom ... how's Washington?])

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

...erm... isn't Government center about the "government center" building in boston? not trying to be an a$$, just tossing that out for verification.

― chr1sb0y (chr1sb0y), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

sigh...

― chr1sb0y (chr1sb0y), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

Vehicle Flips, "Potomac" is a good one. I don't think the Talking Heads song counts. R.E.M., "Don't Go Back To Rockville," refers to a suburb about 25 mins. from D.C.

― Guayaquil, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

I considered both "Gov't Center" and "Don't Worry about the Govt" to
be "iffy" at best, though I didn't know "Govt Center" specifically
referenced a place in Boston. (Not surprising, though, given that's
where they're from.)

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

"Bourgeois Blues" by Leadbelly is about politics, but not federal politics, does that qualify?

Gather round people, listen to me
Don't try to make a home in Washington, D.C.

It's a bourgeois town, it's a bourgeois town,
I've got the bourgeois blues, I'm going to spread the news around

Me and Martha were standing upstairs,
Heard a white man say, 'Don't want no coloured up here'

White folk in Washington, they know how
Throw a coloured man a nickel and see him bow

― arch Ibog (arch Ibog), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

Nation of Ulysses, "You're My Miss Washington DC"

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

Also, lots of go-go, but in particular:

D.C. Don't Stand for Dodge City by the Go-Go Posse, 1988

― arch Ibog (arch Ibog), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Smart Went Crazy - "D.C. Will Do That To You"
Postal Service - "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

"Banned in DC", Bad Brains

― arch Ibog (arch Ibog), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:24 (twenty years ago)

Does a couple lyrics count?
Paul Simon in "The Coast" has the line "A trip into the pearl gray morning sunlight that settles over washington,"

And in "Born At The Right Time" he sings "Me and my buddies, we are travelling people, we like to go down to restaurant row; Spend those Euro-dollars all the way from Washington to Tokyo."

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

"And the Washington Monument Blinks Goodnight" by Q and Not U

― Waking Up Onstage at Jumbo's (Bent Over at the Arclight), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

Aden, "D.C. Song"

― j. niimi (litotesia), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

The Black Byrds, "Rock Creek Park"

― dz0, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

And then there's that line of Dylan's in "Idiot Wind": "...from the Grand Coulee dam to the capitooooool."

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

Oh and I keep thinking of more.

In the John Wesley Harding and Steve Earle song "Our Lady of the Highways," there's the line, "I'm here in Philadelphia, she got stuck down in D.C."

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

"Mt. Pleasant" by Tuscadero, "Mt. Pleasant" by The Evens

― wwiill, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

Peabo Bryson "D.C. Cab" - From the Mr. T movie (soundtrack) of the same title

― dewey, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

"My Two Front Teeth," Travis Morrisson. It's about getting beaten up in Georgetown.

I should be able to think of more songs.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

White House Blues by Bill Monroe

― Big Loud Mountain Ape (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

Roy Ayers "DC City"

― startrekman, Thursday, 21 April 2005 02:25 (twenty years ago)

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