Symbols of democracy, pinned up against the coast 
Outhouse of bureaucracy, surrounded by a moat 
Citizens of poverty are barely out of sight 
Overlords escape in the evening with people of the night 
Morning brings the tourists, peering eyes and rubber necks 
To catch a glimpse of the cowboy making the world a nervous wreck 
It's a mass of irony for all the world to see 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. (mmmm-hmmm) 
May not have the glitter or the glamour of 
L.A. May not have the history or the intrigue of 
Pompeii But when it comes to making music, and sure enough making news 
People who just don't make sense and people making do 
Seems a ball of contradictions, pulling different ways 
Between the folks who come and go, and one's who've got to stay 
It's a mass of irony for all the world to see 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. Seems to me, it's still in light time people knifed up on 14th street 
Makes me feel it's always the right time for them people showing up and coming clean 
Did make the one seem kind of numb 
It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. (mmmm-hmmm) 
Symbols of democracy, pinned up against the coast 
Outhouse of bureaucracy, surrounded by a moat 
Citizens of poverty are barely out of sight 
Overlords escape in the evening with people of the night 
Morning come and bring the tourists, craning rubber necks 
Catch a glimpse of the cowboy making the world a nervous wreck 
It's a mass of irony for all the world to see 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital 
It's the nation's capital, it's 
Washington 
D.C. It's the nation's capital 
Got you feeling capital 
Punishment is capital in 
Washington 
D.C.