This morning at 9:03am, KEXP began broadcasting from its new home at Seattle Center, the culmination of a long, fraught fund-raising process (which is still underway—they still need to come up with roughly $1.3million of the facility's $15m cost).

As the strains of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life"—the last song played from the station's old location at the corner of Dexter and Denny (which had also been the first one played there) faded out, Morning Show host John Richards inaugurated the fancy new studio with a few words of gratitude to donors, colleagues, and listeners, then played song one: Robyn Hitchcock's deliriously silly ode to our regional iconography, "Viva Sea-Tac," from his 1999 album Jewels for Sophia. Considering the vast array of possibilities, the choice felt spot-on (site-specific, true to KEXP's leftfield identity, good) without being too OTN.

And so, congratulations to team KEXP, and welcome home.

Disclosure: I am an occasional substitute host at KEXP and have performed with Robyn Hitchcock lots of times, including singing harmonies on this very song (though not on this recording). So, you know, feel free to ignore all of this.

"Viva Sea-Tac" lyrics:
People flocked like cattle to Seattle
After Kurt Cobain
And before him the rain

Hendrix played guitar just like an animal
Who's trapped inside a cage
And one day he escaped

Do you want to pay for this in cash?

Viva! Seattle Tacoma, viva viva Sea-Tac
Viva! Seattle Tacoma, viva viva Sea-Tac
Viva viva viva viva viva Sea-Tac—
They've got the best computers and coffee and smack

Coming and going it has to be Boeing
The best form of defense is blow them up
In a regular cup

Have an espresso.
You will? Oh, I guess so
I feel my heart is gonna start to jump
'Cause it's wired to a pump

And the Space Needle points to the sky
The Space Needle's such a nice guy
But he never knows...

CHORUS

All the Norwegians, man, you should see them
Out in Ballard looking soulful at the pines;
And also the Swedes

All of the groovers came from Vancouver
And some of them came up from Oregon
In case you don't know

But the Space Needle points to the sky
The Space Needle's such a nice guy
But you never know...

CHORUS (repeats)

end rant bit:
Long live everything in Washington state
Including everybody
May they live to a million years
May they reproduce until there's no room to go anywhere
Clustered under the Space Needle
Like walking eggs with arms and legs