Seattle Post-Intelligencer
September 4, 1999
"Viva Sea-Tac" Destined To Be A Favorite Tune Locally
by Gene Stout
It's one of the catchiest novelty tunes ever written about Seattle.
"They've got the best computers and coffee and smack" wails singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock in "Viva Sea-Tac".
With its shuffling beat, irresistible refrain and humorous references to Boeing, Kurt Cobain, Norwegians and The Space Needle, the song is destined to be a party favorite in the Emerald City.
"People flocked like cattle to Seattle after Kurt Cobain", Hitchcock sings in the effervescent tune.
The song is from Hitchcock's new album, Jewels For Sophia. The singer-songwriter will play songs from the album, including "Viva Sea-Tac", at his Bumbershoot performance Monday at 1 p.m. at the Opera House.
A London native, Hitchcock is the former leader of '70s cult band The Soft Boys. After launching his solo career in 1981 with the album Black Snake Diamond Role, Hitchcock gained a reputation for quirky, eccentric songs, among them "Eaten by Her Own Dinner", "The Man With the Lightbulb Head", and "When I Was Dead".
Hitchcock's popularity increased in the late-'80s when he toured with R.E.M., whose members had been fans since his Soft Boys days. Hitchcock recorded "Viva Sea-Tac" with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and several members of the Young Fresh Fellows, notably Scott McCaughey, a support musician on R.E.M.'s current tour.
Written in 1997, the song came together after a collaborative Seattle show with McCaughey dubbed "Viva Sea-Tac/The Popsycle Shoppe Incident".
"As is often the case, I work from titles," Hitchcock said by phone. "I write down titles and then I pick up a guitar and come up with a tune."
The melody and lyrics came quickly.
"Suddenly, 'Bang!' The song was finished in five minutes," he said. "It was like when you crack open a rock and there's a perfectly formed fossil inside."
The song reflects Hitchcock's deep affection for the Northwest, particularly Seattle.
In the final verse, Hitchcock sings, "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".
When Hitchcock sang the tune at a recent show in Oklahoma City, people asked, "What's a 'Sea-Tac'?" But the song is getting a good response in other cities.
"It was a song that would only seem relevant here, but people seem to like it in New York and I've sung it in London, too."
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