"I got a call last night from Washington (the president)"

December 24, 2008 8:40 AM

In the late seventies or early eighties there was a song with a lyric something like:

I got a call last night from Washington/(the President)

Do you recognize it?

This is terribly vague I know. The lyric isn't exactly that, or if it is, the lyrics aren't on google. Here's what else I remember:

1) Male vocalist, not too deep, nice and clear (not gravely)
2) I believe this was playing on Top 40 Radio
3)Rock but not too hard
4) The line "the president" was sung by a couple of other male voices
5) I think this was in heavyish rotation at the same time as Bob Seger's Against the Wind, so 1980 might be the exact year.
6) I might have heard this while my family was on vacation in D.C., so it's possible this was some kind of regional hit.
7) The lyric above was towards the end of the song. The next line might have been "he said this can't go on" but I'm not too sure about that.

Does this ring any bells?

posted by Lentrohamsanin to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Best answer: Lawyers in Love, by Jackson Browne? The line there is "Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capitol."
posted by hovizette at 8:44 AM on December 24, 2008

you can listen and see if this is familiar.
posted by jessamyn at 8:48 AM on December 24, 2008

Ha. The first thing I thought of was Public Enemy:

I got a letter from the government, the other day. I opened and read it. It said they were suckers.
posted by Pax at 9:03 AM on December 24, 2008 [5 favorites]

"Lawyers in Love" was my first thought, too.
posted by jdroth at 9:05 AM on December 24, 2008

Me three.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:15 AM on December 24, 2008

Response by poster: That's it! Thanks, Jessamyn!
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:22 AM on December 24, 2008

Response by poster: Er, I mean thanks hovizette and Jessamyn. Brain fart.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:02 AM on December 24, 2008