Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Whenever I walk past the great brutalist ediface of Government Center in downtown Boston, I am reminded of an obscure Jonathan Coulton / Modern Lovers song that sort-of celebrates it, and in my head I begin to hear: "We're gonna rock-a rock-a rock-a non-stop tonight, uh-uh, at the Government Center..."

The center is huge and hideous and also somewhat beautiful in its pragmatic and uncompromising devotion to a geometric form: no softening curves, no other nearby buildings to defray is impact, Government Center stands alone in the middle of its plaza, just above the more tourist-friendly Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, often surrounded by street festivals or skateboarders, a strong and yet somewhat inscrutable statement of the significance of government.

And here you go, an earworm gift from me to you: