Barack Obama Shares Summer Vacation Playlists


In a rather unusual move on Friday, the White House decided to kick off its official Spotify channel with the release of Barack Obama’s two personal playlists, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Obama split up “The President’s Playlist” into two categories: “Volume 1: Summer Day” and “20 picks for a summer night.”

Check out the track listing to Obama’s summer playlists below:

The President’s Playlist: Vol. 1 Summer Day
The Temptations – “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”
Isley Brothers – “Live It Up”
Talib Kweli and Hi Tek – “Memories Live”
Bob Dylan – “Tombstone Blues”
Bob Marley – “So Much Trouble in the World”
Coldplay – “Paradise”
Mala Rodriguez – “Tengo Un Trato (Remix)”
Howlin Wolf – “Wang Dang Doodle”
Stevie Wonder – “Another Star”
Sly & the Family Stone – “Hot Fun in the Summertime”
Low Cut Connie – “Boozophilia”
Brandi Carlile – “Wherever Is Your Heart”
Nappy Roots – “Good Day”
John Legend – “Green Light”
Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter”
Aretha Franklin – “Rock Steady”
Okkervil River – “Down Down the Deep River”
Justin Timberlake – “Pusher Love Girl”
Florence and The Machine – “Shake It Out”
Sonora Carruseles – “La Salsa La Traigo Yo”

The President’s Playlist: Vol. 2 Summer Night
John Coltrane – “My Favorite Things”
Beyoncé and Frank Ocean – “Superpower”
Van Morrison – “Moondance”
Lianne La Havas – “Is Your Love Big Enough?”
Al Green – “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”
Aoife O’Donovan – “Red & White & Blue & Gold”
Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo – “Nothing Even Matters”
Frank Sinatra – “The Best Is Yet To Come”
Ray Charles – “You Don’t Know Me”
Mary J. Blige – “I Found My Everything”
Joni Mitchell – “Help Me”
Otis Redding – “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember”
Leonard Cohen – “Suzanne”
Nina Simone – “Feeling Good”
The Lumineers – “Stubborn Love”
Cassandra Wilson – “Until”
Mos Def – “UMI”
Billie Holiday – “The Very Thought Of You”
Miles Davis – “Flamenco Sketches”
Erykah Badu – “Woo”

As Billboard wrote in its report on Barack Obama’s musical choices, there is nothing deep to be garnered here, except perhaps to celebrate Obama’s inclusive (and unapologetic) taste in music.

“If there’s anything about Obama’s current political or psychological state to be drawn from the playlists, it’s the sense of the president as an utterly relaxed lame duck with nothing to prove or sell. When he suddenly seemed to be down with Jay Z midway through his first term, Obama was accused of trying to court the youth vote, but there’s nothing here to suggest he’s playing to any constituency but the demo of 54-year-old boomers who still have their fingers on some pulses. Even if you didn’t know the purported curator, the personality profile you might put together from the song choices would be that of a cool, calm, and collected cucumber whose strong undercurrents of passion aren’t likely to lead to any untoward outbursts.”

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