With all of the excitement of getting to know what makes our politicians tick, wouldn’t it help to know what kind of music they listen to? Recently, it has become more and more popular for politicians to share the music they’ve been listening to with the world.
There are those, like former President Barack Obama, that share their seasonal playlists with Instagram and Twitter followers. For the past couple of years, President Obama has compiled his 50 or so favorite songs each summer as well as at the end of each year and posted them on social media. These songs range from old to new and unknown artists to well-known ones.
His most recent music drop was his 2020 summer playlist, which featured 53 songs from a variety of artists. He even marked the songs by artists performing at the Democratic National convention. Some of the artists on his playlist include Maggie Rogers, Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, Frank Ocean and Mac Miller. Talk about musical diversity…
Another popular form of song sharing for politicians is creating a campaign playlist. When Pete Buttigieg was still running for the Democratic Candidate’s spot in the Presidential Election, he created a playlist on Spotify for his campaign rallies.
At almost every rally he came busting on stage to the song “High Hopes,” by Panic! At The Disco. Throughout the rally, he had songs playing from his playlist on Spotify, cleverly named “Buttijams.” Some of the songs on “Buttijams” include, “Good As Hell,” by Lizzo, “Dog Days Are Over,” by Florence + The Machine, and “Confident,” by Demi Lovato. He sure knew how to rally a rally!
Most recently, President-Elect Joe Biden made his victory speech in Delaware. When Vice President-elect Kamala Harris came onto the stage, the song “Work That,” by Mary J. Blige was playing. Then came Joe Biden’s spectacular entrance to, “We Take Care of Our Own,” by Bruce Springsteen, which certainly blasted out his message loud and clear.
This was Biden’s opportunity to share the songs that he finds meaningful and important to him with the rest of the world. During the celebratory fireworks display after their speeches, more songs were played, including “Sky Full of Stars,” by Coldplay, which was one of Beau Biden’s favorite songs. Beau is Joe Biden’s son who passed away in 2015 at only 46 years old.
The President-Elect also played “Times Like These,” by the Foo Fighters, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,” by Jackie Wilson, “You Make My Dreams (Come True),” by Hall and Oats, and “The Best,” by Tina Turner. Again, talk about musical diversity!
