Barack Obama’s Top Ten Tunes

I’ve mentioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s favorite pieces of music in this space, and Senator Hillary Clinton’s iPod playlist. Blender Magazine recently published the ten favorite songs of both Barack Obama and John McCain (h/t Guido Fawkes). After looking at Senator McCain’s list and choking back the reflexive “We’re doomed” thought, I started looking at Senator Obama’s list. There were five songs on Senator Obama’s list I had never heard (#1, 5, 6, 7 and 9), so I had some listening to do.

1. Ready or Not by The Fugees.

Lauryn Hill raps in this song…

I play my enemies like a game of chess, where I rest,
No stress
If you don’t smoke sess, lest.
I must confess, my destiny’s manifest

2. What’s Goin’ On by Marvin Gaye.

An indisputably great piece of music, tainted by the hideous lyric

You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate

But no one mocked Marvin Gaye to scorn when that song came out.

3. I’m On Fire by Bruce Springsteen. This is a curious song, a song of swagger in the first verse and confession in the second verse.

4. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones

5. Sinnerman by Nina Simone

This is a great exercise song, and reminds me of the spiritual “Dere’s No Hidin’ Place Down Dere.” Apparently this music was part of the movie “The Thomas Crown Affair” (the remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo). The album version rocks even harder.

6. Touch The Sky by Kanye West

“Top o’ the world, baby, top o’ the world”

7. You’d Be So Easy To Love by Frank Sinatra

The Chairman didn’t have any time for rock-and-rollers, but quite a few rock-and-rollers were mightly impressed by Sinatra’s swagger and self-confidence.

8. Think by Aretha Franklin

9. City of Blinding Lights by U2

Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
…
I’ve seen you walk unafraid
I’ve seen you in the clothes you made
Can you see the beauty inside of me?

10. Yes We Can by will.i.am

Not very many politicians list remixes of their own speeches as one of their favorite tunes. Even the cynical Guido was shocked by this selection, writing…

The One’s #10 choice of will.i.am is a bit mastubatory - it consists of excerpts from his speeches set to music.

As I listened to the songs on this list I hadn’t heard before, I decided to use this list to become the 38,762nd person to point out that Senator Obama has hubris issues; overweening pride, self-confidence, superciliousness, and arrogance. If I were Senator Obama, I would challenge my critics to come up with artistic variations on the theme, just like Cyrano de Bergerac challenged his enemies to come up with more interesting ways of mocking his oversized schnozz. But it occurred to me that if you wanted to be outrageously positive and pumped up about yourself, this would be a great playlist to listen to on a regular basis.

I wonder whether this hubris has been there all of Senator Obama’s life, or whether the fawning adulation of the media is the cause. As I listened to City of Blinding Lights, the thought crossed my mind “This is what happens when you make it an unwritten law that every American schoolchild has to read the poem ‘I, Too, Sing America’ by Langston Hughes.”

I, Too, Sing America was written in 1945, and it was a snappy comeback to Walt Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing:”

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

I don’t know if this ever happened, but I have a picture in my mind’s eye of a younger Barack Obama looking in the mirror and reciting that poem. It’s certainly not implausible. Rosa Brooks said that Senator Obama channeled Langston Hughes in his “More Perfect Union” speech. In my mind’s eye, I can see a younger Barack Obama wondering when the tomorrow Hughes prophesied in 1945 would come. You may agree or disagree, but Senator Obama is saying ready or not, it’s coming true right here, right now.