President George W’s iPod: The Playlist
President George W. Bush received an i-Pod for his birthday, a present from his daughters. What Does Bush’s iPod Reveal About Him?
Here is the President’s List:
Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison Hear It Now! – The Sound of the ’60s
Centerfield John Fogerty Centerfield
Circle Back John Hiatt & The Goners Beneath This Gruff Exterior
My Sharona The Knack My Sharona / Good Girls Don’t – Single (Re-Recorded)
(You’re so Square)
Baby, I Don’t Care Joni Mitchell Joni Michell: The Complete Geffen
Gone Country Alan Jackson Alan Jackson: The Greatest Hits Collection
Summertime Blues Alan Jackson Alan Jackson: The Greatest Hits Collection
Down On the Corner Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Gold
Have You Ever Seen
the Rain Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Gold
Lookin’ Out My
Back Door Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle, Vol. 1
I Go Back Kenny Chesney When the Sun Goes Down
Who’ll Stop the Rain Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo’s Factory (Gold Disc)
The Race Is On George Jones & Travis Tritt Bradley Barn Sessions
The House Is Rockin’ Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Drivin’ South – Southern Rockin’ Smash Hits
Presidential media adviser Mark McKinnon says the president is never more of a “pod person” than when exercising. “It’s heart-thumping music,” McKinnon said. “This is music to mountain-bike ride by. He likes to get the heart beat up to 170.”
Although it can store up to 10,000 songs, the president’s iPod currently only contains about 250 — lots of country, of course, like George Jones, but also Joni Mitchell’s “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “The House Is Rockin’,” as first reported in The New York Times.
If the iPod is a mirror into the soul, what do these songs say about the commander in chief?
“It’s consistent with Bush’s image as plain-spoken Texan and man of the people,” said Dave Itzkoff, a senior associate editor of Spin magazine. “It seems to be the playlist of somebody who stopped listening to popular music in the 1980s.”
The president does not exactly surf the Net, hunting for tight tunes. The songs are purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Web site by either Bush’s personal aide Blake Gottesman or McKinnon, a former songwriter for Kris Kristofferson.
And does the President only listen to the artists that have supported his presidency?
Nope.
Not every song on the presidential playlist is as “on message” as Alan Jackson’s “Gone Country.” It also includes musicians who campaigned against him, such as John Fogerty.
“The fact is that any president who would limit themselves to pro-establishment musicians would have a pretty slim collection,” McKinnon said.
“No one should psychoanalyze the playlist,” said McKinnon. “It’s really just great songs designed to for a great workout. And if there any songs in there with controversial lyrics, I’ll take the heat for that.”
Good List, thank you, Mr. President