The official White House spotify channel
August 15, 2015 10:31 AM   Subscribe

The White House released two Spotify playlists of songs on Friday morning, one for day and one for night, that were hand-picked by President Barack Obama.

Here are the songs on the Day playlist, which total 1 hour and 32 minutes in time:

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

Here are the songs on the Night playlist, which total 1 hour and 38 minutes in time:

"My favorite things" by John Coltrane
"Superpower" by Beyonce and Frank Ocean
"Moondance" by Van Morrison
"Is Your Love Big Enough?" by Lianne La Havas
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
"Red &White & Blue & Gold" by Aoife O'Donovan
"Nothing Even Matters" by Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo
"The Best Is Yet To Come" by Frank Sinatra
"You Don't Know Me" by Ray Charles
"I Found My Everything" by Mary J. Blige
"Help Me" by Joni Mitchell
"I've Got Dreams To Remember" by Otis Redding
"Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen
"Feeling Good" by Nina Simone
"Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers
"Until" by Cassandra Wilson
"UMI" Says by Mos Def
"The Very Thought Of You" by Billie Holiday
"Flamenco Sketches" by Miles Davis
"Woo" By Erykah Badu
posted by adept256 (33 comments total) 36 users marked this as a favorite
 
Our CinC knows how to set a mood.
posted by Miko at 10:41 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


'Born in the USA' conspicuously absent.
posted by adept256 at 10:44 AM on August 15, 2015 [16 favorites]


Not really feelin' 'Moondance' and Coldplay, but plenty of other stuff makes up for it.
posted by box at 10:46 AM on August 15, 2015


'Born in the USA' conspicuously absent.

It's such a good song! It's what America is all about!
posted by Itaxpica at 11:05 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


Also, I've gotta say, on-the-way-out, no-fucks-given-anymore Barack Obama is pretty much my favorite thing.

"Yeah, I think I'll normalize relations with Cuba, champion a historic accord with Iran, then drop a sweet-ass mix CD on the American people."
posted by Itaxpica at 11:08 AM on August 15, 2015 [73 favorites]


Personally, I was lobbying for the "Theme to Shaft" and Isaac Hayes - "Feel Like Makin' Love" to be added to the nighttime playlist.

Clearly, this is another missed opportunity for the President.
posted by markkraft at 11:34 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


...or at least a bit of George Clinton...
Come on, Mr. President! We want the funk. Give us the funk!
posted by markkraft at 11:38 AM on August 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


Warms my heart to see a Nappy Roots track on the Day list.
posted by dogwalker at 11:54 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Is there a 2016 candidate who will release a playlist with "Fuck tha Police" on it?
posted by oceanjesse at 11:56 AM on August 15, 2015 [6 favorites]


Everything else is forgiven when Umi Says is on the list.
posted by 1adam12 at 12:49 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


For non-Spotify users, you can find the playlists on bob.fm here: day, night.

(Hat tip to /r/music).
posted by AwkwardPause at 1:11 PM on August 15, 2015 [7 favorites]


Yeah, flashlight or maggot brain (or something less obvious) from the George Clinton camp, not to mention the complete absence of James Brown. huh.

cool list though, I'd prefer this to the top 25 of fucking anything by rolling stone or pitchfork (or god forbid grantlands terrible music articles start spawning 'best of' listicles).

Still, not bad. I look forward to his retirement more than i did the collective post-"HOPE" disillusionment.
posted by lkc at 1:14 PM on August 15, 2015


(by that, I mean him as a likeable and important public figure having fun in retirement - - I am decidedly NOT looking forward to this flaming clown car shit show of an election coming up)
posted by lkc at 1:18 PM on August 15, 2015


How was Feeling Good not one of his campaign songs?
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Your President's favorite band sucks
posted by Miko at 2:08 PM on August 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


As a lifelong white-boy fan of non-disco pre-hiphop SOUL, I really like the inclusion of not-the-most-obvious songs by The Temptations (I would've picked "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" myself but it may be too close to the bone for Barry), the Isleys (definitely NOT "Who's That Lady"), Stevie, Sly, Aretha, Al Green, Ray Charles and Otis Redding ("The Dock of the Bay"? Do NOT go there). The most glaring omissions to me are Bill Withers and Anita Baker. The Joni Mitchell selection was pretty inspired, but Cohen's "Suzanne" was still too-obvious-to-me. And if you HAD to include some Sinatra, he made a very good choice, but I could offer a couple Tony Bennett (NON-San Francsisco) songs that could fill that niche.

Maybe there was a specific reason for not including George Clinton, and Jon Stewart probably stole the thunder from including anything by Springsteen. It's just telling that there is not a single song on either list (and very few artists) that has ever been parodied by Weird Al.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:19 PM on August 15, 2015


"I look forward to his retirement..."

While he looks fine in one of these, I actually think he'd look better in one of these.

I would recommend that in the future, these two pieces of clothing, either singly or in combination, are the only two things he should wear.
posted by markkraft at 3:01 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


I am listening to the day playlist now while I clean house. I have to say that, while I am not usually a big Coldplay fan, I don't hate that particular song.

I'd love to know how it all came together. I can't imagine that the POTUS himself had time to make the playlists. Did they give his iTunes library to some intern and have him or her put it together and then send it off to an army of aids to vet each song for possible offensiveness? Did someone have to go make sure that Low Cut Connie hadn't expressed support for terrorism?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:42 PM on August 15, 2015


Wow, these are solid. I like the 'Superpower' choice especially.
posted by Fig at 5:31 PM on August 15, 2015


This is why I can't be President, I'd be too tempted to troll. Maybe put "Tubthumpin'" twice, and a couple tracks from Ice-T's "Freedom of Speech" album, and maybe an entire side of Sebadoh. "Cult of Personality" would def be there. Dead Milkmen too, maybe "Right Wing Pigeon" or "Bleach Boys". Weird Al's "Party in the CIA." Then mix in some random Laurie Anderson and Yazoo, maybe some extended Yes track.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:34 PM on August 15, 2015 [7 favorites]


Cohen's "Suzanne" was still too-obvious-to-me

Actually, I think that's a pretty good pick - thank God it wasn't freaking "Hallelujah" again. If I hear that song again never it'll be too soon.

I'd love to know how it all came together. I can't imagine that the POTUS himself had time to make the playlists.

It takes minutes - it's well known he's a music fan and it's not like he had to think hard about it. I'm sure the PR folks vetted it, yeah, but, just like his reading list, no reason to think it isn't authentically his to a great degree.
posted by Miko at 7:22 PM on August 15, 2015


Naw, I have it on good authority that his personal soundtrack consists entirely of Reggie Watts' "If You're Fuckin'..." Every morning as he travels down to the oval office, he struts along singing it and pointing at people who might or might not be fuckin'.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:31 PM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]


This makes me hope that on their last night in the White House, they replace all the lightbulbs with black lights and the whole administration has an insane dance party all through the place.
posted by Miko at 8:33 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


The U.S. President is more in tune with the kids than I am.

Thanks, Obama.
posted by davemee at 1:43 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'd liked to have seen some Cat Stevens on those lists, just for the lulz.

But. What's on Putin's playlist?

His favourite band is Lyube. "... a mixture of several genres, with influences from Russian folk music, rock, Russian chanson, and Soviet military songs".

His favourite Beatle is Paul.

But there may be some Skrillex.

tl;dr - wld probz not dig a sleepover at Vlad's place.
posted by Devonian at 8:11 AM on August 16, 2015


For non-Spotify users

I almost created a Spotify account. THANKS OBAMA!
posted by Roger Dodger at 11:17 AM on August 16, 2015


When does he drop his After After Dark Red Light Fuck Mixxx?
posted by elr at 1:16 PM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


This makes me hope that on their last night in the White House, they replace all the lightbulbs with black lights and the whole administration has an insane dance party all through the place.

This is what I sort of love about the Cambridge City Dance Party.
posted by threeants at 4:28 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


When does he drop his After After Dark Red Light Fuck Mixxx?

When Prince rejoins Spotify, obviously.
posted by sallybrown at 4:44 PM on August 16, 2015


I think the most glaring error is not in the choice of music but in the choice of streaming service. Spotify is a foreign owned company (Swedish), meanwhile Apple (USA) offers a similar product
posted by j03 at 6:03 AM on August 17, 2015


yay "Stubborn Love"!
posted by numaner at 7:18 AM on August 17, 2015


Metafilter: the president's favorite band sucks!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 11:08 PM on August 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'd liked to have seen some Cat Stevens on those lists, just for the lulz.

If he really wanted to troll folks, he could slip in some deep cut classics.
posted by FatherDagon at 6:16 PM on August 18, 2015


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