Nevertheless, Dylan’s stark acoustic delivery represents an awkward musical mood shift, as if DJ Obama is clearing the floor for the father of the bride’s speech. Unfortunately, what follows is an atrocious misstep that suggests Obama has been paying too much attention to inclusivity focus groups. Nashville duo Brooks & Dunn’s Only in America is a corny, country rocking anthem of American exceptionalism, wrapped in banal “red, white and blue” clichés. I honestly can’t imagine the Obama household ever sticking this tripe on the stereo. Perhaps his focus group were afraid James Brown’s Living in America would scare the neighbours.
Like all political playlists, Obama has thought a bit too much about what songs represent and given us too little of what actually moves him. We know from his regular end-of-year playlists that Obama listens to a lot of current hip hop, but his two rap choices here, from Eminem and Jay Z, are just the kind of adrenaline pumping, fists-aloft workouts you regularly hear sound-tracking TV sport highlights.
Divided 50/50 between black and white artists, this playlist is strenuously inclusive. But you have to wonder if Gloria Estafan’s dreary ballad Always Tomorrow was really the best Obama could come up with to shore up the Latin demographic. There is not a lot of guitar rock, to be fair, but he rounds things off with the sky-high optimism of U2’s Beautiful Day, which should keep Bono happy the next time he pops round to the Obama’s for dinner.
Political leaders often struggle to find a meaningful role after their years in high office. With his bland, middle-of-the-road, people pleasing playlist, at least Obama could probably get himself a gig as a daytime jock on Heart Radio or Magic FM. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs, at reasonable rates.
