In the latest issue of Rolling StoneBarack Obama reveals what's playing on his iPod. Does it reveal a true fan of music, or is he just playing to the crowd?
WHAT'S ON YOUR iPod? No, really, let me see. If there's one thing that's sure to strike fear into the heart of some iPod owners, that's somebody else trying to see what's on your playlist. Naturally, you don't want them to find out that your "recently played" list includes Yes, ELP and Uriah Heep, so you might have to "accidentally" drop your iPod into the Liffey or under a passing articulated lorry. It's worth it to avoid the sneers.
But there are a few brave souls who are willing to share with the world the contents of their iPod. One of them is Barack Obama, who opened his iPod playlist to the readers of Rolling Stonemagazine, and exposed his rock 'n' roll heart to the world. In an interview with Rolling Stoneeditor Jann Wenner, published yesterday, Obama revealed that he listens to such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z.
"I have pretty eclectic tastes," said Obama, and went on to back up his claim by listing such jazz artists as John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, along with rapper Ludacris, blues legend Howlin' Wolf and cellist Yo-Yo Ma among his favourite artists. No Jethro Tull or Gentle Giant there, which saves Obama a lot of embarrassment.
As quickly as you could download the new Coldplay album, pundits rushed to find the wider significance in Obama's choice of music, as if the US Democratic presidential candidate's very essence were captured within the compressed megabytes of his playlist. His choice of Brucie's post-9/11 album The Risingshowed that Obama felt an affinity with ordinary blue-collar stiffs who had become disillusioned with the so-called war on terror. His grá for Dylan's Maggie's Farmmarked him out as a proto-socialist and a trade union man. And the Rolling Stones' gospel-tinged Gimme Shelterappealed to the secret sinnerboy inside this God-fearing guy.
As details of the playlist were relayed around the blogosphere, it became much more than a mere grouping of tunes - it became a manifesto; like the commandments etched upon an electronic tablet and downloaded from on high, these tunes encapsulated Obama's vision for the world and hopes for the future. Obama cited classic Stevie Wonder albums such as Talking Bookand Innervisionsamong his favourites - certainly their socially aware lyrics and message of universal love could only help Obama's cause.
But are we attaching too much significance to what is essentially just a modern-day mix tape? Is Obama's choice of music all that different from any other well-off black professionals in his age group? His choice of rap artists, for instance, is hardly likely to offend - Obama told Rolling Stonehe fears that his children might start listening to gangsta rap, so he definitely won't be having NWA or Snoop Dogg on the playlist. And doesn't every American listen to The Boss - it's practically a by-law over there. Obama's iPod revelations are well-timed to sync with the young voters he's trying to win over. It's a great way of showing that you're "down" with the "kids", and that you like listening to music as much as the next guy. And we believe Obama when he says he listens to The Stones and The Boss. Now, if he told us he listens to Death Cab for Cutie, Lift to Experience and And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, we might suspect him of telling porkies.
Obama's not the only one to have the contents of his iPod picked over and analysed. His rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, tried the iPod strategy a couple of years ago, except she didn't use the word "eclectic".
"I've got everything - a smorgasbord," she claimed. Her playlist included Aretha Franklin's Respect, The Beatles' Hey Judeand The Eagles' Take it to the Limit. A year earlier, George W Bush revealed that he owned an iPod. To his credit, Dubya didn't try and act cool, but admitted that his Mp3 player was filled with yee-haw tunes by George Jones and Alan Jackson - although he also had My Sharonaby The Knack. He liked a lot of artists who didn't like him, including John Fogerty, reasoning that if he restricted his music choice to pro-Bush bands, he'd have to spend all his time listening to Three Doors Down.
Last year, prime-minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown jumped on the iPod bandwagon, claiming that, unlike useless old Tony Blair, he actually knew how to work his iPod. Brown's playlist included U2, Coldplay and Leona Lewis, but he also - not very convincingly — claimed to listen to the Arctic Monkeys. Suspiciously enough, when Brown guested on Desert Island Discs a couple of years earlier, none of these hip rock and pop acts featured among his picks. Perhaps the very act of getting an iPod turbo-charges your musical tastes. Either that or Gordo was trying too hard to sync with the zeitgeist.
Tory leader David Cameron also played the iPod card, saying he liked "gloomy stuff" such as The Killers and The Smiths. He also revealed that The Jam's Eton Rifleswas a favourite of his and his Old Etonian friends, prompting the song's composer Paul Weller to snort, "Which bit of the lyrics do you think he didn't understand?"
Even the Pope has an iPod, presented to him by a group of employees at Vatican Radio, but you won't see Benedict XVI banging his head to The Clash or Pigeon Detectives. Knowing that he is busy with his holy duties, the employees gave him an iPod Nano, and filled it with spiritually uplifting classical music and a spoken-word story of the life of Thomas à Becket. Still, wouldn't it be fun if ol' Benny had a secret playlist of his own featuring Sympathy for the Devil, Voodoo Chileand Highway to Hell.
Irish politicians have been a bit slow to make the iPod/votes connection, but Gerry Adams got ahead of the game last year, revealing to Hot Pressthat his playlist included Dylan's The Hurricane(the story of a man wrongly accused) and Frances Black singing Something Inside So Strong. Dont be surprised to see a queue of deputies at the Apple iStore after seeing Rolling Stoneon the shelves.