Song of the Day: "Do I Do"

"Do I Do"

Stevie Wonder

from Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I

1982

President Obama released his 2020 Summer Playlist this past week, and as usual, it is vast and varied and perfectly curated. Obama proves himself as a man who has his pulse on pop culture. Or does he?

This brief blog post is not questioning President Obama as a politician or as a human. I'm simply asking the question as a musiophile. Do we think that this playlist was created solely by Obama, or do you think he has an advisor that is compiling a list for the purpose of making Obama look good?

Because this playlist does make him look good. And I appreciate that! I love to think that Barack and Michelle are hitting shuffle and listening to Popcaan and Jason Isbell in succession. I'm not even questioning whether that is true. It probably is. Obama has his flaws, but I don't think I would call him disingenuous, especially when it comes to frivolous bullshit like what music he listening to.

I'm only wondering whether he's actually doing the work or not. Like, did someone tell him that "The Steps" is a good song, or is he sitting down and listening to Women in Music Part III and figuring out for himself that his favorite Haim song from that album is "The Steps"? Is he content to listen to "Gaslighter" or is he using his appreciation for that song as a springboard to check out the rest of the album?

I guess another way of asking the question is: Is Obama a singles guy or an albums guy? I can't imagine the answer to that question matters to anyone but the worst music snob, but I'm typing this on Puke on Your Birthday, so while in Rome.

Also, not for nothing, but it's great that we can even have this discussion about a President of the United States, isn't it? If I miss Obama, then it's mostly for this reason. He was a normal man with normal tastes. Imagine having a president who instead dyes his skin orange and listens to 3 Doors Down at his sparsely attended inauguration...