Music has always played an important role in my life—and that was especially true during my presidency. In honor of my book hitting shelves tomorrow, I put together this playlist featuring some memorable songs from my administration. Hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/xWiNQiZzN0
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 16, 2020
Aretha Franklin The Weight
I pulled into Nazareth, I was feeling about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
Hey, mister, can you tell me where a girl might find a bed?
(can you tell me)
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No," was all he said
Take a load off Annie, take a load off for free
Take a load off Annie, and, and, and put the weight on me
I picked up my bag, I went looking for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walking side by side
I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown
She said, "Well I gotta go, but m'friend can stick around
Take a load off Annie, take a load off for free
Take a load off Annie, and, and, and
Go down, Moses, there's nothing that you can say
It's just like all Luke waiting, waiting on Judgement Day
Well, Luke, my friend, what about Anna Lee?
He said, Do me a favor, stay an' keep Anna Lee some company
B. B. King The Thrill is Gone
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
The thrill is gone, baby
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong, baby
And you'll be sorry someday
The thrill is gone
It's gone away from me
The thrill is gone, baby
The thrill is gone away from me
Although I'll still live on
But so lonely I'll be
The thrill is gone
It's gone away for good
Oh, the thrill is gone, baby
It's gone away for good
Someday, I know I'll be over it all, baby
Just like I know a man should
You know I'm free, free now, baby
I'm free from your spell
I'm free, free, free now
I'm free from your spell
And now that it's all over
All I can do is wish you well
Beyoncé Halo
Remember those walls I built?
Well, baby, they're tumblin' down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make a sound
I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standin' in the light of your halo
I got my angel now
It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out
Everywhere I'm lookin' now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo
You know you're my savin' grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo
Halo
Hit me like a ray of sun
Burnin' through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light
I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like fallin'
Gravity can't begin
To pull me back to the ground again
It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out
Everywhere I'm lookin' now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo
You know you're my savin' grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo
Halo
Halo
Ooh
Everywhere I'm lookin' now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo
You know you're my savin' grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo
Halo, oh oh
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo
Halo
Beyoncé At Last
At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh yeah yeah
At last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you
I found a dream
That I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Oh yeah, when you smile
You smile, Ooh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last
Bob Dylan The Times They are a-Changin’
Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changin'
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times, they are a-changin'
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times, they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times, they are a-changin'
The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a-changin'
Brooks & Dunn Only in America
Sun coming up over New York City
School bus driver in a traffic jam
Starin' at the faces in her rearview mirror
Looking at the promise of the Promised Land
One kid dreams of fame and fortune
One kid helps pay the rent
One could end up going to prison
One just might be president
Only in America
Dreaming in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America
Sun going down on an LA freeway
Newlyweds in the back of a limousine
A welder's son and a banker's daughter
All they want is everything
She came out here to be an actress
He was the singer in a band
They just might go back to Oklahoma
And talk about the stars they could have been
Only in America
Dreaming in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America
Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America
Yeah only in America
Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Yeah we dream as big as we want to
Only in America
Bruce Springsteen The Rising
Can't see nothing in front of me
Can't see nothing coming up behind
Make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells were ringing and filled the air
I was wearing the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rolling down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
There's spirits above and behind me
Faces gone black, eyes burning bright
May their precious blood bind me
Lord, as I stand before your fiery light
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancing in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancing on the end of the line
Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burning wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)
Eminem Lose Yourself
Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip? Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's choking, how? Everybody's joking now
The clock's run out, time's up, over—blaow!
Snap back to reality, ope there goes gravity, ope
There goes Rabbit, he choked, he's so mad but he won't
Give up that easy, no, he won't have it, he knows
His whole back's to these ropes, it don't matter, he's dope
He knows that but he's broke, he's so stagnant, he knows
When he goes back to this mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again yo, this old rap shit, he
Better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him, and
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better…
His soul's escaping through this hole that is gaping
This world is mine for the taking, make me king
As we move toward a New World Order
A normal life is boring; but superstardom's
Close to post-mortem, it only grows harder
Homie grows hotter, he blows, it's all over
These hoes is all on him, coast-to-coast shows
He's known as the Globetrotter, lonely roads
God only knows, he's grown farther from home, he's no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose, 'cause here goes the cold water
These hoes don't want him no mo', he's cold product
They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose-dove and sold nada, and so the soap opera
Is told, it unfolds, I suppose it's old, partner
But the beat goes on: da-da-dom, da-dom, dah-dah, dah-dah
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better…
No more games, I'ma change what you call rage
Tear this motherfuckin' roof off like two dogs caged
I was playin' in the beginning, the mood all changed
I've been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhymin' and stepped right in the next cypher
Best believe somebody's payin' the Pied Piper
All the pain inside amplified by the
Fact that I can't get by with my nine-to-
Five and I can't provide the right type of life for my family
'Cause man, these goddamn food stamps don't buy diapers
And there's no movie, there's no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
And these times are so hard, and it's gettin' even harder
Tryna feed and water my seed, plus teeter-totter
Caught up between bein' a father and a prima donna
Baby mama drama, screamin' on her, too much for me to wanna
Stay in one spot, another day of monotony's
Gotten me to the point I'm like a snail, I've got
To formulate a plot or end up in jail or shot
Success is my only motherfuckin' option—failure's not
Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got
To go; I cannot grow old in Salem's Lot
So here I go, it's my shot: feet, fail me not
This may be the only opportunity that I got
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better…
You can do anything you set your mind to, man
Frank Sinatra Luck Be a Lady
They call you lady luck
But there is room for doubt
At times you have a very un-lady-like way
Of running out
You're on this date with me
The pickin's have been lush
And yet before the evening is over
You might give me the brush
You might forget your manners
You might refuse to stay
And so the best that I can do is pray
Luck be lady tonight
Luck be lady tonight
Luck if you've been a lady to begin with
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you've treated other guys you've been with
Luck be a lady with me
A lady never leaves her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guy's dice
Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be lady tonight
A lady never flirts with strangers
She'd have a heart, she'd be nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice
Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be lady tonight
Gloria Estefan Always Tomorrow
I've been alone inside myself for far too long
I never really wanted it that way but I let it happen
If I could do it all again my life would be infinitely better than before
I wouldn't waste a moment
I'd Make time for laughing with my friends
Make love, make music, make amends
Try to make a difference, try to love, try to understand
Instead of just giving up I'd use the power at my command
'Cause there's always tomorrow to start over again
Things will never stay the same
The only one sure thing is change
That's why there's always tomorrow
I guess it took a little time for me to see
The reason I was born into this world and what I'd have to go through
For I've finally realize that I could be
Infinitely better than before, definitely stronger
I'll face whatever comes my way
Savor each moment of the day
Love as many people as I can along the way
Help someone who's giving up
If it's just to raise my eyes and pray
'Cause there's always tomorrow to start over again
Things will never stay the same
The only one sure thing is change
That's why there's always tomorrow
Before your last setting sun
And everything your heart has longed for
Has yet to be one
Yes, there's always, always, always tomorrow
Though people come and they go
But if you've brought some love to their lives
Then you've got something to show
There's always, always, always tomorrow to start over again
Things will never stay the same
The only one sure thing is change
That's why there's always, always, always...
Always tomorrow
