Bush bares soul with 'iPod One'
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/0 ... cnn_latest

By CNN's Peter Wilkinson
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 Posted: 4:20 PM EDT (2020 GMT)


This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not.
-- Joe Levy, Rolling Stone


(CNN) -- The music tastes of U.S. President George W. Bush have come under scrutiny after an aide revealed the playlist of his new iPod player.

The portable digital device, given to Bush by his daughters Jenna and Barbara last July, contains much country music, but also songs by Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and the Knack.

The MP3 player, which can store up to 10,000 songs, only contains about 250, according to the New York Times, which first reported the story.

"iPod One," as the player has been dubbed, is used by Bush while he pedals around his Texas ranch on a mountain bike, presidential media adviser Mark McKinnon told the newspaper.

The task of downloading the music falls to the 58-year-old president's personal aide, Blake Gottesman, who buys individual songs and albums from the iTunes music store.

Not every track is "on-message." The playlist -- regarded by many as a mirror to the soul -- includes musicians who campaigned against Bush, such as John Fogerty. Also on the iPod is the 1979 song "My Sharona" by the Knack, about a man pursuing a much younger woman.

One of that song's lyrics, "Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind," prompted Spin magazine editor Dave Itzkoff to comment: "This wouldn't be consistent with Bush's image as protector of conservative values."

Bush, who quit drinking after his 40th birthday, also listens to recovering alcoholic George Jones, a country singer who sings about heartbreak and drinking. Joe Levy, deputy editor of Rolling Stone magazine, said this indicated "a little bit of taste for hard core and honky-tonk."

McKinnon advised though against too much analysis of the playlist. "The fact is that any president who would limit themselves to pro-establishment musicians would have a pretty slim collection.

"No one should psychoanalyze the song selection. It's music to get over the next hill," he told the New York Times.

The playlist does reveal a rather narrow range of babyboomer tunes. Writing in the London Times, Caitlin Moran noted: "No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one woman, no genre less than 25 years old, and no Beatles."

Levy agreed, telling the New York Times: "What we're talking about is a lot of great artists from the '60s and '70s and more modern artists who sound like great artists from the '60s and '70s.

"This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not."

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he sucks

I'm just picturing Bush riding a mountain bike, bobbing his head and singing along to 'My Sherona'.

Allow me to reiterate that even though he was raised here and likes country music, Dubya is not really a Texan.

Oh god, he listens to music that doesn't directly coincide to his moral convictions! Crucify him!

There has to be some Creed on there somewhere

Plugged In Online approves of your President's musical selection. Because I mean really, wouldn't Jesus Himself be listening to My Sharona, like right now?

MA-MA-MA.....

*yawn*

Can we start a pool for anyone who can hack that i-pod?

Plugged In Online can suck my fucking dick

Jesus totally doesn't condone oral.

I would load it with nothing but NWA, Tha Geto Boyz, and 2-Live Crew albums.

Recommendation for GW. It will help with some of the troublesome words. Like terrorists.

why does anyone care what he has on his ipod?

He might be planning a terrorist attack.

I know I shouldn't be judging what the White House is like by watching The West Wing, but how the hell does he find the time to put on his ipod?

I'm waiting for the pic of the iPod trying to injure Bush the same way the Segway did.

It must be all that time that he spends on his fucking ranch, riding a bike and clearing brush.

I can just picture Bush listening to the iPod and singing along, and not knowing the words to any songs. Kind of like Homer when he sings along to stuff on the radio, he just makes up his own lyrics.