The BIGG Successs Show
Does Barack Obama's Favorite Music Make Him More Interesting?
How revealing a little bit about yourself can make you a lot more interesting to others. Read our show summary biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today we ask, does Barack Obama's favorite music make it more interesting to you? The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. Barack Obama was recently interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, and they talked to him about what songs were on his iPod. And he had a very interesting playlist. It included songs from Earth, Wind and Fire, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, I can't get no. Cheryl Crow, Yo-Yo Ma, Jay-Z, Bob Dylan, and the person he said was his musical hero, Stevie Wonder. Ah man, that's a great playlist. That's amazing. Great group of artists right there. And we found this interesting because by sharing his musical tastes, we learn a little bit more about him. When it seems that Barack is in touch with the classics, he likes brilliant musicians, his choices show his age and when he grew up, it seems like he's still hip and in touch with the artists of today who also inspire him with their minds and their business savvy. And when I think of Bob Dylan, I think of music with a message, a sense of activism. When I think of Yo-Yo Ma, when I think of Stevie Wonder, I think of great musicianship. Well Mary Lynn, when I think of Stevie Wonder, I think about that Saturday Night Live skit where he was playing tennis. I missed that one. What the heck happened? Well he got hit by a lot of balls, you know, I couldn't see him. It was funny. Yeah, I think of the song "I Wish" and "I Wish" you did. Because it's going to be in your head all day. That's right. I mean, when I was in music radio, we would play that song all the friggin' time and I didn't care. Every time it came up, I would crank that baby and do my own little boogie. Oh, boogie down down, right? Yes. It's Ebony and Ivory and I'm a lyrics guy and, you know, the words, I can picture the keyboard and the Ebony and Ivory keys and then Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder singing it. It's very powerful. Well you see what's happening here, George. We're revealing things about ourselves by sharing and by sharing, it opens up the conversation and people get to know you better when you share. And you connect with others. And Mary Lynn, you know, we started this whole conversation off by talking about a politician just makes me think about one of my political science professors. And he said that candidates look for every single way they can to connect with people. So when they're profiling a candidate, so if I were a candidate, I would talk about being a husband, a business owner, a professor, a blogger, a podcaster, and an alumni of the greatest university in the history of the world, of course, the University of Illinois. And the list goes on, kind of like Sonny and Cher's beat, right? The beat goes on. That's right. All right. Yeah. Well, it is how people can relate to you and find things in common with you. Well, and that's why one of our friends says that you should fill out your profile completely whenever you join a social networking site, for example. Like Facebook. Yeah. Or even a local organization, take every single opportunity you can to share as much about yourself and your interests as you feel comfortable sharing. And that's the lesson we can take away from politicians. The more you share, the more you connect and coming up, we're going to connect the dots on something even more important. Today we're talking about how sharing your interests can help you connect with others. And we've specifically been talking about sharing your musical interests. And you know, George, as we were preparing for this show, one of the things we talked about is how right now neither one of us has been listening to much music. It's pretty sad. And it really surprises me because I was a musician for many years. I was a music disc jockey for many years. So music has been an integral part of my life. Well, Marilyn, I have to say, I think that begs the question, why aren't you listening to more music now? And I'll tell you, before you give your answer, I really, I think I actually know. What? I think it's because you get to hear me sing in the shower. What more could you possibly need? Let me just assure you, that is not music to my ears, okay? I believe it. I think it's just my work schedule. I'm working at the computer. I don't have a radio handy. And then whenever I am in the car, they're playing the same songs on the radio that I just, you know, I'm burned out on. And so I just flipped the talk. And what I realized as we were discussing this is that music is an opportunity to connect with others, but more importantly, it lets me connect with myself. So I need to get back into it. Well, I think that's the lesson for all of us is make time for those things that touch you deeply, that touch your mind, your heart, and your soul. Now, for you, that may not be music, but whatever it is, get back in touch with it. What do you do to connect with others and yourself? Is there something you used to do that you need to reconnect with? Feel free to share it with us. We're at Big Success, that's bigwith2gsuccess.com. That's also where you'll find a written summary of today's show. Next time, we chat with the best networker in Chicago, Illinois. I wonder what's on her iPod. I don't know. I'm going to go load up mine now. Until next time, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. [MUSIC]