全球最紅的“總統(tǒng)歌單”：奧巴馬愛聽什么歌

EDGARTOWN, Mass. — Some full-time music critics spend their lives curating playlists they hope become popular. President Barack Obama outdid them all last week in between briefings by senior aides and rounds of golf with friends on vacation here.

馬薩諸塞州埃德加敦――一些全職樂評人一輩子都在致力于編纂音樂播放列表，希望它們能夠走紅。上個星期，貝拉克·奧巴馬總統(tǒng)(Barack Obama)一舉超越了他們，而他的播放列表是在聽取資深助理的簡報，以及來這里與朋友們打高爾夫球的間隙中做出的。

For the second year in a row, Obama released his summer vacation music and reading lists. And within a day, Obama’s playlist was the most listened-to on Spotify, other than those organized by the global music streaming service itself. That level of popularity occurs only when listeners do more than sample the songs, but actually enjoy the set, said Jonathan Prince, a Spotify spokesman.

這是奧巴馬連續(xù)第二年公布自己的暑期音樂和閱讀清單。不到一天時間，奧巴馬的播放列表就成了Spotify上收聽最多的個人列表，不算這家全球流媒體音樂服務商自己編輯的各種列表。Spotify的發(fā)言人喬納森·普林斯(Jonathan Prince)說，聽眾們不僅僅是試聽里面的歌曲，而是喜歡整個列表，只有這樣才能解釋它的受歡迎程度。

“For a playlist to hit No. 1 globally on its own out of nowhere is just bananas,” Prince said. “If he wants a job curating music when this presidential gig is over, we’d take him in a second. That’s very impressive.”

“全球排名第一的播放列表就這么突然冒出來，真是太瘋狂了，”普林斯說。“如果他的總統(tǒng)任期結(jié)束以后想要一份展播音樂的工作，我們馬上就會簽下他。真是了不起。”

While Prince said that Spotify could not yet measure how Obama’s selections this year had influenced the popularity of particular artists, his picks last year led streams of the band Low Cut Connie to increase 2,906 percent overnight and those of the hip-hop duo Reflection Eternal to jump 798 percent.

普林斯說Spotify還沒有估計出奧巴馬今年選的歌能在多大程度上影響到具體藝人的流行程度，他只是舉了去年的例子，奧巴馬選擇的Low Cut Connie樂隊的播放量一夜之間就增長了2906%，嘻哈二人組Reflection Eternal則躍升了798%。

Obama is in the final months of his presidency, aware of the expiration date for his hold over the national conversation — especially during a fiery presidential election season. Perhaps because of the widespread disquiet over both major parties’ nominees, Obama’s own popularity has been steadily rising and is now above 50 percent. Admiration for Obama is particularly high among young adults, or those 18-29 who are so coveted by TV and radio advertisers.

奧巴馬的總統(tǒng)任期還剩最后幾個月，他知道自己掌控全國性話題的日子就快到頭了——特別是在這個競爭激烈的總統(tǒng)大選季?；蛟S是因為人們對兩黨的候選人存在著普遍的不安情緒，奧巴馬本人的受歡迎程度在穩(wěn)步上升，如今已經(jīng)超過50%。年輕人對他尤其尊崇，這個年齡在18-29歲的人群正是電視和廣播廣告商努力爭取的對象。

That popularity has made him unusually influential culturally, a power he and Michelle Obama, the first lady, take seriously. She was an early champion of “Hamilton,” the Broadway musical that has since become a cultural phenomenon. He interviewed Marilynne Robinson for an article in The New York Review of Books, an unusual presidential effort to bolster the career of a literary novelist.

人們對他的歡迎令他在文化上顯得格外重要，他和第一夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬(Michelle Obama)也一貫重視這種力量。她是如今已經(jīng)成為文化現(xiàn)象的百老匯音樂劇《漢密爾頓》(Hamilton)的早期支持者。他則為《紐約書評》(The New York Review of Books)采訪了瑪麗蓮·羅賓遜(Marilynne Robinson)，很少有總統(tǒng)會這樣支持一位文學小說家。

Barack Obama got high marks from several music critics for his summer playlist choices, in part because he mostly avoided politically expedient selections. There were no songs, for instance, from wildly popular artists like Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake or Rihanna.

貝拉克·奧巴馬的夏日播放列表受到了若干樂評人的高度好評，部分是因為他基本上避免了政治上討好的選擇。比如說，歌單里沒有阿黛爾(Adele)、愛莉安娜·格蘭德(Ariana Grande)、賈斯汀·汀布萊克(Justin Timberlake)和蕾哈娜(Rihanna)這樣一些最熱門的歌手的作品。

The president’s musical taste — which includes surf rock, soul, blues and hip-hop — is open-minded, even eclectic. However, there is one notable exception: Missing for the second year in a row was even a nod to country music, widely played in Southern states where Obama could benefit from more people relating to him.

總統(tǒng)喜歡的音樂包括沖浪搖滾、靈魂樂、布魯斯和嘻哈樂，他的音樂品味顯得很開放，甚至是兼容并包的。不過，有一個非常顯眼的例外。他第二年的歌單里仍然沒有南方各州廣泛喜愛的鄉(xiāng)村樂。而讓南方有更多人與總統(tǒng)拉近距離，可以令他從中受惠。

“This is not a politician’s playlist,” said Rob Sheffield, a music columnist for Rolling Stone Magazine. “It’s a list of someone who, if they were a full-time music lover or a full-time music archivist, would be an extremely good playlist.”

“這不是一份政客的播放列表，”《滾石》(Rolling Stone)雜志的專欄作家羅布·謝菲爾德(Rob Sheffield)說，“這份列表即便出于一位全職音樂愛好者或全職音樂收藏家之手，也不失為一份極好的歌單。”

White House officials insisted that the picks were made solely by the president. 白宮發(fā)言人堅稱，所有歌曲都是由總統(tǒng)本人獨自選擇的。

Among TV shows, Obama is known as a fan of “Entourage,” “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones.” His favorite books tend toward elegiac literary fiction, and Stevie Wonder is often listed as the family’s favorite performer and is often invited to entertain at private family parties.

目前已知奧巴馬喜歡的電視劇包括《明星伙伴》(Entourage)、《絕命毒師》(Breaking Bad)和《權力的游戲》(Game of Thrones)。他喜歡的書傾向于傷感文學小說，史蒂夫·汪德(Stevie Wonder)經(jīng)常被列為這家人最喜愛的歌手，也經(jīng)常受邀在他們的私人家庭派對上演出。

Before playing on Aug. 5 at Obama’s 55th birthday party, singer Leon Bridges said Obama excitedly told him that he had “gotten ready” that morning by listening to Bridges’ tune “Smooth Sailin’.”

8月5日，歌手里昂·布里奇斯(Leon Bridges)在奧巴馬的55歲生日派對上演唱，演出前，布里奇斯說，奧巴馬興致勃勃地告訴他，他已經(jīng)“做好了準備”，那天早上一直在聽布里奇斯的《平靜的航行》(Smooth Sailin’)。

“I didn’t believe him,” Bridges said in a telephone interview. “I mean, he’s the president, you know?” But after “Smooth Sailin'” was listed second on Obama’s playlist, Bridges changed his mind.

“我根本不相信，”布里奇斯在電話采訪中說。“我是說，他可是總統(tǒng)啊，你知道。”但當《平靜的航行》出現(xiàn)在奧巴馬播放列表的第二位時，布里奇斯改變了想法。

“He told me he loved how I was able to recreate the sound of soul music but do it in a raw way,” Bridges said.

“他說他喜歡我的處理方式，說我能夠重塑靈魂樂的聲音，但是是以一種不加修飾的方式去重塑，”布里奇斯說。

Brian Wilson, a founder of the Beach Boys and one of the most venerated American rock composers, said in an interview that he, too, was honored to have his song “Good Vibrations” among the president’s favorites.

布里安·威爾森(Brian Wilson)是“海灘男孩”(Beach Boys)樂隊的一位創(chuàng)始人，同時也是美國最受敬仰的搖滾樂作曲家之一。他在一次采訪中表示，他的《美妙感受》(Good Vibrations)能夠躋身總統(tǒng)喜愛的歌曲之列，也讓他感到與有榮焉。

“I think it’s a good tune, and it’s a good record,” Wilson said of the song, which hit No. 1 on the charts after it was released in 1966 and set a new standard for studio-recorded music.

“我覺得它的曲調(diào)不錯，錄音效果也很出色，”威爾森談及這首歌時表示。該歌曲于1966年發(fā)布后占據(jù)了音樂榜榜首的位置，并為在錄音棚里錄制的音樂樹立了新標桿。

Obama grew up in Honolulu, and Wilson said that experience most likely had led the president to Wilson’s vibe. “I think it’s all about picking up vibrations from people,” Wilson said.

奧巴馬是在檀香山長大成人的，威爾森說，極有可能是那段經(jīng)歷，讓總統(tǒng)受到威爾森歌中氛圍的吸引。“我想整首歌描述的都是從他人那里得到的美妙感受，”威爾森說。

The president’s reading list has received a different reception. Several literary critics suggested that Obama’s decision to include “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead on his reading list may have had more political overtones than his musical selections.

總統(tǒng)所列書單的受歡迎程度與此大相徑庭。幾個文學批評家暗示，比起對歌曲的選擇，奧巴馬把科爾森·懷特海德(Colson Whitehead)的《地下鐵路》(The Underground Railroad)加入書單的決定，或許有著更濃烈的政治色彩。

“He’s signaling that it’s an important book in the day of Black Lives Matter,” said Michael Schaub, a literary critic based in Austin, Texas.

“他在暗示，在‘黑人的命也是命’(Black Lives Matter)的時代，它是一本很重要的書，”德克薩斯州奧斯汀的文學批評家邁克爾·紹布(Michael Schaub)說。

In a phone interview, Whitehead said that he and Obama both struggle to account for, and explain, the legacies of slavery and racism.

懷特海德接受電話采訪時表示，他和奧巴馬都力圖闡明相關責任并去解釋奴隸制和種族主義遺留下來的東西。

“When he does these big addresses on race, I see him engaged in the kind of work I hope I’m doing,” Whitehead said.

“當他就種族議題發(fā)表那些重要演講時，我明白他做的是我希望自己正在做的工作，”懷特海德說。

Both musical and literary critics described Obama’s selections as “emotional,” a description rarely applied to the man himself. A beach theme also ran through them. In addition to the Beach Boys on his playlist, Obama’s reading list included “Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,” a memoir by William Finnegan, an avid surfer.

音樂和文學批評家都以“情感強烈”來描述奧巴馬的選擇，而這個說法很少被用在奧巴馬本人身上。海灘似乎是貫穿其選擇的一個主題。除了把“海灘男孩”加入了播放列表，奧巴馬還把《野蠻的日子：沖浪生活》(Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life)加入了自己的書單，該書是狂熱的沖浪者威廉·芬尼根(William Finnegan)的回憶錄。

Critics say the lists reflect Obama’s self-assurance. “This playlist is confident and way cool, and it is decidedly not dictated by what the radio or the media is force-feeding him,” said Dan McCarroll, president of Warner Bros. Records.

批評家們指出，音樂和閱讀清單體現(xiàn)了奧巴馬的自信。“這份播放列表充滿自信，非常酷，里面的曲目絕對不是廣播電臺或媒體灌輸給他的那些，”華納兄弟唱片公司(Warner Bros. Records)總裁達恩·麥卡羅爾(Dan McCarroll)說。