Beautiful Day

The very moment I fell in love with Barack Obama was the night he accepted his party's nomination for President of the United States. I sat, cozy in my chair, TIVO cued up, and hit play during the precise moment Obama walked out through the corny Greek columns. I recognized the first strains of "City of Blinding Lights." This was the track that made me cry like a baby when it opened the show for U2 a few years ago. It begins with a soft keyboard and builds to an orgasmic, romantic crescendo. Seeing Obama looking dapper and presidential with one of my favorite songs playing in the background brought tears to my eyes. I was, how do I say this and not sound like a fool...inspired. Sweet Lord was I was glad I was alone. I felt embarrassed that I was weeping. It could have been the strain of Scot's lay-off the previous week, or the hope Obama was bringing with him, but I was hooked. And it was all because this man had tapped into what made me feel warm and fuzzy. He had U2 playing behind him. I loved this Rock Star Politician.

Looking back, I realize that it's probably the first time I could identify with a song that had been chosen during a presidential election. How many cheesy times have they picked Kenny Rodgers, The Four Tops or some other oldie but goodie. What this showed me was that whoever was in charge of spinning the tunes was from my generation. How refreshing.

Today I went for a run and hit the motherload of "perfect" songs on my MP3 player. I like to call it "The Obama Mix". And this happened in this exact order. No shuffling, no fast-forwarding. And I do have more than U2 and Coldplay on my list. :)

City of Blinding Lights - U2
Pride- U2 (about MLK and my all-time favorite song)
Viva La Vida - Coldplay ( "when I ruled the World....")
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears

I ran like an inspired Nike runner with dynamite under my ass. I felt a piss-poor era coming to an end. Daydreams of jobless claims dropping and people remaining in their foreclosed houses flooded my mind. And I envisioned a beautiful young family with a dog moving into the White House. It would be a tough-ass crank who wouldn't be moved by that. So no matter what Obama accompishes, I will at least feel a little bit better knowing that he knows who U2 is, and he's probably seen Spongebob Squarepants. That's gotta count for something.