Former president Barack Obama’s Spotify playlists are the stuff of legend—carefully curated, worldly, tasteful, a little adventurous, and likely the product of six months of careful focus group research. Today, because everyone loves a good “middle of winter” playlist, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo dropped a 38-track mix that will make the perfect soundtrack to a night spent drinking by yourself in a bar upstate before slowly rolling your car into a tree.
It begins with a self-aggrandizing Bon Jovi cut—“Work For The Working Man”—before moving through a suite of songs by Billy Joel, Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, and Billy Joel. It ends with the song “We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel. Along the way, listeners will hear cuts by Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, a twofer by Lady Gaga, and three tracks by The Rolling Stones. Someone probably nudged him and said “put some rap on there,” so Jay-Z shows up. There is not a single track here that is not on the given artist’s greatest hits, which is probably by design. It is all as if to say Andrew Cuomo is an everyman—one who has stolen your dad’s CD wallet, has no idea how to make a playlist, and very much likes Billy Joel.