Mid Day Zen: President Obama Sings A Few Lines of ‘Sweet Home Chicago’

X Facebook Email Flipboard Pinterest Print Reddit

Last updated on March 8th, 2012 at 07:42 pm

Don't Miss Sarah Jones's Essay On Kristi Noem Titled Predatory Is The Point On The Daily.

Last night in your White House, the President and his gorgeous First Lady hosted a star-studded night of blues music for PBS’ “In Performance at the White House”. B.B. King was in the house and he urged the President to take a turn at the mic, saying, “You can do it…Come on, now!” Who can say no to B. B. King? POTUS finally took the mic from Mick Jagger and gave us this moment of zen.

Watch here courtesy of the White House blog:

The President talked a bit about the origins of the blues, noting its root in slavery and hard times. Obama said, “(T)his music speaks to something universal. No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. The blues gets all of that, sometimes with just one lyric or one note.”

The President easily tied the blues to the tough times Americans face today, “(T)heir music teaches us that when we find ourselves at a crossroads, we don’t shy away from our problems. We own them. We face up to them. We deal with them. We sing about them. We turn them into art. And even as we confront the challenges of today, we imagine a brighter tomorrow, saying, I can do it, just like Muddy Waters did all those years ago.”

In case you missed your President singing Al Green (seriously?), check it out courtesy of the Obama Diary:

Some people like a fake cowboy cutting brush because he’s afraid of horses, others like their President a bit more real.

I’ll take the guy singin’ the blues, thanks.

The performance will air on PBS Monday, February 27.

Sarah Jones

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.

Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.