Thoughts On Listening to SecState Blinken's Playlist: May Your Enemies Always Be As Soft as Your Power

In my life, music has been a constant companion--particularly on my travels. On day one of my trip, I’m thrilled to share my first @spotify playlist, inspired by artists from Liverpool and Southeast Asia. Give it a listen--and tell me what you think! https://t.co/YNr29rXioW pic.twitter.com/t3SJtoK6Zv

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 10, 2021

If the Chinese haven't already been sufficiently awed by the U.S. Navy's 'freedom of navigation' patrols through contested waters, then surely this Spotify play list of SecState Blinken's will finish the job of strategic deterrence. 

Ha! Just kidding. Seeing "Penny Lane" in the #1 spot will only incite Chi-Com aggression. 

I assume this terrible idea was a Public Diplomacy soft power ploy. While I have the highest regard for great propagandists - and cultural propaganda can be the most powerful kind, see for instance the paintings of Jacques-Louis David, who was basically the artistic director of the French Revolution and permanently shaped its public perception - I cannot imagine why anyone thought there would be a public interest anywhere in the contents of SecState Blinken's playlist. Much less can I imagine what goal PD thought would be furthered by publicizing that particular playlist.

For what it's worth, I can easily imagine him listening to the first two songs, but the rest of them must be what young PD whippersnappers thought would make him sound interesting.

If PD plans any more stunning musical revelations like this, I strongly recommend they add a Rolling Stones number to counter the sweetness of Penny Lane. Personally, I'd go with Sympathy for the Devil, which has the best literary-historical basis of any '60s Rock hit, hands down. I mean, it references the Hundred Years War, the murder of the Russian royal family by Bolshevik revolutionaries, the Holocaust, the Augustinian inquiry on the nature of evil ("what's puzzling you is the nature of my game"), and has lines like "'cause every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints." The whole song was inspired by a Russian novel, The Master and Margarita. It's stunning.

The Beetles, bless them, mostly have lyrics like "I wanna hold your hand, yeah, yeah, yeah." Trust me, back in the day when those songs were new, the Beetles were strictly for the girls while the Stones were every boy's favorite band. 

So the choice is yours, PD. What will impress our adversaries more? Sentimental dreck or hard-core bloody reality put to a samba rock beat? 

I know which one would make Xi Jinping think twice before invading Taiwan.