We Asked the 2024 Candidates to Pick the Songs That Stir Their Souls

A prompt on the website formerly known as Twitter to share your top 20 songs recently set off a sharing frenzy:

“Make a 20-track comp of your all-time fav tracks, each artist can only feature once,” the X user, Nick Worrall, posted. “Not the 'best' songs, the ones that bring instant joy the second you hear the first note, the ones that give other people the best insight into what stirs your soul. Share when ready. #20tracks”

If this prompt really could tell us “what stirs your soul,” we thought about whom we wanted to know on such an intimate level the most. Easy: the 2024 candidates.

So we sent an email to all the 2024 candidates asking them for their top 20 songs. Not all of them responded, of course, and a few responded with fewer than 20, making us wonder if they’re really in it for the long haul. But there’s plenty to love, disagree with and wonder about in the lists of those who did. If you think someone’s picks can really tell us something about their soul, it’s worth wondering what made Chris Christie choose “Thunder Road” out of all of his beloved Bruce Springsteen’s songs — a track about getting older and “one last chance to make it real.”

We even made their playlists available on Spotify, so you can download the one you like best. (Not all candidates stuck to the rule about not repeating artists, but we forgave the oversight.) We’ll be keeping an eye on whose playlist gets the most downloads, so you can vote on the candidates’ music tastes, even if you don’t plan on voting for the candidate.

Chris Christie

Thunder Road — Bruce Springsteen
I Saw Her Standing There — The Beatles
Gimme Shelter — Rolling Stones
Dream On — Aerosmith
Pink Houses — John Cougar Mellencamp
Pressure — Billy Joel
Livin' on a Prayer — Bon Jovi
Run to You — Bryan Adams
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall — Coldplay
In the Air Tonight — Phil Collins
Let’s Go Crazy — Prince & the Revolution
Castle on the Hill — Ed Sheeran
Tiny Dancer — Elton John
Roxanne — The Police
And She Was — Talking Heads
Where the Streets Have No Name — U2
Mr. Brightside — The Killers
Finish what Ya Started — Van Halen
Hotel California — The Eagles
Runnin’ Down a Dream — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Nikki Haley

I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll — Joan Jett
Alright — Darius Rucker
I Want You To Want Me — Cheap Trick
She's A Beauty — The Tubes
Cruel Summer — Bananarama
We Got The Beat — The Go-Go’s
Photograph — Def Leppard
Call Me — Blondie
Peace Train — Cat Stevens
Take What You Want — Post Malone feat. Ozzy Osborne and Travis Scott
Take Me to Church — Hozier
Jolene — Dolly Parton
Fast Car — Luke Combs
Radio Ga Ga — Queen
American Girl — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Mr. Brightside — The Killers
Send Her My Love — Journey
Dancing Queen — Abba
No One Is To Blame — Howard Jones
Pour Some Sugar On Me — Def Leppard

Vivek Ramaswamy

*Ramaswamy was only able to contribute eight

Lose Yourself — Eminem
Rondo Alla Turca — Mozart
Centuries — Fall Out Boy
Believer — Imagine Dragons
Jolene — Dolly Parton
Thunder — Imagine Dragons
Dream On — Aerosmith
Pastures of Plenty — Woody Guthrie

Will Hurd

I Gotta Go — Robert Earl Keen
My Way — Steve Aoki, Aloe Blacc
Around the World — Daft Punk
Space Cowboy — Jamiroquai
Award Tour (feat. Trugoy the Dove) — A Tribe Called Quest, Trugoy the Dove
Doowutchyalike — Digital Underground
I’ll Do 4 U — Father MC
Boyz-N-The-Hood — Eazy-E
The Crossroads — Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Come & Talk to Me — Jodeci
One Day — Matisyahu
Sorry Not Sorry — Demi Lovato
Shake It Off — Taylor Swift
Survivor — Destiny’s Child
Champion — Buju Banton
Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
Too Close — Alex Clare
I Go Blind — Hootie and the Blowfish
Steal My Kisses  — Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
East Bound and Down — Jerry Reed

Larry Elder

My Girl — The Temptations
Midnight Train to Georgia — Gladys Knight and the Pips
Bridge Over Troubled Water — Simon and Garfunkel
Baby, I Need Your Loving — Four Tops
Rainy Night in Georgia — Brook Benton
It's Growing — Temptations
A Change is Going to Come — Sam Cooke
I’ll Take You There — Staple Singers
Think  — Aretha Franklin
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday — Boyz II Men
End of the Road — Boyz II Men
Let It Be — Beatles
Take Me Home — Phil Collins
Father and Son — Cat Stevens
Danny Boy — Jackie Wilson
That's Life — Frank Sinatra
Wake Up Everybody — Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes feat. Teddy Pendergrass
Shake — Otis Redding
The Twist — Chubby Checker
Crying — Roy Orbison

Asa Hutchinson

*Hutchinson was only able to contribute eight

Ophelia — Levon Helm
Stack O Lee — John Oates
Get Rhythm — Johnny Cash
Get the Party Started — Pink
When I’m Sixty-Four — The Beatles
Friends in Low Places — Garth Brooks
Sweet Caroline — Neil Diamond
We Belong Together — Los Lobos

Cornel West

*West was only able to contribute four

Love Supreme — John Coltrane
The Caravan of Love — The Isley Brothers
Respect — Aretha Franklin
Mississippi Goddam — Nina Simone