From some of the winners of the deficit obsession essays, a great and widely varied selection of musical interludes with which to start your weekend:

—Woody Guthrie’s Hard Traveling is about a close an anthem to our times as any.

—As for my musical submission, I would like to submit myself: MDP the rapper/producer/guitarists/journalist. I left my job on Wall St., outsourced myself to China, and produced/recorded a rap album while working as an TV anchor in Beijing. This is my debut music video “City Is My Earth”:. The song was written and recorded in China and it’s essentially about missing home (NYC).

—Maybe because we seem to still be fighting for so many of the issues that were happening when I first danced/sang-along to this tune, like anti-war, civil rights, women’s rights, election chicanery, that I submit Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen version of Feelin’ Alright.

Now I’m probably today about as close to the end of my life as I was from its beginning when this tune came out 40 odd years ago, but the message seems just as enigmatic and pertinent. I still get up and dance around my office, rocking out.

—Super family-friendly link, from a very fun Hindi film about the Indian national girl’s hockey team (featuring the Hindi megastar Shah Rukh Khan as their coach).

Here is the movie’s theme song, “Chak De, India” (“Go For It, India!”). Music by the astonishing brothers Salim-Suliaman available at iTunes; movie streamable on Netflix with English subtitles.

Thanks, all–I’ve got a cool idea for the next contest, coming soon…