The Playlist: Got a Job

Former state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, officially  joined the Texas A&M University System administration this week. In honor of this and other high profile hires, we start our weekly playlist with Smokey Robinson's "Got a Job."

The easiest way to enjoy the playlist is to download Spotify, which is a free program. But even without it, you can still follow along. Here are this week's other selections:

State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, confirmed Friday that he is allowing fellow state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, to use his private plane to campaign around the state, so we added "Big Jet Plane" by Angus & Julia Stone.

That is followed by James Taylor's "Handy Man," a reference to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Pauken's call for more vocational education. Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis, a state senator from Fort Worth, stopped by El Paso and talked about border security, so we have "El Paso" by The Gourds.

Next up is "I Love My Dog" by Cat Stevens, because business leaders in Texas are prepping for new regulations regarding service dogs. Texans are voting on constitutional amendments that could give tax breaks to veterans, so we added a classic John Prine song under its original title, "Great Society Conflict Veteran's Blues."

In the wake of criticism from a former Texas Trial Lawyers Association president about the group's spending practices, the association held a meeting in Austin to address concerns, inspiring the addition of "Secret Meeting" by The National.

We have "The Funeral" by Band of Horses in light of a story by the Trib's Corrie MacLaggan about the lack of Hispanic representation in the state's funeral industry. Ross Ramsey wrote about friendly fire in Texas legislative races, so the next song is "Friendly Fire" by Leagues.

Finally, we have the String Cheese Incident's "Sometimes a River," in light of the latest installment of our "Troubled Waters" series.

Enjoy!