That moving, compelling tune? Fink’s “Sort of Revolution.” Give it a try.

How did I find that out?

I first searched Google: diet coke commercial song. Couldn’t find anything helpful.

Next stop: Twitter search, same terms.

There I found >100 people talking about how great the song was and a few helpful links pointing me in the right direction. Bam.

The power of real-time search is being realized more and more every single day.

I thought a lot about Rob’s post, concluded he was spot-on, and decided to make a New Years resolution to go on a Facebook Friend Diet. My goal was to get under 1,500 “friends” by July 4.

Over the holiday, in between trips to the beach, I took to the task of tending my own garden — removing “friends” that I had never met, never communicated with, and had zero interaction with. At first it was a challenge. It’s never easy to “remove” someone who had asked for friendship at one point or another. It was particularly difficult to remove folks I may have known at one point or another or colleagues that I worked with at some time. And Facebook itself makes it technically difficult to remove folks en masse.

But then I started thinking about what Facebook is and why it’s so valuable to me. It’s a place for my friends and family to stay connected with me and where I go to stay connected to them. Facebook, friends, is not about “you.” It is instead about “me.” It is about my network. Unique to Facebook, it is also an important place for “me” to stay connected in new ways to the brands and causes I care about and a new water cooler to share with others that support.

I also thought about how I had been treating my network — as Rob pointed out to me in what felt like a direct media intervention — I had been neglecting and abusing them by simply importing my Tweets rather then creating new and engaging content. To remedy the situation I unlinked my Twitter account and stopped “Twittering” within Facebook. The mediums are different — each with a valuable role but only if used appropriately. Now I’m adding content which is exclusive to Facebook (or at least written specifically for the medium). The reward for doing this is that I’m already seeing interactions on my content increase.

Regarding my New Years Resolution, I crushed it. My network on Facebook is now around 1,300 folks — 98% of which I know personally, have met, and would consider them friends or respected colleagues. There is still work to do but it’s quite refreshing to login and recognize nearly every single person I’ve agreed to receive updates from.

My plan moving forward is to not take any of my “friends” for granted, to continue to tend my garden, and to appropriately use the platform exactly how it was intended. Having an effective online presence in direct media is never easy, there are no short-cuts, and you need to listen to good advice when it presents itself. As always, I am willing to do the work necessary to ensure success and I’m glad I’ve got good friends willing to speak up when I’m not living up to my end of the relationship.

At a young age, I was lucky enough to have an older brother who was in to top-notch bands like The Cure, U2, Grateful Dead, and others. It’s fun to think back to those days when I’d hole up his room in our basement, sit on his water bed, play Zelda or Castlevania on our Nintendo with the sound off, and listen to his collection of music. It was how I spent a lot of my time (when the pool was closed).

Still today I spend a lot of time listening, thinking, investigating, researching, discovering, and enjoying music. My all time favorite web destination besides Twitter + Facebook is Stereogum. When I get home from the office, it’s the first site I’m going to. When I work – I’ll kick on some music and pound through writing a proposal or a strategy memo for a client. When I’m happiest is at a concert with the people that matter to me in my life.

Living in Washington, DC and working in politics, I’ve also found music to be a great way to build and deepen relationships with those who look beyond politics when it counts. Indeed nothing makes me more pleased then seeing a Tweet from someone who I follow on Twitter (or who follows me) responding to something music-related. The typical Tweet goes something like this: “I may not agree with @DavidAll on the issues, but I dig his taste in music.”

In June of 2006, the National Journal did a mini-profile on the music scene in Washington and highlighted me for it that you probably never saw:

Washington may not have a signature song like New York City or San Francisco. But there is a running sound track in the life of the capital. Whether sung by Usher or Radiohead, the tunes accompanying big and small dealings across the city on any given day sound nothing like the music you hear when you’re put on hold. And one of the best ways to tune in is to go out. David All, a spokesman for Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., is among the members of an unofficial live-music caucus made up of personalities from political Washington. It meets regularly, but usually spontaneously, at places like the 9:30 Club, Iota and the Black Cat.

“There’s a small group of concertgoers, friends who kind of stick together,” All said. “The Washington, D.C., area has just amazing music.”

All remembered a recent Pat Green concert that was thick with Capitol Hill staffers; so are many concerts at Verizon Center. But the more eclectic the music is, the more exclusive the crowd becomes — and the deeper the connection goes. Seeing someone from Capitol Hill or K Street at a Decemberists show, for example, is altogether different from seeing someone at a Beck concert. “If you go to a concert like Interpol or the Strokes, you may only see four or five familiar people,” All said. “You kind of click with them because they get it. They get it.”

To conclude a post about what music has meant and continues to mean to me, I’ve thought about what music selection I want to leave you with. Quite frankly, I thought choosing just one music video or song would be easy. It is not.

I’d like to post a video/song from the first concert I ever attended: Grateful Dead, Buckeye Lake (Ohio), 7/29/94 but sadly I can’t find anything good to share. But make no mistake, that concert is what turned me on to live music.

The most influential band to me – the one I can trace my love for British music – is The Cure. Finding just one song to share is difficult, but this excellent, acoustic version of “Lovesong” does a good job of highlighting Robert Smith’s unbelievable song-writing abilities and great voice. Hearing it will always take me back to my earliest memories. Therefore, enjoy.

What does music meant to you?

It’s my “Place in this Universe” — part of an interactive exhibit at the Modern Museum of Art in New York City where patrons were asked to put their back against their wall and mark, with a black pen, their first name next to their height. This act denoted their place.

I didn’t actually write my name, just imagined that this is where I’d put my name. My place.

Listen here to find out why.

If you enjoyed that track, I’d also recommend A Sunday Smile off the same album which has a particularly special meaning to me.

Click here to watch the full video of Washington Unplugged which includes the White House’s Linda Douglas explaining their tactics (and my response). You can watch the excerpt here:

It was a true honor to be a part of this conversation. Bob Schieffer is a stand-up reporter and his staff was great.