The Playlist: Life On TV

Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has bought more than 250 hours of ad time on television, more than all of the other statewide candidates combined, so we start our weekly news-inspired playlist with Kid Sister's "Life on TV."

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

A former aide to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and embezzlement, so we have Usher and T.I. with "Guilty." Then, because the State Board of Education is preparing to take a final vote on the social studies textbooks that will be used in the state's public schools for the next eight years, we have "Textbook Case" by Chuck Prophet.

A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis trailing Abbott by 16 points, so we added Eddie Vedder's "Far Behind." And then there's Bob Mould's "Fix It," which is what Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, said should be done with the Texas Enterprise Fund

The Tribune's Jay Root and Edgar Walters wrote about how control eluded the state in the early days of the Ebola crisis, so we included "Out of Control" by the Eagles. The first public meeting on a proposed high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston largely focused on where stations would be located, inspiring the addition of "Location" by Freelance Whales.

Officials in Texas' hottest shale plays said they're not worried about a steep drop in crude oil prices that threatens to slow drilling in some U.S. oilfields. So we have "You'll Be Okay" by A Great Big World. And we also added "If I Only Knew" by Reba McEntire, because it appears that most legislators were not told about a study that said the voter photo ID law they were considering — and ultimately passed — would leave more than a half-million voters without required state-issued IDs.

Finally, in honor of the beginning of the early voting period, we close with Leonard Cohen's "Democracy."

Enjoy!