A Debt Ceiling Playlist: 5 Songs To Push Your Mind To The Brink

By Tom Huizenga

Published October 17, 2013 at 11:12 AM CDT

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (left), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (center), and Speaker of the House John Boehner are three key lawmakers in the government shut down and debt ceiling crisis.

Late yesterday afternoon, once it looked certain we would dodge financial cataclysm, another wave of emotions rolled through. Although I'm glad we narrowly dodged a crisis, I am still frustrated. Rather than crack another pencil in two or aim a few more mental daggers at Capitol Hill, I've funneled five strong feelings into a music playlist — my five stages of congressional outrage, as it were.

Got any songs to soundtrack your shame, sorrow, relief or agitation? Let us know.

Arts & Culture

Tom Huizenga

Tom Huizenga is a producer for NPR Music. He contributes a wide range of stories about classical music to NPR's news programs and is the classical music reviewer for All Things Considered. He appears regularly on NPR Music podcasts and founded NPR's classical music blog Deceptive Cadence in 2010.

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