“Now close your mouth, ’cause you cold busted!”
– Oran “Juice” Jones (“The Rain”)
It’s hard to believe that I may be witnessing the second impeachment of a President of the United State in my relatively short 40 years. And yet, here we are, likely a few days from the seeing Congress put Donald Trump on Trial.
With each important milestone in this process, several songs have come to mind that fit the moment. And thanks to the Amazon Echo in our kitchen (uncompensated product mention #1), I can tell Alexa to instantly play these songs. These songs have now become The SJ Impeachment Playlist, which lives in my Apple Music account (uncompensated product mention #2). I’ve shared this playlist with a couple of my friends, and I’m now sharing it with y’all.
Each track, and the moments they represent, create a soundtrack to this moment in history. It’s also good music to listen to while checking email, driving, or washing the coffee cup that’s not supposed to go in the dishwasher.
Hope you enjoy it!
CLICK HERE to listen to the SJ Impeachment Playlist
Track 01: “Get It On the Floor” by DMX (Ft. Swizz Beats) – (Sept. 24) Soon after the news broke that Trump may have withheld aide to Ukraine to compel the nation to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the formal impeachment inquiry.
Track 02: “Set It Off” by Strafe – (Sept. 26) Congress releases the whistleblower complaint that set this entire impeachment train into motion.
Track 03: “Let Me See It” by UGK – (Oct. 7) This song came to mind when the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered Trump’s accounting firm to release 8 years of tax returns. The U.S. Court of Appeals has also ordered the release of the returns, and now the Supreme Court may weigh in. Could the returns shed light on his dealings with Ukraine or Russia? It’s hard to tell until he, dare I say it? (NOTE: I eventually switched to the radio version of the song. My mom and pastor may see this.)
Track 04: “Too Close” by Next – (Oct. 10) Rudy Giuliani, former NYC Mayor, amateur documentary filmmaker, and personal lawyer for a soon-to-be impeached president, has two business associates who were arrested on campaign finance charges.
Track 05: “Forget Me Nots” by Patrice Rushen – (Oct. 17) Due to his involvement in the Ukraine Affair, Rick Perry resigned as Secretary of the Department of Energy, the agency he infamously forgot he wanted to eliminate while running for president in 2012.
Track 06: “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys – (Oct. 23) Y’all remember when a big ol’ group of Republican Congressmen (that’s accurate, I think it was all dudes) stormed into a secure room (called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or “SCIF”) in the middle of an impeachment deposition?
Track 07: “Let’s Get It Started” by The Black Eyed Peas – (Nov. 14) It’s Day 1 of the Impeachment Hearings in the House Intelligence Committee. After the hearings, a report will be shared with the House Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for deciding whether or not articles of impeachment will be sent to the entire House.
Track 08: “That Lady (Parts 1 & 2)” by The Isley Brothers – (Nov. 15) Day 2 of hearings, starring ousted Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yavanovitch.
Track 09: “1234” by Feist – (Nov. 19) Another day of hearings, in which FOUR people testified on the same day!
Track 10: “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion – (Nov. 20) Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, is testifying before the House members and, well, it appears that he remembers some new information now.
Track 11: “Everybody Knows” by The Dixie Chicks – Oh yeah, Gordon Sondland is tellin’ on everybody!
Track 12: “On to the Next One” by Jay-Z (Ft. Swizz Beatz) – (Nov. 21) It’s the 5th day of hearings, starring National Security Council Russia expert Fiona Hill.
Track 13: “The Rain” by Oran “Juice” Jones – (Nov. 23) And then, in the middle of all this, it turns out that Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, had also met with a Ukranian official to get dirt on Biden!
Track 14: “Wednesday Morning” by Macklemore – (Dec. 1) With the Intelligence Committee done with their hearings, the House Judiciary Committee announces that they’ll start their hearings on Wednesday, December 4th.
Track 15: “Everything’s Out In the Open” by Johnnie Taylor – (Dec. 3) House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff releases the impeachment inquiry report, which will be used by the Judiciary Committee to determine whether or not to draft articles of impeachment.
Track 16: “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy – The House Republican leadership responds to the impeachment inquiry report.
Track 17: “In Too Deep” by Nas and Nature – (Dec. 4) While Trump attended a NATO meeting in London (until he got mad and left), the House Judiciary Committee heard from constitutional scholars on whether or not the evidence at hand justifies impeachment.
Track 18: “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye – (Dec. 5) Speaker Nancy Pelosi orders the House Judiciary Committee to move forward with drafting articles of impeachment.
Track 19: “Monday, Monday” by The Mammas & The Papas – (Dec. 9) The Judiciary Committee hears the Majority and Minority counsel presentations from the Intelligence Committee. One of them apparently thought he was bringing groceries to the meeting.
Track 20: “Who Run It” by Three Six Mafia – Oooohwie! Five minutes into this hearing and there’s drama. Lots of back-and-forth between Committee Chairman Nadler and Republican committee members.
Track 21: “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock – (Dec. 10) Speaker Pelosi and the House Committee Chairs announce that two articles of impeachment (“Abuse of Power” and “Obstruction of Congress”) will be presented to the Judiciary Committee.
Track 22: “It’s Goin Down” by Celly Cel – It is announced that the House Judiciary Committee will begin the process of considering the articles of impeachment on the night of December 12th.
Track 23: “Say Something” by Timbaland (Ft. Drake) – (Dec. 11) The first night of the Judiciary’s markup (read and amend legislation) will be devoted to giving all committee members the chance to weigh-in about the process. Brace yourselves.
Track 24: “All Night Long (All Night)” by Lionel Richie – (Dec. 12) It’s 10:15 pm and they are still at it. There have been amendments on amendments. Each amendment presented by Republicans have been voted down on a 23-17 party-line vote. But it looks they’re about to wrap up and –
Oh…
…wait a second.
Track 25: “Ruff Ryders Anthem” by DMX – Welp! Looks like there will NOT be a vote tonight. The Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, called for a recess and announced that the vote would take place in the morning. The Republican committee members are BIG MAD about it, but I guess it’ll continue tomorrow.
Track 26: “It’s Going Down For Real” by Paul Simpson – (Dec. 13) Mid-morning on Friday the 13th (Wooooooo!) the House Judiciary Committee voted 23-17 to approve both articles of impeachment. The articles will now go before the full house next week.
I will continue to add to the playlist until this impeachment process comes to an end, likely when the Senate decides whether or not to convict and remove the president. It appears very likely that the Senate (controlled by the President’s party) won’t convict Trump, but we’ll see how it all plays out.
I’m sure I’ll think of a song or two. 🙂
Notes From The Cookout 
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