One of the people we lost in a difficult year for many was Todd Snider, who here sings “Long Year.”
As the year comes to a close and our planet completes another trip around the sun, humans reflect on the time that has passed. For many, this year has been particularly rough.
One of the many losses this year was the death of singer-songwriter Todd Snider, who may best sum up the year in his song, “Long Year.” In the video below, he recently re-recorded the song as part of a project of making new acoustic performances of his back catalog available for free to his fans.
Here is wishing you a happy new year and a better world.
It’s been a long long long year It’s been a long long long year How did I get here?
One of the great uplifting New Year’s songs is blues singer Charles Brown’s “Bringing in a Brand New Year.”
Wishing all of our readers a great new year with one of the most uplifting songs about the holiday, “Bringing in a Brand New Year.” Many songs about the new year are slow introspective songs, as the change in year is often a good time to reflect on our lives. But, of course, it can also be a time to celebrate, and Brown’s song is in a celebratory mood. Here is to the hope that your year is as fun as Charles Brown’s “Bringing in a Brand New Year.”
Charles Brown (September 13, 1922 – January 21, 1999) is probably best known for the Christmas classic “Merry Christmas Baby.” But his recording of “Bringing in a Brand New Year” should be essential listening every New Year holiday.
Gonna be a great big parade, I got my resolution made, Gonna ride above the stars, We might even take a trip to Mars.
B.B. King also has a great version of “Bringing in a Brand New Year.”
Wishing you all the best.
What is your favorite New Year song? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via Creative Commons.
What better way to say goodbye to 2020 than with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing “I’ll See You In My Dreams”?
As we say goodbye to 2020, which has been full of struggles, everyone will have their own way of ringing in the new year. We have lost so many people to the pandemic. But while collectively there has been so much loss and heartache, life moves on with births, marriages, and other events that have given joys too.
What better way to end the unusual year than with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s performance of “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” The song, from one of the best albums of the year, Letter to You, is a fitting coda to the year.
I’ll see you in my dreams, When all the summers have come to an end; I’ll see you in my dreams, We’ll meet and live and love again; I’ll see you in my dreams, Yeah, up around the river bend, For death is not the end, And I’ll see you in my dreams.
Springsteen made a statement with his choice of songs for the show. The album Letter to You features many rousing songs, new and old. Yet, Springsteen did not choose the title song about his connection with fans. He did not choose other songs that can be interpreted as referencing our current national leadership. He did not choose songs from the 1970s that he finally released officially on this album. No, with the year and pandemic on his mind, he chose the two songs most about loss and remembering lost friends and family: “Ghosts” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams.”
Saturday Night Live performances are somewhat notorious for not having the best sound. But the rough-around-the edges performance of the E Street Band, which has not been able to perform live this year, makes this version of “I’ll See You In My Dreams” even more endearing.
Bruce’s ragged vocal chords, the lyrics of loss, and the absence of two band members who chose not to travel due to Covid concerns, help make it the perfect performance for ending 2020.
The Ohio-based band Over the Rhine and lead singer Karin Bergquist capture the happiness and sadness in the beginning of a new year with their “New Year’s Song.” In the lyrics, Bergquist reminds us, “Our future’s bright, the past is checkered.” The song appeared as the closing track on the band’s 2014 holiday album Blood Oranges in the Snow.
Over the Rhine was formed by Bergquist and her husband, pianist/guitarist/bassist Linford Detweiler. Check out their “New Year’s Song,” and have a happy and safe new year.
In this web exclusive from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, host John Oliver explains why New Year’s Eve is “the worst.” And he provides some excuses you can use for getting out of participating in the holiday. Check it out.
Have a happy New Year. Leave your two cents in the comments.
