New Year’s Eve is one of the most joyous celebrations of the year, but that comes with a lot of pressure. Somehow, NYE needs to feel more “special” – whatever that means – than other nights, and one of the keys to achieving this is playing the absolute best New Year’s songs, all night long. Just ask Lionel Richie.
So, while you’re loading up the confetti crackers and organising your food deliveries, outfit the night’s playlist with these hits. You’ll need tunes to cover every atmosphere the night may have. Whatever the genre, we have you covered, because spinning the top tracks means your soiree should be one of the best parties yet, right? Ring in 2022 with these top New Year’s songs.
1. “New Year’s Resolution” by Camera Obscura
Tired of Belle & Sebastian, but still looking for something Scottish and twee? Well, look no further than 4AD’s Camera Obscura, who’ve released five lovely albums of indie pop.
2. “1999” by Prince
Prince’s party anthem hits hard every year, even two decades after Millennium Eve, but in 2021 there’s something kind of wistful about it. Most of us won’t be able to “party like it’s 1999” this NYE, but we can still safely enjoy the tune.
3. “New Year’s Resolution” by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas
Looking to replicate the success of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (and Kim Weston and more), Stax Records combined two of their biggest stars to knock an album together. The result, 1967’s minor soul classic “King & Queen”, was recorded in six days with Thomas and Redding backed by Isaac Hayes and Booker T & the MGs. The LP helped turn Redding into a major star a year before his tragic plane crash.
4. “Let’s Start the New Year Right” by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby – Mr. Holiday himself – sang this Irving Berlin-penned tune in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, co-starring Marjorie Reynolds and his pal Fred Astaire. The film also contained the Academy Award-winning “White Christmas” for which this song was the b-side to when it was released on vinyl in 78 RPM.
5. “Happy New Year” by Abba
The legendary Swedish hitmakers included this tribute to the new year on their turn-of-the-decade 1980 album, Super Trouper. A retrospective of-sorts on the close of the ‘70s, the Euro megastars croon, ‘”t’s the end of a decade / In another 10 year’s time, who can say what we’ll find?”
6. “Bringing In A Brand New Year” by Charles Brown
Texas-blues man and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tony “Charles” Brown was an apprentice electrician, a high school chemistry teacher and a mustard gas worker in the 1940s before he got discovered. This is just one of his numerous holiday songs – and over 100 singles on a variety of labels – from a ridiculously prolific career both as a solo artist and a member of the Three Blazers.
7. “Funky New Year” by The Eagles
A non-album nugget that from the L.A.’s 1970s musicians of white-funk, this song was the b-side of the band’s “Please Come Home For Christmas”. The band recorded both seasonal tunes during the two-year sessions for their commercially successful 1979 album The Long Run.
8. “New Year’s Eve” by Tom Waits
Sounding exactly how you would expect a Tom Waits New Years Eve song to sound, this one even incorporates “Auld Lang Syne” into the chorus. Waits has said the song was incredibly long but had to be cut down.
9. “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies
For anyone who’s had kind of a rough 2021 – and come on, who hasn’t? – this comforting ‘60s pop tune should act as a salve. “And this will be our year,” sings frontman Colin Blunstone over poignant but purposeful guitar chords, “Took a long time to come.” It’s a universal sentiment, world-weary but still fundamental, that many of us will relate to.
10. “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” by Ella Fitzgerald
Probably the most covered New Year’s song, Frank Loesser’s 1947 hit has been recorded by artists as varied as Bette Midler, Donny Osmond, Lena Horne, the Carpenters, Johnny Mathis, Harry Connick Jr. and the Stylistics. The Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt video version alone has 16 million views on YouTube.
11. “In the New Year” by The Walkmen
The indie rockers’ warbled tales of nostalgia are a perfect match for a holiday that’s about looking forward as much as it is looking back. The band may have gone on an “extreme hiatus” in 2013, but this track, from 2008’s underrated You & Me, is a gem that easily still stands.
12. “My Dear Acquaintance (Happy New Year)” by Regina Spektor
Classically trained Russian pianist and formidable singer-songwriter Regina Spektor hangs with the Strokes, performed at the White House for President Obama and, according to Tom Petty, is one of the most talented musicians alive. Here she makes a gorgeous Peggy Lee classic even more gorgeous.
13. “New Year’s Eve” by MØ
You’ll probably know Danish singer-songwriter MØ for her feature on the inescapable Major Hit “Lean On”, one of the most streamed songs of all time. This NYE-themed electro gem is more pensive and reflective, but also a song about forgetting all your cares for a night.
14. “Will 2k” by Will Smith
“It’s here and I like it”, opens K-Ci, the singer whose soulful exhortations are all over Big Will’s joyful millennial ode. Released on September 9, 1999, there wasn’t really much time for this song to take flight before the ball actually dropped on the new century. But thankfully its exuberant party vibes have no expiration date.
15. “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone
Miss Simone’s deeply felt rendition of this golden oldie is arguably the definitive version – sorry, Muse. It also feels like a booming tribute to hard-fought victories and new beginnings, which makes it perfect New Year’s listening. Here’s to a stellar 2022!
