Eight New Year’s Songs You Should Give A Listen

Congratulations, you’ve made it through the long weeks of hearing “Last Christmas” and “All I Want For Christmas Is You” at least ten times a day.

Next up is New Year’s Eve, and while there aren’t as many songs about the turn of the year as there are Christmas songs (fortunately), some noteworthy ones do exist.

Let’s take a look at eight New Year’s songs you should give a listen. Some of them are well-known hits and others are little-known gems.

I. ABBA — “Happy New Year” (1980)

“Sometimes I see how the brave new world arrives. And I see how it thrives
in the ashes of our lives.”

Okay, this is the obvious one. Like the most annoying of Christmas songs, you hear it every year. Maybe you’re already bored by it. But bear with me here, because “Happy New Year”, while overplayed, is very much underrated.

The chorus and verse hooks are, without doubt, catchy in that timeless ABBA way few songwriters have managed to emulate. But what really stands out are the lyrics. “Happy New Year” is exceptionally well-written, bordering on cheesy but never crossing the line, while featuring some of the greatest similes in pop history. It’s easily on the same level as other late ABBA masterpieces like “The Visitors” and “Slipping Through My Fingers”. So give this overplayed hit one more chance, and try to really listen this time around.

II. Sugababes — “New Year” (2000)

“I’m older than my years, drowning in my tears.”

This forgotten gem has always been overshadowed by its pop-defining predecessor “Overload”. Released as the second single from the Sugababes’ debut album, it peaked at #12 in the UK charts. Remember, this was back when Siobhan was a Sugababe and Heidi was still that girl that had left Atomic Kitten before they’d gotten famous.

The pop/R’n’B ballad may not be the strongest song in the band’s rather impressive discography, but its effortless chorus hook still gets you every time. If you’d rather go back to the year 2000 than to the upcoming one, this is the soundtrack to choose.

III. A Great Big World — “This Is The New Year” (2013)

“And in the end we have each other, and that’s at least one thing worth living for.”

“This Is The New Year” was the song that got American pop duo A Great Big World’s career started, way before “Say Something” thrust them into the limelight. Ironically, it was released in April, but it’s still a great track for the first day(s) of January.

With no proper chorus and semi-catchy verses, the song shouldn’t burn itself into your head. But, somehow, it does. Which is just as well, because the sublime lyrics and the uplifting message — paired with the simple yet fun video — make this the perfect track to start your year with.

IV. Dido — “Happy New Year” (2013)

“I’ll walk home with snow falling deep on frozen lawns. And I’ll leave all those others celebrating all the things that they have done.”

Released on the singer’s criminally underrated album Girl Who Got Away, this ballad is classic Dido. A sparse instrumentation creates a fitting background for her characteristically soft vocals, which she uses to deliver the sad lyrics flawlessly.

If you want to celebrate the new year by dancing the old one away, this may not be the song for you. But if you’re heartbroken — or just a fan of somber ballads — “Happy New Year” is the best possible companion for a long walk home from the party you didn’t quite feel you belonged at.

V. Brooke Fraser — “New Year’s Eve” (2014)

“It’s been a loud year, and I really need the quiet.”

Is there a better way to summarise the past year? I don’t think so, especially when the song continues with lines such as “we’re waiting on change, but I don’t know if it’s coming”. Of course, back in 2014, singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser couldn’t know how 2017 would go. Maybe she just thought: “You think no one can make a song that’s even more melancholy than Dido’s? Hold my champagne!”

No matter how the ballad was created, it’s a fitting closer for Brooke’s Brutal Romantic album and one of the most interesting New Year’s songs ever created: “Our faces to the wind, my heart against my skin. Tonight I’m gonna find something true.”

VI. Kacey Musgraves — “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” (2016)

“Maybe it’s much too early in the game, but I thought I’d ask you just the same. What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”

Originally written by Frank Loesser back in 1947, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” has been covered by pretty much every single recording artist out there, from Barbra Streisand to Idina Menzel, and from Bette Midler to Zooey Deschanel.

The recent version by country superstar Kacey Musgraves may lack the wit of the singer-songwriter’s original material, but makes up for that with an overdose of drama and old Hollywood glamour — especially in the breathtakingly beautiful music video.

VII. Taylor Swift — “New Year’s Day” (2017)

“I want your midnights, but I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year’s Day.”

One of the standout tracks on Taylor Swift’s electropop-heavy record Reputation, “New Year’s Day” showcases the emotional and personal songwriting that has characterised the singer-songwriter’s career from the early “Tim McGraw” days until 1989. Taylor gracefully reminds us of what she does best, and we were so ready for it (pun intended).

Interestingly, she doesn’t focus on that all-important, media-hyped New Year’s Eve kiss — as you may expect her to — , but rather on the people that are still there with you to clean up the mess you made the next day.

VIII. Pale Waves — “New Year’s Eve” (2017)

“I tried to make a good impression, but I failed again.”

Lyrically, this is way cheesier than Taylor’s song. (If you thought you’d never read that sentence, let me tell you that I never thought I’d ever write it.)

Anyway, newcomer indie pop band Pale Waves doesn’t offer much lyrically, with an incredibly simple chorus and a hardly revolutionary story. Yet, the hooks and the melodies the band crafted are sublime. Also, “New Year’s Eve” is the only song on this list, apart from A Great Big World’s “This Is The New Year”, that isn’t a slow ballad. So dance the old year away with this one and keep an eye on Pale Waves in the new year.