New Year's Eve Cocktail Hour

Peter Adrastos Athas

Dec 31

I've never researched New Year's Eve songs before because I dislike the holiday. There are more good NYE related tunes than expected, so it's time for a hybrid post. Imagine if you will that the Sunday Dozen and Friday Cocktail Hour bred and had an offspring. That's this post. I can't call it the FCH because today is Sunday. I can't call it the Sunday Dozen because I want to use it annually.

What's a poor boy to do? Carry on and act as if I know what I'm doing. It's what I usually do...

The list is an informal Sunday Dozen arranged randomly based on my whims and caprices at the time of writing. I'm not an expert on these songs. People who hate New Years Eve rarely are.

I'll include snappy comments before each video a la the Friday Cocktail Hour. I only hope the baby isn't too inbred. I'd hate to pass along my literary disabilities to future generations or some such shit. In the immortal words of Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi:

Words to live by on New Year's Eve.

I know that it's early for cocktails, but Mardi Gras falls on February 13th this year. Carnival involves day drinking and some training is in order. FYI, Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day are on the same day. Perhaps someone should write new lyrics for the Rodger & Hart classic making it My Ashy Valentine.

We begin where many New Year's Eve soirees peak, Auld Lange Syne. The great Scots poet Robert Burns wrote the lyrics. I hope that doesn't mean we have to have a Burns Supper complete with haggis. I have a horror of haggis.

After all that banging on about Robbie Burns, here's an instrumental version of Auld Lange Syne. But how can you complain about Duke Ellington?

Reset the Wayback Machine to 1942 with an Irving Berlin song from the hit movie Holiday Inn. See Bing sing. See Fred dance. Sing, Bing. Dance, Fred.

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but Otis Redding and Carla Thomas were made of sterner stuff. They were the King & Queen of Memphis soul, after all.

Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote this obscure New Year's song at the peak of The Eagles' success, 1978. It was released as the B-Side of a holiday single.

I'm not crazy about U2's 21st Century output but they were great in the 1980's:

New Year's Prayer began life as a poem. The line between poetry and lyrics is thin or is that fine? Beats the hell outta me.

Here's BB King with an optimistic Charles Brown tune:

For a more pessimistic take on New Year, I give you Harry Connick Jr. with George Jones along for the ride.

Frank Loesser wrote What Are You Doing New Year's Eve in 1947. It's been recorded over 300 times. Here's the Divine Diana Krall's take on this venerable holiday song.

This 2003 song by Death Cab For Cutie is set at a rather sad NYE party. It can't be as sad as the one Norma Desmond staged for Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.

Taylor Swift seems headed for world domination, so I thought I better include her. Don't worry: she'd be a benign dictatrix.

Finally, another traditional song. The Parting Glass is often sung at wakes, farewell parties as well as on NYE. It looks mighty toasty next to the fire with the Celtic sweater boys.

That's it for 2023. Y'all stay safe. We're staying in tonight. If you venture out, beware of drunk drivers and other pests. My final take on NYE: Bah Humbug.

Repeat after me and the Sarge: