Say Goodbye to 2020 With Some 20th-Century Music
Let these upbeat songs from David Bowie, the Neville Brothers, the Clash and others kick off your virtual New Year’s Eve party
Long before there were personalized Spotify and Pandora playlists to share with the world without leaving the comfort of home, there were compilation tapes and mix CDs to give as gifts, take on road trips, and liven up flagging parties.
Being old enough to have given and received many such musical montages in days gone by, I’ve been thinking recently about what songs I would include on my personal out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new mix for the impending 2020-to-2021 celebration.
Since I won’t be hitting any parties where I could play this hypothetical mix, I’m celebrating, so to speak, by making it accessible via YouTube for Medium readers. I hope at least some of these songs feel like the right tunes at the right time.
A disclaimer about my musical tastes
Naturally, most of the songs that came to my mind have their origins in a time when Donald Trump was just a publicity-seeking real estate mogul and masks were something you only wore on Halloween. In other words, these songs were recorded when I was a much younger man.
If you find yourself rolling your eyes and wondering if I’ve even heard any music from this century, please know that I have. To be fair, a large portion of it is from artists I first heard in the 20th century, but that’s a different topic entirely.
For purposes of properly exorcising the hellish year that 2020 has been, it seems more than appropriate to reach back into the late 20th century for songs that can set the mood for a proper change in direction. I hereby deem it perfectly acceptable to add a little dash of pre-2020 nostalgia to our hopes for the coming year.
May 2021 be at least as good as your best year to date, and better if possible. Happy New Year!
A mix from the past with a message for the future
1. “Move On” by David Bowie (1979). This is one of my all-time favorite songs by Bowie. In it, he articulates what a whole lot of us wish we could do right now, if only metaphorically. “Sometimes I feel the need move on, so I pack a bag, and move on.” I don’t know anyone who isn’t ready to move on from this wretched year.
2. “Another World” by Joe Jackson (1982). Now that we’re moving on, we may as well step into another world. And in that other world, we will eventually turn around and see someone smiling — without a mask, just like in the song.
3. “In the Light” by Led Zeppelin (1975). One of the most underrated songs by one of the greatest rock-and-roll bands of all time, “In the Light” reminds you there’s always a way forward, even if you feel that you can’t go on.
4. “1921” by The Who (1969). Selected for its hopeful opening and not for the dark turn the lyrics take later on, the words, “Gotta feelin’ ’21 is gonna be a good year” are the ones to focus on, not the ones that come later and tell poor Tommy he didn’t see or hear the bad thing he did, in fact, see and hear.
5. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor (1978). This is a song about so much more than an ex-lover returning in an ill-construed bid to rekindle a flame that’s long since burned out in the singer’s heart. In these times, the refrain “I will survive” applies to the zeitgeist of the age.
6. “I’m Not Down” by The Clash (1979 UK, 1980 US). We’ve all been beaten down and thrown out in one way or another in 2020, some of us more than others. But hearing Mick Jones sing that he knows there will be some way he can swing everything back his way can help give you the lift that’s needed to persevere.
7. I’m Still Standing by Elton John (1983). Here’s another song about bouncing back after a bad relationship experience, but once again, the underlying message seems more expansive and directly applicable to these times. Stand tall, y’all!
8. “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac (1977). Yeah, I know, the 1992 Bill Clinton-Al Gore campaign ruined this song for millions of people my age. I mean, did they play any other songs at campaign rallies? Nonetheless, this upbeat homage to the power of forward-thinking optimism sends a message we would all do well to heed as the new year gets rolling.
9. “Get It While You Can” by Janis Joplin (First performed 1970, on LP release 1971). The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered home the truth that “we may not be here tomorrow,” and Joplin’s soulful vocals give it to us straight while simultaneously lifting us up.
10. “Holy Spirit” by the Neville Brothers (1995). One of my favorite songs from the 1990s, this song by the Neville Brothers serves up a message we all need to hear, not only in the midst of the ongoing pandemic and social unrest, but every day of our lives: “We gotta come together before it’s too late, we can’t keep living with all this hate.”
11. “New Sensations” by Lou Reed (1984). We’ve had enough of gloomy forecasts and doomscrolling in 2020, and like Big Lou back in ’84, a whole lot of us are more than ready to be talkin’ ‘bout some new sensations in 2021.
12. “Closer to the Heart” by Rush (1977). The sentiments in this Rush classic may seem naïve to some, but that’s only because so many of us have moved away from a heart-centered approach to decision-making. It’s time to recalibrate.
13. “Eyes of the World” by the Grateful Dead (1973). This in-concert classic delivers a kind of mystic hopefulness at a time when hope is in much shorter supply than usual. May we all wake and discover that we are the song that the morning brings.
14. “Serenade” by the Steve Miller Band (1976). Taking the mystic into the realm of the cosmic, this catchy song is a wake-up call for anyone who falls into the trap of dwelling too much on the negative. Wake up and look around you.
15. “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles (originally released in 1969; 2019 YouTube mix). There’s nothing wrong with a little sunshine and optimism to start 2021. Maybe at some point in ’21, we’ll actually be able to actually see the smiles as they return to people’s faces.
16. “Reason to Believe” by Bruce Springsteen (1982). There’s no use trying to sugarcoat it: 2020 has been hellish. And yet, as Springsteen drives home in this sparse but powerful song, the human spirit always finds a way to press on and a reason to believe.
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