2020: Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out (a NYE playlist)
Tracklist (full annotations under the cut)
1. Toxic / Britney Spears
2. It’s the End of the World as We Know It / R.E.M.
3. Bye Bye Bye / NSYNC
4. It Was a Shitshow / from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
5. Be Calm / fun.
6. Summer, Highland Falls / Billy Joel
7. Hard Times Come Again No More / The Proclaimers
8. Bridge Over Troubled Water / Simon and Garfunkel
9. Better Not Look Down / B.B. King
10. I’m Still Standing / Elton John
11. I’m Still Here / Patti LuPone
12. Someday We’ll Be Together / Diana Ross and the Supremes
13. We’ll Meet Again / Vera Lynn
14. We’ll Meet Tomorrow / from Titanic: a New Musical
15. This Year / The Mountain Goats
16. The Parting Glass / Hozier
17. Auld Lang Syne / Iona
Listen to 2020: Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out on Spotify.
Much love to you all. May this coming year be kinder and more just. May we make it so.
Toxic - Russell T. Davies called this as the anthem for the end of the world in the second episode of the Doctor Who reboot in 2005, and who am I to argue with genius?
It’s the End of the World as We Know It - I personally do not feel fine, but I didn’t feel like I could leave this one off.
Bye Bye Bye - I do indeed want to see 2020 out that door, bye bye bye, etc.
It Was a Shitshow - “Not to be crass, but this sucked ass” is how I feel about this year in a single sentence.
Be Calm - This is my go-to song for “I need to have a minor breakdown and process Emotions” moods.
Summer, Highland Falls - “They say that these are not the best of times, but they’re the only times I’ve ever known / And I believe there is a time for mediation in cathedrals of our own” is a line that has been in the metaphorical dark pit with me for a very long time, and this year was no different.
Hard Times Come Again No More - This whole song is just a huge 2020 “could we get a fucking break” mood.
Bridge Over Troubled Water - I spent much of 2020 weary, feeling small, and with tears in my eyes, so, you know, I just need to hear Art Garfunkel singing about that.
Better Not Look Down / B.B. King, I’m Still Standing / Elton John, and I’m Still Here / Patti LuPone are the “despite all evidence to the contrary, I’m going to be okay” trio of this playlist.
Someday We’ll Be Together / Diana Ross and the Supremes - I started listening to this song on repeat in March and its central premise is what I’m clinging to as the year rolls over.
We’ll Meet Again / Vera Lynn - Ditto for this song.
We’ll Meet Tomorrow / from Titanic: a New Musical - Okay so I don’t listen to this song a lot because it makes me absolutely bawl but it got me through some very intense grief and what was 2020 if not an exercise in very intense grief. Unlike “Someday We’ll Be Together” and “We’ll Meet Again”, this song (which in the musical is sung as they’re about to cast the lifeboats away) is about...what if we won’t? How can loves and lives that have finite endings last? “If tomorrow is not in store, let this embracing replace forever.” God, I’m tearing up just writing this.
This Year / The Mountain Goats - Practically obligatory. We are gonna make through this year if it kills us. Motherfucker.
The Parting Glass / Hozier - This one has also gotten me through a lot of grief, specifically pandemic-related grief. Tipping my hat to Mr. Andrew Hozier-Byrne for this one, it’s a real gift.
Auld Lang Syne / Iona - I love this song, I sing it at the top of my lungs every NYE, I love that it’s the tradition where I am. This version uses the tune that I’m used to singing at Burns Night Supper, and it includes the verse that is a delightful ode to splitting the bill: “And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup / And surely I’ll be mine!”
Growing up, our New Year's traditions were mostly gatherings with friends and family, the countdown to midnight, and making resolutions.
As I got older, and especially with the miracle of the internet introducing me to so many ppl from so many places, I learned of all kinds of other traditions and rituals that people had & I love learning about how other ppl celebrate or acknowledge things like this!
The only sort of unique NYE memory I have is from when I was young, and my dad was the minister of the church next door, and if I could make it up until midnight - I got to go over with him to ring the bell at midnight. Such a PK thing to be excited about lol
I don't really make resolutions anymore, but it's nice to have set times to reflect on where you're at and where you want to be and how to get yourself there.
I'm thinking mostly about connections - staying in touch with ppl, creating and maintaining communities, connecting more spiritually and to the greater whole of the universe, etc. Some of that will include figuring out best uses of social media and other forms of technology that connects us, some of it will be continuing to learn about the world around me and how to be my best self in it, and some of it will be more personal reflection about how to live out my values.
It's also neat to have a specific time to celebrate that those of us that are still here are still here. That's the draw of things like parties and fireworks and countdowns. It's like we're all affirming together -
"- we made it, we made it, we made it, we didn't all make it but look how many of us are still here, let's hold hands and keep making it, together."
As you do whatever reflecting or celebrating you do, feel free to give this NYE playlist I made last year a listen. It crosses genres and is a 4 hour set that is meant to take you on a journey of emotions:
* quiet contemplation of the year past
* anticipating the celebration to come
* wishing for next year to be better
* angst and fears that it won't be
* wild celebration in the face of those fears
* defiance against whatever will try and make it bad
* a belief that we'll get through it together
* and finally - a resolution to get through whatever comes next and be back together again this time next year
