Ten Great Songs for a New Years Eve Party or Celebration

As you kick off your New Years Eve party or celebration in preparation for the start of a New Year, one of the things you need to look at is a playlist of songs with kind of a New Years Eve theme. Of course, the old faithful Auld Lang Syne should be played or sung, or both, but what other songs are out there with a New Years theme? New Years Eve music should close the door on the old year only after taking a look at the past year, in my opinion. The next thing I look for in New Years Eve music is something upbeat to lift the spirits (there won't be any 'spirits' at your party, will there?) of the listener as he or she looks ahead to the New Year.

You don't want to use all your most upbeat music at the start, however,. It would be better to start slowly and build up to a crescendo, then taper off toward the end. So here are 10 New Years Eve songs to help you do just that. 2008 wasn't all bad, but it was a tough year from the loss of my favorite dog on Easter Sunday to the destruction of our roof in a massive hailstorm in April. Then, the red tape and haggling with the mortgage company, the construction company, the insurance company and the diagnosis of cancer for my brother in law. Thus, turning the page on 2008 is not something I dread.

With the economy in the dumper and every other challenge that awaits us in 2009, we have nowhere to go but up, right? Hopefully 2009 will be better, but how about let's forget all the problems on New Years Eve and have fun. Remember how? Here are 10 suggestions for your playlist of New Years Eve songs:

1.Time/ Hootie And The Blowfish

On the surface, this song might seem to be a downer for New Years Eve, but we can't completely ignore Father Time as we appraoch a New Year. To me, what makes a good New Years Eve song is one that helps us in dealing with our issues and shrugging off our age instead of ignoring such things. Can you teach me about tomorrow and all the pain and sorrow, runnin' free, 'cause tomorrow's just another day, and I don't believe in time...

2. Long December/Counting Crows

This is another selection that might seem maudlin to some, but it sums up perfectly the relief of ending one year while looking hopefully towards the next. What makes this ideal on a playlist of New Years Eve songs is the imagery in the words as Adam Duritz paints a word picture with lines like the smell of hospitals in the winter and the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters with no pearl, all at once you look across a crowded room and see the way that light attaches to a girl..

The songs main line is: a long december and there's reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last. The first thing I think of when hearing this song is how long the month of December seems to a college football fan when his team is not bowl bound. With almost their entire team coming back next season, plus Michigan transfer QB Ryan Mallet and some other talented recruits, Arkansas will be a bowl fixture in seasons to come, mark it down.

3. Daylight Fading/Counting Crows

Daylight fading, come and waste another year, all the anger and the eloquence are bleeding into fear, moonlight creeping around the corners of our lawn, when we see the early signs of daylight fading, we leave just before it's gone. Sounds kind of like guests who have overstayed their welcome in a way. In spite of the lyrics, this is an upbeat New Years Eve song extraordinaire. Stay past midnight, but don't overstay your welcome, please...

4. Let's Go Crazy/Prince

Before the Purple One wanted to be known by that funky symbol, before he became known as "The artist formerly known as Prince", Prince Rogers Nelson had some huge hits in 1984. This one makes a great addition to your playlist of New Years Eve songs. Performed in the film Purple Rain the song goes something like this: Let's go crazy, let's get nuts, let's go look for the purple banana(?), 'til they put us in the truck, are we gonna let the elevator bring us down, oh no, let's go crazy. Don't go knockin', your New Years Eve party will be rockin' with this song on your playlist.

5. The Sad Caper/Hootie And The Blowfish

Forget the title, this is not a slow ballad. It is an upbeat pop/rock song of the sort that shot these guys to the top of the charts in the mid-90's. If many of you have a little libation in you by this point of the evening, as I suspect, you can relate to these lyrics Control has left me, and I can't feel another thing, before you left me you were free, so I'll just lay me down. I know. the lyrics weren't written with New Year's Eve in mind, but are they appropriate or what?

6. Tubthumping/Chumbawumba

You might not recognize the name of the song, or the band, for that matter. This British band had this one and only hit in the U.S. Especially coming out of a trying year like 2008 for so many of us, this song is perfect for New Years Eve music. He sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the best times, I get knocked down, but I get up again, nothing's ever gonna keep me down. Of course, there are lines about different adult beverages, too, lending the song even more credibility as a New Years Eve song. If you were alive in the 90's you have heard this one at some point.

7. 1999/Prince

I'm probably showing my age with so many tunes from the 80's and 90's here, but these songs still hold up as New Years Eve songs, or any other occasion, far as I'm concerned. Party like it's 1999 doesn't have quite the same ring to it a decade later, but remember this song was written years before the end of the last millenium, so, to quote the man himself, "sue me if I go too fast". I was dreamin' when i wrote this, so sue me if I go too fast, but life is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last, war is all around us, my mind says prepare to fight, so if I'm gonna die I'm gonna listen to my body tonight. So, if your lion's gettin' ready to roar, crank this song up at your New years Eve party.

8. Get Ready/Proclaimers

There are several versions of this Smokey Robinson-written tune, but the Proclaimers version is the most recent. Featured on the soundtrack of Dumb and Dumber, this remake is ideal for a New Years Eve party as the clock starts ticking down close to midnight. Fe-fi-fo-fum, look out baby, 'cause here I come could be your battle cry as the minutes dwindle down.

9. When Tomorrow Comes/Eurhythmics

With Dave Stewart's work on guitar and keyboards and Annie Lennox's soulful vocals, this song is a reminder that the night inevitably leads to tomorrow, so keep in mind that too much of a good thing is possible and use a designated driver if necessary. Every star was shining brightly, just like a million years before, and we were feeling very small underneath the universe, and you know I'm gonna be the one, who'll be there when you need someone to depend on, when tomorrow comes, I'm gonna be with you, when tomorrow comes. The song is not preachy, just a good fast paced 80's techo-pop tune to enjoy.

10. It's All Been Done/Bare Naked Ladies

This decade old song from BNL's Stunt CD of 1998 (doesn't seem possible it's been that long does it?) is just about irrestible with hooks galore. It could also be a good closer for your New Years Eve party.

I met you before the fall of Rome, and I begged you to let me take you home, you were wrong, i was right, you said 'goodbye', I said 'goodnight', it's all been done, it'a ll been done, it's all been done before

I met you before the west was won, I heard you say the past was much more fun, you go your way, I go mine, but I'll see you next time...