New Year, New Music
Happy New Year, friends! As we walk into January together, I’d like to steal a few lines from “The Beginning Song” by The Decemberists:
Let's commence to coordinate our sights
And get them square to rights
Condescend to calm this riot in your mind
Find yourself in time
I’m all about sauntering into the new year slowly and quietly. Calm this riot in your mind? Sign me up, please. Maybe you want to ease in too, and if so, I made a playlist to accompany the first days of another new year. I hope it will bring some quiet intention to the opening of 2026, and if you’re looking for some further creative options to go with it, I have some ideas for that too:
Option #1:
This playlist runs for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Can you set aside that length of time and bring a journal or a blank computer screen into a cozy spot? Grab some hot tea, press play on the playlist, and write through the following questions until the playlist ends.
“The Beginning Song” ends with the phrase “It’s all around me.” What is all around you? Describe your immediate surroundings but play closest attention to how you feel. Then, expand your view. Where are you literally and figuratively? What fills your life? Who fills your life? What stays in 2026 and what will you let go?
In “End of Beginning,” Joe Keery sings about “another version of me.” Wave goodbye to the version of yourself from last January. How are you different today? What have you learned in the last year? How have you grown? How have you changed? How are you still the same?
“Landslide” includes this line: “Time makes you bolder.” Be assertive. What do you want this year? What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want to begin and what do you need to do in order to make it happen?
“I’ll get there. I’ll get there. I’ll get there.” Maren Morris sings this in “carry me through.” What are you in the middle of? What are you still working out? The new year never starts with a completely blank slate, so take a moment to honor your present reality. Be gentle with yourself as you acknowledge whatever is ongoing.
“New Year’s Day” by Taylor Swift is all about the people who are with you in the mundane moments of life. My sister-in-law calls these “nothing people” because they require nothing from you; they’re easy and reliable. Write about your nothing people. Who will walk into the quiet parts of this year with you?
“Here Comes the Sun” and “Forever Young” both contain benedictions. Write a benediction for your new year. Bless it with your words and intentions and hopes for the days, weeks, and months ahead.
Option #2:
A cento is a poem made up of lines borrowed from other poets or writers. “Cento” comes from the Latin word “patchwork garment,” and that’s what it is—a quilt of words and phrases repurposed from other people.
Read through the lyrics of all the songs in this playlist. Write down any that mean something to you. Then look at your list and turn the phrases into a cento for your new year. (If you want an example, here is Maggie Smith’s “Ohio Cento.”)
Option #3:
Make your own playlist for the new year. What songs do you want to accompany these first days? What words will most buoy you and send you into January with a sense of hope and purpose? Put a playlist together and then share it with us on Facebook!