It’s that time of year again. The presents are all unwrapped and the week of reflection is upon us. What did we do this year, good or bad and what do we want to change in the coming year? When the clock strikes midnight on December 31st  where will you be?  Passed out hugging a friend’s toilet?  Playing games and dancing, surrounded by kids hooting and hollering, or maybe fast asleep in your bed?  Whichever way you spend your New Year’s Eve, make sure you stay safe and most importantly, make sure you have the right music to make your moment the best!

Whether you enjoy the quiet evening of reflection and put on Ella Fitzgerald’s "What are You Doing New Year's Eve, or the "Celebration" of Kool and the Gang, or you’re the confident party-goer and play Sinatra’s "I Did it My Way," you have your own taste for what makes up a musical new year's eve. Here are my top five songs for any New Year’s moment.

5. Auld Lang Syne

I don’t care who you are, or what type of music you enjoy. You have to have the New Year’s anthem somewhere in your night. It is just like singing Happy Birthday on your birthday, it has to happen at some point. So I’ll just put it here at number five.

4. A Long December

Yes, the song by The Counting Crows, it is a great song for the quiet moments. Those you may spend wondering about questionable things that may have happened in the last 365 days, and if the new year will be better. When your dancing legs get tired, this is the song that will get your mind dancing and create a perfect time to enjoy those precious memories.

3. Same Auld Lang Syne

This is another slow one, but it’s meaningful. Be honest with yourself.  Unless you are still in your first relationship, you have, at times, wondered about a certain past lover and where they are today. That is exactly the story that Dan Fogelberg is telling in this song of a chance meeting between two former lovers. I am happily married, but that does not stop my mind from wondering. I think about women from my past, like, how are they today, what type of woman have they become, and who would I be if we were still together? I believe it’s human nature to get caught up in a thought like that and this song fits right there, in that moment.

2. Will 2K

OK, let’s get this party started! Will Smith’s musical take on the change of the millennium is the poster child for party and celebration songs. It has that beat that forces you to move like the better Will Smith music always does. Even with its dated lyrics, it is a must play at any turning of the year party. If Mr. Smith updated his lyrics to this song every year, I’ll go on record saying it would be my favorite song every year.

1. 1999

I was 7 in 1982 when Prince recorded this song. I was 24 in 1999, when we actually partied that way. Now at (Gulp!) 39, this is still the go-to New Year’s Eve song for me. For the last 15 years on New Year’s Eve, I still party like its 1999, and I still wish I was 24. No matter the year, if someone says New Year’s music, I would bet nine out of ten people think of this song first. You’ve reflected, you have had a nice dinner, and now it is time to party like its 1999! Don’t forget to get your kiss at midnight and Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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