Twelve Months of Music, Part 1: A January Mix
Jan 01 '06
The Bottom Line a dozen songs to set the mood for this first month of the new year
January is a month full of contrasts – there's the exciting feeling of freshness for the brand new year and the sense of rebirth through our resolutions, encouraging us to more out of the upcoming months that we had with the previous year, but at the same time, the snowy weather, alternating between days of freezing rain, wet, sloppy snowfalls, and bright, sunny days offset by piles of dingy gray snow that line the sides of the roads. They days are getting longer, dovetailing with the promise of a new lease on life that comes with the brand new year, yet the hours of sunlight we're afforded each day are so short to begin with, it can feel like we're saddled with a world of eternal night, especially on those days when we have to leave for work before the sun comes up and don't get to leave until well after sundown.
Break it all down, and there are plenty of essential elements that make up January. Wrapping our minds around all of them at once can be a daunting task. But, I've always been of the belief that there are perfect songs out there to suit every possible occasion, and every possible mood, and to that end, I've scrounged up a mix of songs that work together to capture, for me at least, what January is all about.
The New Year by Death Cab for Cutie
The guitars may be clashing a little to hard for the typical quiet January evening, but the way the vocals mix uncertainty, hope, anticipation, and nostalgia into a rich, swirling collage of emotion makes the song perfect to play in the background while we reflect on the previous year and look ahead to what the next twelve months will bring.
♬ so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let's make believe we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one ♬
Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
A crisp electronic arrangement that pops and crackles like new fallen snow crunching underfoot. A light, airy quality to the lyrics reminiscent of the way you can see your breath on a cold January day. A warm glow to the sound like the full moon shining down on a cloudless winter's eve. The song may have a tight energy that that threatens to escape from the listener, but it's focused intensity has mid-winter written all over it.
♬ true, it may seem like a stretch
but it's thoughts like these that catch
my troubled head when you're away
when I am missing you to death ♬
A New England by Billy Bragg
Bragg's solo electric guitar arrangement has a stark, naked feeling to it that mirrors the way that January landscapes seem isolated and frozen in time, not lifeless, but suspended and anticipating a moment when they can spring to life. Lyrically, Bragg combines that regretful look back on the past with the uncertain speculation about the future that can easily make January such an overwhelming time for the emotions.
♬ I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them, but they were only satellites
is it wrong to wish on space hardware?
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care ♬
Magnet and Steel by Walter Egan
With a throwback to the fifties in its doo wop arrangement, Egan's 1978 hit has a classic feel drizzled all over it. The rich harmonies and languid three quarter time rhythm help the song to radiate a warmth that can chase away the most intense chills as easily as curling up by the fire with a special someone as the snow comes drifting down outside.
♬ with you I'm not shy to show the way I feel
with you I might try my secrets to reveal
for you are the magnet and I am steel ♬
Nowhere Man by The Beatles
January can often bring with it plenty of overwhelming feelings. The prospect of the whole year stretching out ahead of us can easily make us feel like we're getting lost in the shuffle, just like the titular nowhere man of the Beatles song. Add in the crisply aloof electric guitar solo that floats above the acoustic arrangement, and the song positively steeps itself in that wintery January vibe.
♬ doesn’t have a point of view, knows not where he's going to
isn't he a bit like you and me?
nowhere man, please listen
you don't know what you're missing
nowhere man, the world is at your command ♬
Cold Hands, Warm Heart by Brendan Benson
Never was there a better title for a romantically frustrating wintery pop song. The chill of the synthesizer chimes and the tight snap to the drum line keep the song crisp and frosty, while the accordion fills that round out the arrangement of the chorus keeps the memory of warmth alive while the emotional blizzards rage away outside.
♬ all talk, no action
what's the big attraction?
don't tell me it's just because
all work, no play
don't wanna go on this way
I wanna go back to the way it was ♬
Please Forgive Me by David Grey
Lush, sweeping strings like a crisp, chilly gust of wind. Drum loops that pop like logs on a crackling fire. Thick piano chords that swirl around like smoke curling out of a chimney. On top of it all, Grey pines away through wishful anticipation, uncertain as to what the future may bring and resolving not to relive the mistakes of the past.
♬ I've got half a mind to scream out loud
I've got half a mind to die
so I won't ever have to leave you girl
won't ever have to say goodbye
I won't ever have to lie ♬
Snowden by the Doves
Hauntingly crisp and refreshing with its xylophone riffs and sweeping synthesizer lines, the Doves capture that refreshingly frozen feeling of a sub-zero January morning. You know that kind of morning - a light layer of snow has fallen overnight, but the clouds have moved out and the morning sun makes the fresh snowfall sparkle like diamonds. And the way the hairs in your nose freeze to one another when you inhale, stinging just enough to remind you that you're alive. That the feeling the Doves capture here.
♬ I said man, can you help me out?
bring me back to love
bring me back to life ♬
Steppin' Out by Joe Jackson
With its starkly cold evenings and its preternaturally early sunsets, January is a perfect time to slip on that little black dress or that sleek sport coat and head out to an elegant grown-up cocktail party. Jackson's 1982 hit, full of crisp hi-hat rhythms and resonant piano chords sets the perfect mood for a stylish evening out on the town. And with its lyrics imploring us to go out and live the high life, it's hard to find a better song for a January night on the town.
♬ we are young but getting old before our time
we'll leave the TV and the radio behind
don't you wonder what we'll find
steppin' out tonight
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by the Dream Academy
Dream Academy's cover of the Smith's song (which you'll probably remember from the film Ferris Bueler's Day Off) offers the perfect marriage between classical music elegance and modern pop music energy. The echoey synth arrangements blended together with renaissance-esque instruments like the english horn, nylon string guitar, and recorder manage to capture the timeless elegance of early winter - the idealized picture postcard view that every upper midwestern bed and breakfast wishes they could offer.
♬ (good times for a change
see, the luck I've had
can make a good man
turn bad) ♬
Us by Regina Spektor
Spektor offers us another crisp, wintery blend of classical and pop music with her sweeping piano piece. The staccato rhythms, the vocals that vacillate between delicate fragility and sweeping glissandos, the lush strings - they all add up to the same soothing feel that comes along with watching a light snowfall. And the arrangements are so bubbly and energetic, it's hard to resist the pull to run out and play in that new fallen snow.
♬ we wear our scarves just like a noose
but not because we want eternal sleep
and though our parts are slightly used
new ones are slave labor you can keep
Walk Out to Winter by Aztec Camera
Frothy, jangly pop guitar abounds on the song, reminding us that even though January can feel a little overwhelming, what with the prospects of a whole 'nother year stretching out in front of us, it's still a time of rebirth and renewal, full of endless possibilities. It's a song that makes us feel like a giddy kid once again, just like when we used to wake up early only to discover that school has been cancelled for the day due to an unexpected snowfall, leaving us with unlimited time and the challenge to fill it with impromptu mischief.
♬ walk out to winter, swear I'll be there
chill will wake you, high and dry, you'll wonder why
walk out to winter, swear I'll be there
chance is buried just below the blinding snow ♬
And there you have it. January isn't an easy concept to sum up (not that any of the months are), but the dozens songs listed here manage to capture all the intricacies and subtle nuances, help us to experience the month whether we listen to them in the dead of winter or in the sweltering months of summer.
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