Five songs to help bring in the New Year (and what time you should start playing them)
It’s almost time for the 2025 version of what is often the most anti-climactic countdown of all time, but music can fix that.
As we teeter on the edge of a new year, we stand strong against a blizzard of money troubles, beer bellies and yet-to-be fulfilled resolutions. We all enter the new year with different regrets, celebrations and goals in mind. Our plans are going to change depending on what those goals are, and yet, we’re all expected to welcome in the new year in exactly the same way as one another. It doesn’t make sense.
As we watch our clocks run down to the classic: ten, beer bottle raised high, nine, anticipation in the air building, eight, no turning back now, and so on and so on, the clock strikes midnight, and suddenly we’re plunged into a moment of shared disappointment. The zero we eventually come to is never quite as satisfying as you’d expect, and as a result, people head into the new year with low expectations to begin with.
Well, we at Far Out say no more. It’s time to make sure that you go into the new year as a representation of the emotion you’re keen on channelling throughout the whole thing, whether that’s nostalgia, happiness, sadness, or all things in between; we’ve got you covered.
The best songs to play on New Year’s Eve:
Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’
Start playing at 11:57:15
Regardless of what might have happened in our collective personal lives, 2025 will forever remain the tragic year that we lost Ozzy Osbourne, and that is undeniable, as news of his death still feels surreal, and multiple genres came together to mourn the heavy metal star’s passing, and the fact that he no longer lives and breathes among us is still tricky to process.
As we wave goodbye to the year that took Ozzy Osbourne, it feels appropriate that the final track we hear is one of his best: ‘Crazy Train’, and if you really want to end the year with style, you should begin listening to the track on New Year’s Eve at 11:57:15, and do this as soon as the clock strikes midnight so that otherworldly Randy Rhoads guitar solo will kick in, and you can boot the hinges off the door that leads to 2026.
CMAT – ‘Without You’
Start playing at 11:57:10
I mean, technically, this was the perfect song to bring in 2025, given CMAT performed it on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny almost a year ago. That being said, it was such a shock to those lucky enough to listen that people didn’t properly appreciate just how amazing a rendition of the Dolly Parton classic it was.
2025 has no doubt been a big year for CMAT, but I worry a lot of new fans don’t appreciate her for the artist she is. Yes, the little dance we all do to ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’ is fun, but you need to understand that this music isn’t just the stuff of TikTok virality, it’s the product of one of the greatest voices in modern music, and this cover allows you to truly appreciate that.
There is no ideal time to begin this song, really, as it’s jaw-dropping from start to finish; however, if you press play at 11:57:10, when the clock strikes midnight, you will usher in the new year with a fellow CMAT fan. An onlooker fills the screen, hand over mouth, in awe at the power of the whole performance. Watching YouTube on your own on New Year’s Eve? No worries, the evening is overrated anyway, but share that one moment with a stranger who will be a stranger no more through the power of music.
Cinderella – ‘Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)’
Start playing at 11:58:43
If there’s one thing I hate about lists similar to this one, it’s that they always assume the reader is looking to welcome the new year in with a smile on their face. If you’ve had a shit time in 2025, being forced to close the door on it, while simultaneously reflecting on it, can be pretty tough. You might have a broken heart, you might have lost someone, the year just might not have panned out the way you wanted it to, and as such, you opt to simply be miserable for New Year’s Eve. If that’s the case, there’s no judgment on my end, I’ve been there, and I’ve got your back.
I resent someone telling you to try and cheer up when you feel sad. If you feel sad and know that you’re going to feel sad, that pointless advice, no matter how well intentioned it might be, isn’t going to do anything. You’ll feel better eventually, and you know you will, but this moment sucks, and as such, control the controllable. You can be sad on New Year’s Eve, but you should also give yourself a fighting chance at happiness, and that comes in the form of a concoction of misery and hair metal.
If you start playing Cinderella’s ‘Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)’ at 11:58:43, then the first thing you’ll hear in the new year is that ridiculously over-the-top chorus, and the distorted guitars and flamboyant vocals all spill out over an unnamed heartbreak, and it’s so overtly sad that it almost becomes silly. If you’re feeling down this time of year, then that sucks, and I hope you feel better, but I’m not going to tell you to feel better. What I will tell you to do is to listen to this track, because it sings about a sadness so exaggerated that it borders on humorous. You never know, in that moment, you might just crack a smile.
Future – ‘Fuck Up Some Commas’
Start playing at 11:59:33
In complete contrast to the above, your mindset going into the new year might be one of hustle. These are the 12 months when things are going to turn around, it’s time to make a load of money, unlock a new level of confidence, and become YOU 2.0. If there is any artist that exudes a spine-chilling confidence everyone probably aspires to have, it’s Future.
You could realistically play any of his songs if you want to go into the New Year feeling hyped, but one of his best offerings has to be the classic ‘Fuck Up Some Commas’. There is something about that drop which transcends all of trap rap, and if you want it to be the first thing you hear in 2026, just press play at 11:59:33.
Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Prince – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’
Start playing at 11:56:33
Look, we’re ending on an easy one, very little explanation is needed. Simply put, this is the greatest guitar solo ever recorded. If you love rock music, then why wouldn’t you want to end the year with a bang like this? That clock counting down so frequently ends in disappointment, but there will be no risk of that if you press play at 11:56:33.
Don’t believe me that this is the best solo ever? Let’s end the year with the words of Tom Petty: “You see me nodding at him, to say, ‘go on, go on,’” he said, “I remember I leaned out at him at one point and gave him a ‘This is going great!’ kind of look. He just burned it up. You could feel the electricity of ‘something really big’s going down here.”
