NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

If  x  then happiness. Find  x.  Simple algebra. What is the one thing you want for life or for the moment? How do you get it? That's the problem. I can think about some times in my life when I thought everything was coming together only for it all to fall apart. There was this awesome housing situation in college until my roommate called to say that he wasn't coming back next year. Or establishing the "dream team" at two of my schools. Spoiler alert: it never lasts, and new drama comes up to make the dream team more of a nightmare. If only I had that promotion. If only I bought X.  If only that person was available. X-Y= happiness. But what happens when it  doesn't happen ? What happens when the exact opposite happens. You don't get the promotion. Maybe you get fired. They get married rather than breaking up. The relationship turns abusive or maybe hidden infidelity. What happens next? That's what this synth-pop single by  Years & Years   dea...

  Every song on Charlie Puth ’s third record, Charlie , deals with heartbreak and rejection. “ Smells Like Me ” is no exception. The idea of the song, Puth revealed on Twitter, is that the song is “about when you think of the person you were with for so long having sex with someone new but with they’re wearing clothes that smell like you still while they….” It’s a song about passive-aggressive revenge, a hope that even though the romance is over, the two are still biologically linked for a time. The speaker of the song hopes that the scent he left on his former lover distracts her, though she’s moved on. Rather than pontificate on this theme more, I’d like to introduce my Heartbreak Mix to Apple Music. These break-up songs might hit just right during one of those wrong times. Cheer up!

When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood.  YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON .  Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old st...

In 1988,  Tracy Chapman 's first single " Fast Car " rose to Number 6 on Billboard 's Hot 100 . Her performance at Wembley Stadium in Nelson Mandela's 7oth birthday tribute helped to kick-start the singer's career. At the time Mandela was still serving time in prison, and the tribute concert gave a strong message to world against South African apartheid. Chapman produced a string of hits in the late '80s and early '90s, but she is best known for today's song, "Fast Car." Last year, “Fast Car” took another ride on Billboard’s Hot 100, this time all the way to number 2 . But this time, Luke Combs , a country singer with no previous pop crossover hits was the song’s driver. Combs’ cover of “Fast Car” was just one of the massive country songs of last year. In fact, it was another country hit, Morgan Wallen ’s “ Last Night ,” that kept “Fast Car” from sliding into the top spot. I GOT A JOB THAT PAYS ALL OUR BILLS. Last year, one of the albums...

In 1946 George Orwell wrote in an essay titled " Politics and the English Language ": "In our age, there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.” In my lifetime,  there seemed to be a time when we could be ambivalent toward the democratic process. We could sit in our homes on election day in good faith that the majority want the right thing or even stew in our own cynicism that the two candidates were different faces to the same policy. But look at how choice has been effaced.  A BEAUTIFUL WAITRESS WHO JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT.  The third record by Irish pop-rock band  Kodaline  titled  Politics of Living  isn't an overt political statement, but more of a casual jab at 2018 zeitgeist. Cynical reviewers panned the record as Kodaline's attempt to enter the U.S. market. The album's production and song structures do suffer a bit from...

Thinking back on when I started my blog back in 2021 feels like a fever dream. In South Korea, social distancing measures were in full effect. Daily Covid infections dramatically started to rise just before Christmas, and it seemed like I’d be wearing a mask until my ears fell off. In 2020, I had spent so much time at home, not really accomplishing much, and in 2021 I wanted to start a new project and stick to it. That project was my blog NewYearsDayProject. Now in the fourth year of the project, posting every day and writing almost every day, it’s hard to remember the thrill of when a new song came out. Now a new song is a stressful choice: do I write about it right away to try to be relevant? If I write about it, I have to push back the song I’ve got planned in my queue.  THIS PAIN IS LIKE HAVING A FLU. In 2021, IU released her fifth studio album, Lilac . The album coincided with the coming of spring and her 29th birthday (in Korean age , though the system was abolished last yea...

  I'm taking a break from writing this week and just delivering playlists. I don't have any parasocial commentary on  NewJeans . I don't know much about this group of teenagers and feel too old to relate to it. Th eir massive 2023 hit " Super Shy " gained critical acclaim around the world and was shortlisted by many critics as a favorite song of the year. I nstead, today, we're looking at the big songs from the last two years and songs that might be big this year.  NewJeans has not yet released a song in 2024. Their output in 2023 was impressive. But I thought I would go back to where it all started in posting my  Spotify edition of  2024+, with their song " Attention . "   The 2022 song fits my requirements for songs released within the past two years.  The Apple Music edition will come later.  I will also reveal my favorite song from last year at the post's end! 1. “ Nothing More ” by Anberlin . I was iffy on the latest Anberlin EP, Convinc...