What Your New Year's Eve Songs Say About You

Phoenix New Times New Year's Eve Guide

Well, it's that time. Another year has come to a close. 2011 was weird, right? Kind of exciting, what with the Arab Spring, Occupy Protests, and Herman Cane's moment in the sun, but also pretty scary, with the continued financial meltdown, the Tucson tragedy, and Nickelback's Thanksgiving halftime fiasco.

Depending who you ask, 2012 is going to be the dawn of a new era human enlightenment or the year of the apocalypse. Either way, NYE 2011 will be one to remember. Each year, I take special pride in playing a New Year's Eve jam right as the ball drops. There's something special about selecting that song, and though I'm being a bit sappy, I like the think it sets the tone for the year to come.

Here are a few suggestions for your NYE playlist, along with resolutions and what selection of said jam says about you.

Song: "New Year's Day" from U2's War (1983)

What This Song Says About You: You're a serious minded person, dead set on tackling the problems of the world. Your 2012 is going to be filled with injustice, and you're going to be fighting it. To best pull this off, skip the funky sunglasses of modern Bono and look back to the dirty black Levis and intensity of the early records, when the band was actively involved with religious group Shalom and enamored with punk rock.

Your New Year's Resolution: Protest something.

Song: "The New Year" from Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism (2003)

What This Song Says About You: You're kind of a drag to be around. Luckily for you, 2011 was a rough one for Death Cab songwriter Ben Gibbard, who split with his indie-babe wife Zooey Deschanel, so chances are the next Death Cab record will return to the gloriously bummed lyricism like "So this is the new year/And I don't feel any different."

Your Resolution: Start a write-in campaign to have The New Girl canceled.

Song: Snoop Dogg, "New Year's Eve" single (2010)

What This Songs Says About You: You want to party, as long as it's a sexy, sexy party. Singer Marty James takes most of the glory here, but Snoop's raps are exactly what we've come to expect from him in recent years, totes laid back, smooth, and, dare I say it, kind of sweet?

Your Resolution: Smoke more or less weed, depending on your situation.

Song: "This Year" by The Mountain Goats from The Sunset Tree (2005)

What This Song Says About You: I wanted to make a funny joke here, but you know, "I am going to make it through this year if it kills me" is too great a mantra to disparage. Plus, rumor suggests that 2012 will be the last year mankind does anything, so a fatalistic approach to enjoying our remaining time seems especially warranted.

Your Resolution: Play more video games in a drunken haze.

Song: "New Year's Eve" by Tom Waits, from Bad As Me(2011)

What This Song Says About You: You're more depressing than the Death Cab listener. And somehow more sexy than the Snoop Dogg listener.

Your Resolution: Find a darker bar to drink in.

Song: "New Year's Resolution" by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas from The King and Queen (1967)

What This Song Says About You: It's going to be a very soulful 2012.

Your Resolution: Be more of a badass? Good luck.