Rounding Up: A Birthday Playlist
I'm closer to 100 than to 0, and I'm the age at which kids will ask things like, "Was music invented when you were little?" That's fine; I don't mind getting older. In fact, in honor of my birthday, I looked back over the past five decades and chose one song released each year of my life that seems the most "me."
This was tricky; some years, I could have chosen dozens of great songs. Other years, the pickings were slim (I'm looking at you, 1996 and 2005). See what you think.
1966 - Beach Boys: "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
1967 - Van Morrison: "Brown-eyed Girl"
1968 - Simon & Garfunkel: "A Hazy Shade of Winter"
1969 - Beatles: "Here Comes the Sun"
1970 - Beatles: "Let It Be"
1971 - Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks"
1972 - Yes - "And You and I"
1973 - Elton John - "Daniel"
1974 - David Bowie - "Rebel, Rebel"
1975 - Led Zeppelin - "In My Time of Dying"
1976 - Boston - "More Than a Feeling"
1977 - Peter Gabriel - "Solsbury Hill"
1978 - Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights"
1979 - The Police - "Message in a Bottle"
1980 - The Jam - "That's Entertainment"
1981 - The Police - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
1982 - Joe Jackson - "Steppin' Out"
1983 - U2 - "40"
1984 - Hüsker Dü - "Love Is All Around"
1985 - Sting - "Fortress Around Your Heart"
1986 - The Communards - "Don't Leave Me This Way"
1987 - Dukes of the Stratosphear - "Vanishing Girl"
1988 - The Church - "Under the Milky Way"
1989 - XTC - "The Mayor of Simpleton"
1990 - They Might Be Giants - "Birdhouse in Your Soul"
1991 - R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
1992 - Niamh Parsons - "The Tinkerman's Daughter"
1993 - The Cranberries - "Dreams"
1994 - Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
1995 - Great Big Sea - "Runaway"
1996 - The Wonders - "That Thing You Do"
1997 - Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
1998 - Great Big Sea and The Chieftains - "Lukey's Boat"
1999 - Niamh Parsons - "Blackbirds and Thrushes"
2000 - Hem - "Half Acre"
2001 - Alison Krauss & Union Station - "The Lucky One"
2002 - Queens of the Stone Age - "Mosquito Song"
2003 - Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama - "Picture of Jesus"
2004 - The Wailin' Jennys - "Arlington"
2005 - Coldplay - "Speed of Sound"
2006 - Calexico - "Cruel"
2007 - The Killers - "Read My Mind"
2008 - Adele - "Make You Feel My Love"
2009 - Fictionist - "Noisy Birds"
2010 - Justin Townes Earle - "Harlem River Blues"
2011 - The Wailin' Jennys - "Bird Song"
2012 - Gary Clark, Jr. - When My Train Pulls In"
2013 - St. Paul & the Broken Bones - "I've Been Loving You"
2014 - James Blake - "Retrograde"
2015 - Portugal. The Man - "People Say"
2016 - Eli et Papillon - "Les rêves"
2017 - Rhiannon Giddens - "Birmingham Sunday"
A half century-plus-one of music! I can't think of a better way to celebrate.