We’re two weeks into 2024, it’s Blue Monday, and now feels like a great time to share with you some of my favourite songs about new beginnings, fresh vibes, and having a newfound confidence. These tunes are perfect for the start of a new year—brimming with excitement, embracing changes, and sprinkled with optimism.
Let’s Start The New Year Off Right – Holiday Inn
Let’s start the list off right with this song from Irving Berlin’s classic musical, Holiday Inn. The song perfectly encapsulates the joy and optimism that come with the start of a new year. It’s time to leave behind the old and welcome the new with open minds and open hearts.
“With a fond goodbye, and our hopes as high”
Step One – Kinky Boots
With a new year come new challenges. Cyndi Lauper’s catchy song from the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots is all about overcoming difficulties and finding your way in the face of adversity. So remember, whenever you feel like you can’t do something this year, just remember that you have to start with the first step.
“We may be facing the impossible, we may be chasing after miracles, and there may be the steepest mountain to overcome. But this is step one.”
Open a New Window – Mame
Angela Lansbury won her first Tony Award in Jerry Herman’s musical, Mame. The musical features a delightful little song near the beginning, all about maintaining a positive outlook on life even when things aren’t going your way. Because, let’s face it, not everything is always going to go your way; that’s life. So, as Auntie Mame wisely says, we open a new window and open a new door.
“Open a new window, open a new door, travel a new highway that’s never been tried before.”
Guide You – The Little Big Things
Soho Place welcomed a new British musical last year based on the Sunday Times bestseller. The Little Big Things follows the inspirational story of Henry Fraser as he learns to adapt to his new way of life after becoming paralysed from a diving accident. ‘Guide You’ is a gorgeous moment in the show where Henry realises that his accident doesn’t define him, and his world still holds so much colour and opportunity.
“Paint the world with colours, that leap from inside of you.”
It’s Not Where You Start – Seesaw
It’s worth remembering that if your year so far hasn’t started with a bang, don’t worry! Shirley Maclaine wants you to know that where you start doesn’t matter because sometimes the road to success is a long journey. After all, if you start at the top, you have nowhere to go but down. If you start at the bottom, the only way is up.
“It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, and you’re gonna finish on top.“
Always Starting Over – If/Then
The turn of a new year always leaves us with feelings of ‘I wish I’d done this’ or ‘what if this happened instead.’ But there’s no point in dwelling on paths not taken, as “Always Starting Over” from Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s 2014 musical If/Then tells us. We shouldn’t regret the lives we never led but instead look forward to new paths that we may take in the future.
“We can leave life for tomorrow, or grieve all that we thought we’d do, or make each moment new.”
Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ – Oklahoma
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic captures the beautiful, tranquil feeling of a fresh start. And that’s precisely what a new year is — it holds the potential for new beginnings, experiences, opportunities, and challenges. “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'” opens the musical Oklahoma, and it should also be opening your new year!
“I got a beautiful feeling everything’s going my way.”
Don’t Rain on My Parade – Funny Girl
Let’s all enter the new year with the defiance and resilience of Fanny Brice in “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” Pursue your aspirations, face challenges head-on, and don’t let anyone cast a rain cloud over your vibes. Whenever you feel like someone is trying to dampen your spirits, play this song, and you will immediately feel ten times more powerful.
“I’m gonna live and live now! Get what I want, I know how!”
Our Time – Merrily We Roll Along
Composed by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, ‘Our Time’ perfectly encompasses the essence of feeling like you have a world of opportunities ahead of you. The song invites us to contemplate our journey, appreciate the highs and lows that have shaped us, and to seize the present moment and live life as if you can’t fail.
“Something is stirring, shifting ground, it’s just begun.”
Another Op’nin’, Another Show – Kiss Me, Kate
Another opening, another show is precisely what a new year feels like in my head. We’ve closed the curtain on one year and opened it on another. The tempo is fast and chaotic, and that’s exactly how life can be sometimes. But, no matter what, the show must go on, and you are the star!
“The overture is about to start. You cross your fingers and hold your heart.”
What are some of your top songs for the new year? Let me know in the comments!