The highlight of any New Year’s party, hands down, is that pivotal moment when one friend grabs the aux cord or takes over the Bluetooth connection with an urgent need to play the song.

It doesn’t matter why they chose it, and they don’t care if no one else knows it.

What matters is that everyone hears it. Immediately.

That is, of course, after the agonising minute of dead air and antici…pation while the connection is figured out.

There’s a common trend online to help those with control of the speakers on New Year’s Eve time the perfect message or mood to help ring in the new year. It’s equal parts joke and life hack that really started picking up around 2017: timing a specific song so that its most impactful, hilarious, or emotional moment drops precisely at the stroke of midnight on January 1st.

Think of it as setting the mood to launch the New Year for everyone in the room. It’s a bold move, one that requires precision, confidence, and a little bit of planning.

To help you curate your perfect New Year’s Soundtrack, Tone Deaf has compiled some of our favourite tracks (hacks, if you will) from the internet, including the meme band of all meme bands, Smash Mouth.

Love Live Music?

Get the latest Live Music news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

From the classics:

To the alternative:

The pop girlies:

There’s this…

But also…

And one for the Aussies:

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine