Dear listeners,
Today’s playlist — our first of 2026 — is all about you.
As I do each December, I asked you to tell me about a song you discovered or rediscovered over the year and why it resonated. In the past I’ve specified that it should be an older song, but this time I opened it up to new releases as well. That means there’s some fun temporal variety on this playlist: 2025 releases from Bad Bunny, Mt. Joy and Fust (a great Durham, N.C., band whose wrenching ballad “Jody” made my personal songs of the year list) rub elbows with classics from Bob Dylan, Billy Joe Shaver and Curtis Mayfield, among others. (The reader who chose that Mayfield track specified that he was choosing the extended version, because of the bongo solo. Precisely the sort of request we honor here at The Amplifier.)
While reading through your submissions, I was reminded over and over again that the music we love marks time, like a trusty string tied to fleeting memories we want to hold onto. A favorite song can also act as a connector between different people and disparate generations — or maybe just between current and former versions of ourselves.
Sometimes when I go through readers’ song submissions, I notice the familiar name of a friend or family member. Those entries always make me smile, but as a general rule I choose not to publish them, since I don’t want to give the people I know any preferential treatment. Today, though, I’m making an exception with the final track of the playlist — but when you read that submission, I think you’ll understand why. Congratulations, Amanda and Matt.
Now is the time to face the wind,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Billy Joe Shaver: “Live Forever”
“With the passing of my mom, the birth of my granddaughter and the realization that I have more time behind me than in front of me, this song resonates in ways I could not have understood before. From stargazing with my daughter, pondering eternity, to hiking in Yosemite with my son, to reminiscing with my wife about our lives together, while acknowledging our physical limitations and uncertainties of our future, the lyrics drive home the fact that, well, nobody gets out alive. But they also help me understand I am not alone in this. The connections I made this past year, the love I shared, this story of life — Billy Joe’s song sums it up.” — Michael Goodfriend, Medford, N.J. 
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Mt. Joy: “She Wants to Go Dancing”
“On a family drive from New York to Boston last December, we collaborated on a playlist — the one rule being to try to introduce songs everyone might enjoy. This was one of many that was new to me. The rain and traffic made the ride go on forever, but who cared? I listened to that playlist all year. The kids are not really kids anymore — out of the house, living their lives, but bringing back great stuff to share.” — David Goldberger, Bethesda, Md.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. The Holy Modal Rounders: “Dame Fortune”
“A single listen to this somehow simultaneously ominous and poignant folk charmer gave me the kernel of a creative idea which led me to write a novel.” — Gary Lippman, Westport, Conn.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Fiona Apple: “Why Try to Change Me Now”
“I first found this song during my senior year of high school, at a moment when I was quietly stepping away from my friend group. It was snowing then, as I drove through my neighborhood, and this song was my new kind of companion. This year, after graduating from college, I found myself listening to it again as snow fell outside my balcony. Time had moved faster than I ever expected, yet the song landed in the same way it always had. It reminded me that the strange habits, sensitivities and ways of being that make you who you are don’t disappear with time.” — Anna Duraney, Kent, Ohio
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Fontaines D.C.: “It’s Amazing to Be Young”
“I’m a mom to elementary-aged children, and sometimes I feel old and feel the weight of it all. Listening to this song reminds me that I am still young (late 30s) and these are my golden years. I’ve slowed down and soaked up all the excitement and wonder — adventured out, worn the outfit I was worried may be too young for me, and just relished the time. The world is spinning out of control so I’m more focused than ever on making my time with my family matter and not allowing teenagers to tell me that staring down 40 makes me old.” — Samantha Darnell, Dallas
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Bob Dylan: “Mississippi”
“I retired this year after 45 years in education. This song is about coming to the end of something and giving thanks to the people who helped you get where you are: ‘Nothing but affection for those who have sailed with me.’ But there is hope, because if ‘you stick with me, things are about to get interesting right about now.’ Retirement has been great. And of course, ‘you can always go back, you just can’t go back all the way.’” — Craig Bassingthwaighte, Gold Coast, Australia
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
7. Keith Jarrett Trio: “The Cure”
“I discovered this tune more than 25 years ago, while in college. I was drawn back to it after the drummer Jack DeJohnette died this year, about a month following my own father’s passing. It is driving in its rhythm, yet it provides a release from all of the challenges of this year.” — Kathleen Callaghan, Middleton, Wis.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Bad Bunny: “Baile Inolvidable”
“This track resonated with me as an immigrant (my family came to South Florida from our native Colombia when I was 6) and as a melancholic Cancer sun. In this track, Benito reflects on love lost over an infectious salsa production. I grew up listening to salsa (my parents are proud children of the ’80s) and this song evokes mourning, nostalgia for what you left behind in your home country, but also joy at the memory of a beautiful relationship.” — David Beltran, Miami
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
9. Fust: “Spangled”
“This song, by the Durham, N.C., band Fust, had an impact because it was a song I could share with my teenager and say, ‘Hey, there’s great local music being made that might not come up in your algorithm.’ The songwriting, the hooks, the performance and production hit us square on. We went to see them in April and it was a killer show. Great music is all around us.” — Craig Breaden, Durham, N.C.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
10. The Beach Boys: “Help Me, Rhonda”
“‘Help Me, Rhonda’ is my 16-month-old’s favorite song. A passing memory from our childhoods but it came to mind when my husband and I were looking for songs that we could sing to our daughter. It was the top song of 2025 for both of us, providing the soundtrack to many Sunday drives home.” — Allie Nudelman, Brooklyn
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
11. Khruangbin: “A Calf Born in Winter”
“This song plays softly in the background of ‘The Holdovers,’ when Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa are shopping for books on the streets of Boston. When I watched it over New Year’s in my apartment, its jingly, calming tone nestled into me while snow fell gently outside my window. I feel nostalgia for that calm and silence. I seek this song out when I’m in need of relaxation, warmth and a release from the mess of regular life. Turns out, I need that comfort more often than I realized.” — April Springer, Raleigh, N.C.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
12. Curtis Mayfield: “Move On Up (Extended Version)”
“I spent January to May 2025 in my bedroom, unable to walk safely on my own. In May I had laminotomy surgery on my lumbar spine and that changed everything. As I slowly began to reclaim my life, I rediscovered this song that I probably hadn’t heard since 1970, and I found it so inspiring, returning home on summer days after intense physical therapy sessions where I started to walk again.” — Louis Goldstein, Santa Monica, Calif.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
13. Beyoncé: “Ameriican Requiem”
“This song took on a new meaning for me in March. I was a federal worker within the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and my entire office was eliminated. I played ‘Cowboy Carter’ over and over to get through this time when I was not only worried about my own future, but contemplating the erosion of civil rights in schools. It stuck with me as I thought about America and its future. The lines ‘we can stand for something, now is the time to face the wind’ went through my head over and over. When I was able to see her Cowboy Carter Tour in Los Angeles, I started crying when the first notes of this song played.” — Dana Isaac, San Francisco
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
14. Nina Simone: “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”
“I’ve spent most of 2025 pregnant with what will be my first child, and he’s spent most of the year in breech position, setting off a scramble in the latter part of the third trimester to get him to turn. I tried various poses, herbs and specialists, but I also figured it would be worth trying to reason with him through song. I played him the Byrds’ version of this song first, but it wasn’t until I hit play on Nina Simone’s recording that he gave me a walloping kick. I kept playing that track for him in the evenings, and at my next doctor’s appointment, I was relieved and grateful to learn that he’d heeded Nina’s advice and turned. ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.’ Including a time to be born, which for him will be January 2026.” — Amanda Price, Brooklyn
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“Readers Pick the Songs That Defined Their 2025” track list Track 1: Billy Joe Shaver, “Live Forever” Track 2: Mt. Joy, “She Wants to Go Dancing” Track 3: The Holy Modal Rounders, “Dame Fortune” Track 4: Fiona Apple, “Why Try to Change Me Now” Track 5: Fontaines D.C., “It’s Amazing to Be Young” Track 6: Bob Dylan, “Mississippi” Track 7: Keith Jarrett Trio, “The Cure” Track 8: Bad Bunny, “Baile Inolvidable” Track 9: Fust, “Spangled” Track 10: The Beach Boys, “Help Me, Rhonda” Track 11: Khruangbin, “A Calf Born in Winter” Track 12: Curtis Mayfield, “Move On Up (Extended Version)” Track 13: Beyoncé, “Ameriican Requiem” Track 14: Nina Simone, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”
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Lindsay Zoladz is a pop music critic for The Times and writes the subscriber-only music newsletter The Amplifier.
The post Readers Pick the Songs That Defined Their 2025 appeared first on New York Times.
