Dear listeners,
It’s time for one of my favorite annual Amplifier traditions: the songs that explain my year. Consider it a musical memoir of my 2025, in playlist form.
A few weeks ago, when Apple Music sent me a month-by-month roundup of my most-listened-to artists in 2025, I had to laugh. In June, it was the Berlin Philharmonic. Then for two consecutive months, July and August, it was Leonard Bernstein. September? Ah, there’s the twist: Cardi B.
I tend to be an eclectic listener, but even for me, this was a bit much. Still, the wild whiplash between those two extremes sums up my 2025 pretty succinctly. I began the year at my post as a pop music critic, took a few months off in the summer to work on a book (and, in particular, a section of it about Gustav and Alma Mahler), and then I returned to my regular beat in September, frantically catching up on all the new music I missed while I had temporarily time-traveled to fin-de-siècle Vienna.
But my year had plenty of other musical detours, too. Visits with friends reminded me of how much I love Beat Happening and Weird Al Yankovic. A pair of dream assignments (interviewing Ringo Starr and then Tracy Chapman) allowed me to check off a few names on my journalistic bucket list. And when all the pivoting between past and present made me feel a little disconnected from modern sounds, live shows by Lady Gaga and, more recently, Cameron Winter reaffirmed my faith in new music.
It’s also time for another annual Amplifier tradition: I want you to tell me a song that explained your year. Maybe it was a new release from 2025, but it could also be an older song that you discovered or rediscovered — anything that resonated with what was going on in your life. Fill out this form if you want to share your song. Early in 2026, I’ll send out a playlist and a newsletter compiling some of my favorite submissions. You can also revisit our readers’ playlists from 2024 and 2023, if you need some inspiration.
In the meantime, enjoy this musical tour through my personal 2025. And if you know of anyone else who spent the year listening as much to Mahler as they did to Cardi B and Weird Al, let me know — we’d probably be friends.
I painted over the perfect nose,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic: “Adagietto From Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor”
As I mentioned, I spent much of my summer lost in Gustav Mahler’s symphonies — particularly as interpreted by perhaps his most devoted admirer, Leonard Bernstein (who was buried with a copy of Mahler’s Fifth atop his heart). Since I was writing about Mahler’s tumultuous relationship with his wife, Alma, I’ve chosen this part of the symphony, written to her as a kind of musical love letter. While things between the Mahlers didn’t stay this idyllic for long, his “Adagietto” is an enduring snapshot of a golden moment of their relationship — and quite possibly one of the most romantic pieces of music ever composed.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. This Is Lorelei: “Where’s Your Love Now”
It happens each January without fail: I fall head over heels for an album that came out last year, and I kick myself for not discovering it soon enough to include it on my previous best albums list. This January, it was “Box for Buddy, Box for Star,” an absolutely infectious LP from This Is Lorelei, the indie-pop project helmed by the Water From Your Eyes guitarist Nate Amos. I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve listened to this record this year. Amos has a marvelous ear for melody, and something about his songs makes me want to put them on repeat and sing along at the top of my lungs. Enjoy this “Box for Buddy” highlight, a wounded but resilient breakup song that has recently been covered by some of Amos’s other admirers, Waxahatchee and Cameron Winter.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Ringo Starr: “Fastest Growing Heartache in the West”
A truly surreal thing happened in February: I got to go to Nashville and interview Ringo Starr, for a profile pegged to his 85th birthday. (The first question everyone asked me: “Did he say ‘Peace and love’ to you?” Of course he did — he’s Ringo Starr!) Starr was in Music City celebrating the release of his country album, “Look Up,” but Beatles fans know his country roots run deep. The interview and Starr’s show at the Ryman were great reasons to revisit one of my favorite solo Ringo albums, his twangy 1970 LP “Beaucoups of Blues.” Peace and love!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Tracy Chapman: “Fast Car”
For as long as I can remember, Tracy Chapman has been high on my list of dream interview subjects, so when I learned that she had agreed to speak with me about the vinyl reissue of her 1988 self-titled debut album, I was overjoyed. Chapman has stayed resolutely out of the public eye for many years, and in our fame-obsessed culture, people assume that holding those sorts of boundaries makes one a recluse. But Chapman struck me as warm, open and generous — just a well-adjusted person who made an entirely reasonable decision to step away from the glare of the spotlight. When our interview was over, we geeked out about our mutual love of stationery, and she gave me a list of places to visit in San Francisco before I headed back East, including a store where I discovered my new favorite pens. Many thanks, Tracy Chapman!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Beat Happening: “Noise”
In August, I visited some friends and got to meet their 18-month-old son, who has such a deep connection to music. I got a kick out of his picking up and trying to make sense of a portable bluetooth speaker, as if he were wondering how they got the band inside there. He already has impeccable taste, too. This Beat Happening tune got him bopping along, which makes sense: The minimalist Olympia, Wash., indie rockers always sounded to me as if they were making music for very cool babies. (I mean that as a compliment.)
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Weird Al Yankovic: “I Want a New Duck”
Later in the summer, I visited another group of friends in Ohio. For some reason, this goofy Weird Al parody of Huey Lewis’s “I Want a New Drug” came up, and for the rest of the weekend we had it on repeat, giggling uncontrollably at its fowl-mouthed puns and eventually declaring it our song of the summer. A highly contagious case of Weird Al mania ripped through the house. When we took a drive to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and encountered an interactive screen that asked visitors who they thought should be inducted next year, the answer was obvious.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
7. The Meters: “Loving You Is on My Mind”
Here’s another of my own personal songs of the summer, from the New Orleans funk band the Meters’ gloriously groovy 1974 album “Rejuvenation.” What an ecstatic guitar solo!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Lady Gaga: “Paparazzi”
Hands down the best pop show I saw this year was Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball, a riotous spectacle of costumes, choreography and charisma. She made this early hit sound radically new by reimagining it as a kind of glam-rock power-ballad — a bold choice that totally worked. The show was also extra special for me because I went with my mom, a bona fide Gaga superfan who had never seen her live before. It was worth the wait — I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom have that much fun in her entire life? Mother Monster indeed.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
9. Wall of Voodoo: “Ring of Fire”
Like my colleague Wesley Morris, I loved dipping into (my hometown radio station) WXPN’s recent and incredibly ambitious countdown of the 885 Greatest Cover Songs of All Time. (The countdown even inspired a great episode of Wesley’s podcast “Cannonball.”) It allowed me to discover some awesome covers I wasn’t familiar with — like this gonzo no-wave reinterpretation of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” by the “Mexican Radio” rockers Wall of Voodoo.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
10. Cameron Winter: “Cancer of the Skull”
Finally, a few weeks ago I attended a wonderful concert: Cameron Winter, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter who also fronts the band Geese, headlining Carnegie Hall. The staging was minimal, consisting of just Winter (with his back turned to most of the audience), a Steinway baby grand and his strange, billowing voice filling the room to its rafters. I get that some people find the whole thing annoying — a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from a much-hyped rock band headlining Carnegie Hall?! But in person the show felt like a small miracle, as these stirringly weird compositions that sound as if they were written on the edge of wakefulness and sleep hypnotized the hallowed Hall into quiet reverence. “These songs are made for bad singers,” Winter warbles, knowingly, on this track from his 2024 album, “Heavy Metal.” Maybe so, but I happen to think he’s a pretty good one.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“10 Songs That Explain My Year” track list Track 1: Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, “Adagietto From Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor” Track 2: This Is Lorelei, “Where’s Your Love Now” Track 3: Ringo Starr, “Fastest Growing Heartache in the West” Track 4: Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car” Track 5: Beat Happening, “Noise” Track 6: Weird Al Yankovic, “I Want a New Duck” Track 7: The Meters, “Loving You Is on My Mind” Track 8: Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi” Track 9: Wall of Voodoo, “Ring of Fire” Track 10: Cameron Winter, “Cancer of the Skull”
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Lindsay Zoladz is a pop music critic for The Times and writes the subscriber-only music newsletter The Amplifier.
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