In no particular order, here are some of the songs I listened to the most in 2025. The complete playlist is on Apple Music.
It’s clear to see by the air I breathe
Working class solidarity
Is the only way
We’re gonna stamp that Fascist out
Your mind is sharp
Your heart is good
You notice things I never would
Look what I almost missed
That life is like a stone
Only skipping for a time
Oh, it never really holds its own
It’ll never see the other side
Is love simply an accident of timing?
A collision of coincidence and yet
Ancient history or mystery
I wish you had kissed me
On the night that we never met
Darlin’, darlin’, darlin’, can’t you hear me cryin’?
The walls we built have come so awfully thin
The thought of you is crashin’ in, and I’m paralyzed and oh so wide awake
Wide awake
Baby, when you wake up, and it wasn’t a dream
And you’re tired of crying, you’re too broken to scream
Shake your fist at the city, let it rip at the seams
Be human
If there’s a day I turn 65
|Will I be cashing it in?
Will I finally retire and be who I’m supposed to be
Or will I have to keep working to make my ends meet
She was a lost child
She was running wild
Said, “As long as there’s no price on love, I’ll stay
And you wouldn’t want me any other way”
But the older I get, the more I see
That more by itself never worked for me
Keeping it simple as it can be
We’ve been in this place for far too long
Second all the time, never come out top
Nothing ever changes, doesn’t matter who you are
Find me in the darkness past the bridges I left broken
A heart that’s cut wide open, like a child that’s gone astray
Forgive me of my nonsense, I’m still out here chasing shadows
And searching for a light I never thought would go away
A stranger’s smile, an old friend’s laughter
Letting go of what does not matter
A radio’s murmur in a midnight kitchen
The things that you notice when you stop to listen
And I would promise not to promise you forever
But I promised not to promise anything
Will you promise to remain cowards together
What do you say we set the pleasantries aside?
Even the diamonds look like rocks to the untrained eye
What does it cost to buy your soul back when you die?
What are the angels gonna do with you and I?
Some nights I’m crying on the back roads
Rolling my smoke backwards
Trying to keep a level-headed even smile
Call the boy, ask the girl
Have no regrets when you leave this world
‘Cause you know
No one gets out alive
It′s the time and the place
Every line on your face
It’s the truth and the lie
It′s to live and to die
Oh, what a beautiful world
There’s grey hairs on Momma’s head
One for every moment that she thought I’d wind up dead
Maybe I’m like sunshine in the rain
Maybe I could feel the joy because I’ve felt the pain
I’m just wondering if you feel the same
Or is it me?
The little mess you made
Is filling up our room
A little bit of rain Is filling up our shoes
A bleeding heart
Will make a mess of things
A falling star
Will burn up everything
I’ve been taking time to get well
All alone but parts of me
Aren’t healing
Friend, come inside for a cup of coffee
Come inside for a dry bed
Come inside and let me feed you, rest your weary head
‘S iomadh oidhche fhliuch ‘s fhuar
Ghabh mi cuairt ‘s mi leam fhin
Gus an d’ ràinig mise ‘n t-àit’
Far ‘n robh gràdh geal mo chridh’
Keep their music playing
Some of the artists who touched my ears, heart, and soul, and helped created enduring memories who passed in 2025.
One of, if not, my favorite singers of all time. So much of Raul Malo’s music, solo and with The Mavericks, filled up the soundtrack of my life. The world lost a great voice, musician, and performer when he left this earth. Grateful to have seen him perform live twice. The first time, in 1995 when The Mavericks toured with Mary Chapin Carpenter, made me a fan for life. The last time in 2023 at City Winery NYC: just Raul, a guitar, and that voice. I will miss not hearing his voice grace something new in the future. But he left us so many great songs, originals and covers. Here are a few (and a clip of him at City Winery):
