Versioning: The Top Ten Songs for Asking Someone “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?"

Tin Pan Alley is on West 28th in NYC, between 5th and 6th Avenues, but it references much more than a location and a few buildings that are now designated as landmarks. This is where the magic was created by songwriters composing for the live theater on Broadway. The term "Tin Pan" was slang at the time for a "decrepit old piano." Almost all of the songwriters used the piano as their writing instrument as guitars were mainly for rhythm and comping.

Frank Loesser was among the workaday songwriters who would achieve widespread renown. He won both a Tony and Pulitzer for arguably the greatest of all Broadway plays, Guys and Dolls, an Emmy for the movie Hans Christian Andersen, and wrote hit songs such as "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Heart and Soul," "On A Slow Boat to China," and the tune that concerns us here—"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

According to Loesser's daughter, Susan, being lumped in with December holiday songs always irritated her father because critics were missing the point. Supposedly, the singer is madly in love and impetuously wishes to make a commitment several months before the final day of the year is crossed off the calendar. In the bridge, she (or he) poses the jackpot question in advance during springtime. Maybe it's much too early in the game. Ah, but I thought I'd ask you just the same—What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?

Margaret Whiting was the first singer to have the song released in 1947, and apparently, she failed to get the memo from Loesser about its intent because she added a snippet of "Auld Lang Syne" at the end. Two years later, the song made its first appearance on the charts with a version by a doo-wop band, the Orioles, that features soulful flourishes in the tradition of black music artists.

The narrator's curiosity about who will be with their love interest when the clock strikes midnight is a universal sentiment that resonates with listeners of all ages and genders. It is a great question. All symbolism aside, will anyone be part of your life during this significant moment of transition? The song's ability to evoke emotions and spark introspection is a testament to its timeless appeal. The way it captures the complexities of human longings and doubts draws you in like a magnet, an invisible force field that wraps around your heart and tugs. The listener is hesitant, as if thinking why choose to be with me, but hope does spring eternal.

The ten songs listed—some vocal, others instrumental—represent the full range of emotions depending upon how the artist chooses to approach the song. As we prepare to ring in the new year, sample them as you would the varying degrees of ripeness in a bin of peaches at the supermarket. Pick from them one that suits you best while remembering that peaches bruise easily.

10. The Orioles (1949)

Way back in the midpoint of the 20th century, black vocal groups rarely had crossover appeal. The Orioles reached #9 on the r&b charts, however. Lead vocalist Sonny Till soulfully delivers most of the lyrics while George Nelson subs in during part of the second half. It has that vibrant appeal that the Isley Brothers would upgrade years later. Both Nelson and Reed were seriously injured in an auto accident a year later, (1950) the crash killing guitarist Tommy Gaither.

9. Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox (2017)

There is a lot going on here with vocals being shared by Rayvon Owen and Olivia Kuper-Harris. Bradlee's band includes Jacob Scesney (clarinet), Luca Pino (guitar), Adam Kubota (bass), Sheldon Reed (drums) as well as the dance duo Caley & Kelsey. The video was taken during an actual New Year's Eve show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Simply put, this is a catchy triumph with almost no percussion (save for some orphaned brushes and shaker someplace) and a whole lot of euphoric possibilities.

8. Lou Donaldson (1976)

Lou Donaldson offered two tracks, this one and "Jingle Bells" to a Various Artists compilation on Cotillion Records (re-released on Rhino) called Funky Christmas. It is a holiday party album jam-packed with funk, r&b and jazzy soul, well, with maybe a touch of smooth jazz, and it is for those who like their holiday music played straight. Donaldson comes in with a slow, clear-eyed poise amid glacially-paced strings and gentle percussion. You will probably languidly daydream about the times you wondered where New Year's Eve would find you. *note—Lou Donaldson died at the age of 98 at home in Daytona Beach on November 9, 2024.

7. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (2011)

The pair of actors (and friends) made a video with their voices harmonizing tightly while Deschanel strums a ukulele and Gordon-Levitt plays acoustic guitar. On the YouTube video post, Deschanel explains: "I have known Joe Gordon-Levitt for going on 12 years. We first met in the summer of 2000 while doing a tiny movie called Manic, where we bonded over a mutual appreciation for Harry Nilsson and Nina Simone, and I have been lucky enough to call him one of my dearest friends ever since. When we did 500 Days of Summer eight years later, we spent every lunch hour dancing to Marvin Gaye in the hair and makeup trailer. In the meantime, we made a little New Year's duet for all of you!" Their little video has just shy of 8,000 comments! And hit pause at the 1:38 mark where the actors nod to each other at exactly the same time. Awwwww.

6. Diana Krall (2005)

Supported by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra featuring virtuoso guitarist Anthony Wilson, Diana Krall recorded a distinguished version with tamped, distant horns, sparse double bass and quietly-ringing electric guitar. Her take is leisurely, layered, desolate but resigned, with the final tolling piano chords suggesting irreparable regrets. She sounds as though she is not expecting a reassuring answer to the song's central question.

5. Joey DeFranceso (2014)

This comes from Joey DeFrancesco's double-album Home for the Holidays which finds the splendid organist accompanied by John Webber (bass), George Coleman (drums), Jeff Parker (guitar) and Jose Papo Rodriguez (percussion). This is a swinging set of holiday classics. DeFrancesco is a pretty decent singer he sticks to the organ on this particular song. It is got a pretty awesome overdubbed tenor saxophone lead by Coleman, I mean, you can't imagine he played sax while drumming. Parker chips in a smooth, 8-bar guitar solo.

4. Norah Jones (2021)

In 2021, Norah Jones released her first ever seasonal album, I Dream of Christmas. Amid the classics ("White Christmas") and self-penned songs ("Christmas Glow") is the track that has become a festive stalwart, a dreamy, smoochy, romantic number that would seem ideally suited to the time of year. Experts would say that she has one of the world's greatest voices. She could sing the phone book, and I would be the first one to buy the CD. Jones also uses the short prelude that many musicians leave off their recordings.

3. Pasquale Grasso (2019)

Whether hyperbole or not, Pat Metheny has stated that "Pasquale Grasso is maybe the best guitarist I've heard in my entire life." If that will not send you scrambling to Amazon or Bandcamp, then what will? You can hear the ghost of Herb Ellis (and maybe Charlie Parker, too) in Grasso's fluid playing, discharging guitar lines that climb and descend like staircases in an M.C. Escher drawing. This is what makes solo guitar chord melodies so captivating. Grasso's playing has a sparkling, immaculately balanced tone with stunning single-note lines connecting to chordal harmonies, spinning a finger-picked modal web of silky complessità.

2. Chicago (2011)

This is from the middle album in Chicago's Christmas trilogy, remastered in 2023. Jason Scheff's inimitably soothing voice was at the mic then. The nuts and bolts of Chicago's dynamite horn section—Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walter Parazaider—is intact to propel a constructive background, but it is Robert Lamm's soothing piano chords and open spaces that set the tone.

1. Kirk Whalum (2021)

Grab an easy chair! Whalum's sublime chops embrace this fabulous ballad with some smoldering runs on the fully superb album, How Does Christmas Sound? on Mack Avenue. Whalum squeezes out some notes that may cause you to wince at their ardor, attentively sculpting and bending the melody throughout the song, creating a definitive sense of longing. His manner of leaving a half-note pause between lines puts his stamp on the tune and sends it to listeners everywhere. Mark Edwards chimes in with a brief, but smooth piano solo, and the other two members of the quartet—Mark Jaimes (guitars) and James McMillan (bass, keyboards, programming) are competently unobtrusive.



"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"—words and music by Frank Loesser

When the bells all ring and the horns all blow
And the couples we know are fondly kissing
Will I be with you or will I be among the missing?

Maybe it's much too early in the game
Ah, but I thought I'd ask you just the same
What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?

Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight
When it's exactly twelve o'clock that night
Welcoming in the New Year, New Year's Eve?

Maybe I'm crazy to suppose
I'd ever be the one you chose
Out of the thousand invitations you received

Ah, but in case I stand one little chance
Here comes the jackpot question in advance
What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?

Ah, but in case I stand one little chance
Here comes the jackpot question in advance
What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?
Oh, what are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?

Comments