And A Happy New Year (On The Turning of Time and Calendar Pages)

It's human nature to turn inward in times of timeturning. It's reassuring that we do; it bespeaks our still-close relationship with nature, and the planet. In a world long teetering on the verge of disaster, our innate need to constantly reground ourselves in history and ecology gives me more hope than anything at the future and continued existence of the human race. That it happens everywhere, regardless of country or creed, only reinforces my faith in all of us.

May your year turn joyfully. May you put to rest all the anxieties of a lifetime passed-so-far, and pass clean into the new possibility. May you live more and more in the connections between, and less and less in the margins. May you cover the world, and may the world cover you.

• Bruce Cockburn, Turn, Turn, Turn (orig. Pete Seeger)
  (from Where Have All The Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger)
  
  
• Ben Taylor Band, Time of the Season (orig. The Zombies)
  (from Famous Among the Barns)
  
  
• Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, Four Seasons In One Day (orig. Crowded House)
  (live; more Crowded House covers here)
  
  
• Pablo, This Will Be Our Year (orig. The Zombies)
  (from Half The Time)
  
  
• Mindy Smith, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (orig. Loesser)
  (from My Holiday)
  
  
• Rufus Wainwright, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (orig. Loesser)
  (from The McGarrigle Christmas Hour)
  
  
• Tony Trischka, Auld Lang Syne
  (from Glory Shone Around: A Christmas Collection)

I resolve to continue to promote folk artists and their labels by linking to their preferred source for purchasing wherever possible, rather than supporting megastores and megalabels who really aren't interested in music, or in musicians or their audiences, except as a means to a dollar.

In addition, I resolve to continue to serve an astute listening public (that's you!) by continuing to bring you songs, singers, and songwriters in context as long as it is safe, legal, and fun for all of us...and by feeling grateful for every comment, email, and download. It's nice to feel appreciated, folks. Thanks for listening, and have a very, very happy new year.

Don't forget to come back Wednesday for another installment in our very popular Covered in Folk series. This week I'll be featuring folkcovers of Paul Simon tunes.