“Atlantis” (Hindsight is 2023)

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Gather ’round, gang—it’s time once again for the year-end roundup of new-to-me songs of the past year. If you’ve been following along from previous installments, you know the rules: all songs must come from albums I added to my iTunes library in 20231, and I can only pick one song per album.

This time around there’s an 81-year span between the oldest and newest tracks, with the decade from 1977-1987 disproportionately over-represented (no surprises there). My prediction from last year—that this year’s playlist would be 2/3rds production library music—did not come to pass; Richard Myhill’s sentimental homecoming theme is the one true example of that genre. I continued trying to figure out how to enjoy jazz in 2023, as well as taking a dive into calypso, reflected here by Sir Lancelot’s feel-good pro-democracy dance number from World War II. The third track by Future Islands was the song I listened to the most, a cool breeze for boiling summer days crossing hot pavements in D.C. I could have easily picked the Zombies’ huge hit single from the end of the album, since we listened to it quite a bit more around the house and on road trips, but this is my way of gently suggesting that if you’re into late-60s psychedelia, etc., you should give the rest of the record a spin.

The Isley Brothers make a triumphant return after last year’s absence. So far they’ve appeared on four of the past five annual playlists. Their wistful sea-gazing number is the inspiration for the playlist’s title, even if the Journey track is the one that’s playing in the background while the kids on the cover joke around in the booth.

Is Atlantis just the name of the burger joint? Is it backwards glance at a vanished world of the past, yearning after a way of life that no longer exists? (Like holding onto MP3s?) I’m at the age (or we’re living in an age, or both) where aspects of the world that once felt eternal and elemental feel suddenly unsteady and mutable. Is Atlantis a recognition that nothing lasts? Or is it an acknowledgement that, despite our stubborn belief in something golden and timeless just beyond our reach, the warm and fuzzy aura view of the old ways is an illusion; that nothing never existed the way we think it did?

Whatever Atlantis is for you, I hope you find it this year. Or, if you prefer, that you come to terms with the fact that it doesn’t exist. Or that you at least get to enjoy a few really good burgers2. Pull up a chair; it won’t take long, it won’t take too long.

“Atlantis” — A Playlist for 2023

  1. The Century of the Common Man — Sir Lancelot (78 rpm single, 1942)
  2. It’s Too Late — Bobbi Humphrey (Flute-In, 1972)
  3. Seasons (Waiting on You) — Future Islands (Singles, 2014)
  4. Only Solutions — Journey (Frontiers, 1983)
  5. Swooning — JW Francis (Dream House, 2023)
  6. Wichita Lineman — Glen Campbell (All-Time Favorite Hits, 1991)
  7. SHEEP — Hiroshi Yoshimura (Green, 1987)
  8. Care of Cell 44 — The Zombies (Odessey & Oracle, 1968)
  9. Voyage to Atlantis — The Isley Brothers (Go For Your Guns, 1977)
  10. Rivers of Babylon — Boney M. (Nightflight to Venus, 1978)
  11. Bread Sandwiches — Bernard Wright (‘Nard, 1981)
  12. This is the Day — The The (Soul Mining, 1983)
  13. Love is Necessary — The Cry (Heroes of the Night: Punk, Pop & Wave from the UK Underground 1979-1983)
  14. Oh Sherrie — Steve Perry (Street Talk, 1984)
  15. Cool the Engines — Boston (Third Stage, 1986)
  16. Boat Drinks — Jimmy Buffet (Songs You Know By Heart, 1986)
  17. This is Not For Your Eyes — The Night Monitor (Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind, 2023)
  18. Welcome Home — Richard Myhill (Leisure Style, 1991)
  19. Movement in the City — Movement in the City (Movement in the City, 1979)
  1. If you’re playing along at home, songs 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 through 14, 18, and 19 you can get from Freegal Music if your local library participates; songs 3 and 17 I bought off Bandcamp, and the balance come from CDs from antique and thrift stores. ↩︎
  2. Veggie. ↩︎