Throwback Thursday: ‘A Long December’ by Counting Crows (1996)

Counting Crows "Long December" has become a bit of a tradition for the last Throwback Thursday song of the year. Back in 2016, I picked it because that year seemed very somber towards the end with the passings of George Michael and Carrie Fisher. Not to mention, the election took its toll on everyone.

Then in 2017, it was a trying year as well. Terrible natural disasters, more terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and violence.

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And in 2018, personally, the end of the year had brought a death in my family and a cancer diagnosis. But there were also great things that happened that year like my brother getting married.

In 2020, January hit me hard with the passing of my mom, and then the whole world was shaken by the global pandemic.

2021, the pandemic has continued and again a serious health struggle happened in my family. And I know I'm not alone. Many people struggle from year to year and it seems especially tough around the Holidays.

I just think "Long December" sums up the ups and downs of life perfectly.

As always with any negative, there is also positive. Out of all these tragedies we see heroes arise, friends and families come together, and people trying to do their best.

And as with any new year, I think we all hope that 'This year will be better than the last.'

So it just seemed fitting to end the year once again with The Counting Crows.

"A Long December" by Counting Crows was released in 1996. It was the second single off of their second album, Recovering the Satellites. 

Frontman, Adam Duritz said of the song:

"It’s a song about looking back on your life and seeing changes happening, and for once for me, looking forward and thinking… ya know…things are gonna change for the better ‘maybe this year will be better than the last’ and uh… and so, like a lot of songs on the end of album it’s not about everything turning out great, but it at least is about hope…and the possibilities …”

And I think that's what we all want. Hope and possibilities.

Also, in the video was Duritz's then-girlfriend, Courtney Cox. This was during the peak years of Friends, so it was pretty awesome. Duritz also dated Jennifer Aniston from Friends. Crazy, right?

According to Wikipedia, the song charted well. #6 on Billboard's Hot 100, #7 on the Top 40 Mainstream, and #5 on the Modern Rock chart.