Bonus Edition: "Do You Realize??," Willie Nelson (2024)

Willie Nelson released the second single from his forthcoming 153rd(!!!!) studio album this morning. It’s a cover of “Do You Realize??” by the Flaming Lips, which is a song that does not appear on this list, but easily could. It’s a lovely, ultimately optimistic, song about mortality and the urgency of acknowledging the beauty of each moment, and that message sounds even more meaningful coming from a man who, at ninety-one years old, has more cause to consider those themes than most.

I wrote about “Do You Realize??” for Texas Monthly this morning, and it’s very much of a piece with this series.