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My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)(WORD)
My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)(PDF)
You can play along in the same key as the recordings below with minimal variations! The time signature of the song is 6/8, but because it's a slow song and to keep it simple, I've counted it in bars of 3. I've tried to keep the arrangement accessible for even beginners to enjoy with some practice - a wonderful slow exercise in bar chords. However more advanced players can throw in all sorts of lovely passing chords. And in the first lines of verses instead of [A], [D], [A], [C#7], you could use [A], [Bm7], [C#m], [C#7] - whatever you prefer! If you don't like the [Bm7], you can do [D] throughout - entirely up to you! There's one [E7sus4] which is lovely but of course you can just play [E7].
I can't find much about this specific song. From Peggy Lee's beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Called the "Queen of American pop music," Lee recorded over 1,100 masters and composed over 270 songs.
"My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)" was included on the album, Peggy Lee Ultimate Christmas released in September 2020, continuing the centennial celebration of Peggy Lee’s birth — May 26, 1920 — which saw several new music releases honoring one of the 20th century’s most important musical influences in the world of jazz and popular music. Including 10 tracks from Lee’s much-admired 1960 Christmas album, along with several holiday singles, Peggy Lee Ultimate Christmas also includes two duets with Bing Crosby — “Little Jack Frost Get Lost” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Six songs on the album were written or co-written by Lee, including “Christmas Carousel,” “Here’s To You,” and “My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year).”
This song was also covered by others including Regina Spektor and Kristin Chenoweth.