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Google Assistant has a new skill – it can sing you a cheesy ‘New Year song’

Published Dec 29th, 2020 4:47PM EST
Google Assistant
Image: Teerasan/Adobe

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  • The Google Assistant can now sing a festive “New Year song” to users who ask for a tune to celebrate the arrival of 2021.
  • “Sing a song for the New Year / I hope that we all thrive” is how the lyrics begin, with an allusion to leaving behind the coronavirus pandemic and all the other bad news associated with 2020.
  • There are also region-specific versions of the New Year song, in different accents, sung by the Google Assistant.

While Google has been rolling out new Google Assistant features this year that help people better adjust to all the working from home we’re doing during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a fun and kind of cheesy new skill the Google Assistant has been given to celebrate the imminent arrival of 2021 on the calendar.

Everyone, surely, can’t wait to put this year behind us as a result of so many horrible things, like the COVID pandemic. Accordingly, you can ask the Google Assistant to sing you a “New Year song,” at which point you will promptly be serenaded with — well, let’s just say, a very Google-y tune sung in the sort-of-robotic, sort-of-human voice of the Google Assistant. You can try this on your Google device now, or via the tweet below, as well as waiting until January 1 if you’re so inclined.

When you ask Google Assistant to play you the song, as you can see in the following tweet, the music will be accompanied by an animation on the screen of the Times Square ball moving to the beat of the song. An electronic musical accompaniment kicks in, and the song begins. “Sing a song for the New Year / I hope that we all thrive” is how the lyrics start. “Kindness, love, and laughter / May that be our guide.”

There are also region-specific versions of this song to enjoy. Here, for example, you can check out a version of the Google Assistant with a posh English accent singing the same song.

Honestly, the robotic quality of the voice and the somewhat stilted lyrics give off a “Dear Leader” vibe — the kind of thing that would permeate an ode to the autocrat ruler of a dictatorship. But it’s all in good fun, and as we said, it’s another reminder that, finally, 2020 is almost history.

In the fall, we described other new Google Assistant features that were timely arrivals as a result of the pandemic. For example, the Assistant can now remind users of all the things happening at work, whether they’re small or big. This Google Assistant routine is available on both Android and iPhone and can be enabled in the settings — and an example of a new work-from-home Google Assistant routine enabled by the new features is as follows, per Google:

“Every Monday through Friday at 10:00 AM, you’ll get a message from Google Assistant on your smart speaker or display saying ‘It’s time to stand up and stretch!’ At 2:00 pm, it might suggest going for a walk, and then to grab a glass of water at 3:00 p.m. Finally, at 4:45 pm, you’ll be reminded to start wrapping things up.” The Google Assistant also regularly shares the time with users throughout the day so that they don’t lose track of upcoming meetings, and you can easily customize the actions and time blocks to fit your schedule.

Andy Meek Trending News Editor

Andy Meek is a reporter based in Memphis who has covered media, entertainment, and culture for over 20 years. His work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he’s written for BGR since 2015. Andy's coverage includes technology and entertainment, and he has a particular interest in all things streaming.

Over the years, he’s interviewed legendary figures in entertainment and tech that range from Stan Lee to John McAfee, Peter Thiel, and Reed Hastings.