A Long December

"A Long December"
Single by Counting Crows
from the album Recovering the Satellites
ReleasedDecember 2, 1996 (1996-12-02)
RecordedLate 1996
StudioThe Sound Factory (Hollywood, California)
GenreAlternative rock[1]
Length4:57
Label
Songwriter(s)Adam F. Duritz
Producer(s)Gil Norton
Counting Crows singles chronology
"Angels of the Silences"
(1996)
"A Long December"
(1996)
"Daylight Fading"
(1997)
Music video
"A Long December" on YouTube

"A Long December" is a song by American rock band Counting Crows. The ballad is the second single and 13th track from their second album, Recovering the Satellites (1996). Lead singer Adam Duritz was inspired to write the track after his friend was hit by a motorist and injured, making the song about reflecting on tragedy with a positive disposition.

Released in December 1996, "A Long December" peaked at number five on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number one on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. In December 1997, the song was re-released in the United Kingdom and reached number 68, six places below its original peak of number 62. American Songwriter magazine named "A Long December" the best Counting Crows song in April 2022.[2]

  1. ^ Brian Galindo, Alex Naidus & Ryan Creed (November 5, 2023). "37 Alt Rock Songs You Haven't Thought About Since The Late '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  2. ^ Uitti, Jacob (April 29, 2022). "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 30, 2022.