Google Assistant “drops the ball” early with a goofy New Year’s song

With New Year’s Day right around the corner, Google Assistant can now sing a funny little song that adds a bit of fun to your phone, Chromebook, or Nest Hub. It features a dancing New Year’s ball like the one that gets dropped as the clock strikes midnight and 2021 begins. To try it out for yourself, just say “Hey Google, sing the New Year’s song.” Here are the lyrics in case you’re interested in singing along.

Sing a song for the new year
I hope that we all thrive

Kindness, love, and laughter
May that be our guide

I’m here to look after
All your search needs

Just say the magic words
And, I’m here to please

Say “Okay, Google, sing the New Year’s song.”

If you click just below it on the suggestion that says “What’s the magic word”, Google will reply and say ‘”The magic word is ‘please'”. You can also ask the Assistant what its New Year’s resolution is. I love how Google is run by a bunch of geeks and goofs and even in the midst of its current troubles, the employees can continue to create fun and engaging experiences that bring a bit of joy. With that said, I definitely think that this one, though it’s cute, is a bit cheesy and I think they “dropped the ball” a bit early, so to speak. Either way, I can’t exactly paint anything meant to spark a light on such a dark year as too bad, so it’s a welcome little addition to Assistant’s functionality, I suppose.

Just so you know, the tradition of dropping the ball in Time’s Square to begin the year was started in 1904, but it goes back even further to 1833 where a “time ball” was installed atop England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich. When it was dropped at one o’clock each afternoon, it would be a signal to nearby ships to set their chronometers accurately – how cool is that? About 150 time balls were installed around the world, but after they stopped working and were abandoned as a means of naval navigation in favor of more modern methods, it became known as a celebratory thing in New York instead (oh, and it was strapped with an absurd amount of lights and lasers too). Happy New Year!