The 10 best songs for Autumn
The brown leaves are falling folks, it’s that time of year again. Autumn has arrived. This time, it approaches with a greater sense of trepidation, given the current cost of living crisis. Thankfully, some songs can offer up blanketing warmth without ever having to put the heating on. Not literally, of course, but the spiritual quilts are tracks that you can wrap yourself up in and get cosy.
Whether it’s Nick Drake’s ethereal tones making themselves at home amid the golden hue of a coffee shop glow or Thom Waits conjuring the harvest moon a little closer for a poetic inspection. As the world gears down, the softer side of music comes into its own. And with the comforting tenors of sepia-toned tunes in the air, what could initially seem bleak suddenly cosies up to Albert Camus’ view: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
This colourful bracing of the cold buttresses the art around the fall with a sense of calm and comfy beauty. Things aren’t as frantic as summer, not as truly sanguine as spring, not as camp as Christmas, or as crushing as the depths of winter. This makes chord progressions a little slower, and dissonance is a thing of the future.
Mellow is the way to go in the autumn months, and we’ve picked out ten tracks that perfectly encapsulate it.
The 10 best songs for Autumn:
‘Autumn in New York’ – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
What is it about New York that somehow seems to typify autumn? “Life starts all over when it gets crisp in the fall,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote in his New York eulogy, and Ella Fitzgerald continued that spiritual second-spring sentiment when she sang with a cuddly croon: “Autumn in New York, that brings the promise of new love.”
The old jazz standard was first composed by Vernon Duke in 1934. Comically he wrote in Westport, Connecticut, which is perhaps why he was able to romanticise the Big Apple so fondly in his frosty tale of warming romance. It’s a tune that brews the coffee for you, tints the leaves with a golden touch, and pops a log on the fire. Sang with great joy, this is the definition of a sweater weather classic.
‘Grapefruit Moon’ – Tom Waits
Closing Time is one of the greatest albums ever written, and like a Robin Red Breast, it really comes into its own in colder months. Even folks who aren’t fans of the colder months can agree that one of the concessions it brings is the majesty of a lowering moon. This is a picture that Waits paints beautifully with his lullaby-like ‘Grapefruit Moon’.
With the lingering sense of a lovelorn lament, there is a bittersweetness to the song that somehow brings more comfort than anything too saccharine. If you’re feeling down as the daylight dwindles, then Waits is with you, and so is the moon. Both of these ancient stalwarts of the night are trying their best to illuminate the homely reminder that you are not alone.
‘Harvest Moon’ – Neil Young
Another autumn song, another ode to our lunar companion. In fact, Neil Young has penned 28 tracks that reference the moon, but this is his finest effort. As he once said: “Before there was organised religion, there was the moon. The Indians knew about the moon. Pagans followed the moon. I’ve followed it for as long as I can remember, and that’s just my religion.”
Continuing: “I’m not a practicing anything, Idon’tt have a book that I have to read. It can be dangerous working in a full moon atmosphere, because if there are things that are going to go wrong, they can really go wrong. Butthat’ss great, especially for rock‘’’’ roll”” On this fortuitous occasion, everything went right. The celebration of harvest is heaving in this song—a beauteous ode to good tidings with a melody that could rock a can of Red Bull into a state of wingless tranquillity.
‘I’m Not MySeason’’ – Fleet Foxes
The music of autumn does not have to be a celebration of the season. Autumn is about dreamy escapism and Fleet Foxes guide you to sunnier climes with this lilting gem. It also came along at just the right time to offer us an escape in its enveloping benediction. The album Shore was a gorgeous little gift back in September of 2020 that reconfirmed Fleet Foxes as the perfect band to enjoy those more wistful days trying to capture your own little piece of cathartic release through the priceless elements of life.
‘I’m Not My Seaso’’ is sung by Robin Pecknold in such steady and gentle tones, cut over an equally soothing strumming melody that it whisks you off elsewhere. The metaphor of changing seasons provides a much more literal escape at the moment, away from the dogged Northern Hemisphere winter in a very literal sense. In the line“we’ree weak but a leaf is turning”” there is a message that time will sort this mess out andit’ss a message emboldened by the deliverance in the power of the music. (The live version below proves to be even more sumptuous).
‘Autumn Sweate’’ – Yo La Tengo
This seasonal favourite is in this list for reasons that need not be mentioned. The organ arrangement and tumbling drum inject a vibrant tranquillity into IraKaplan’ss soothing vocals. One could sayit’ss about as soothing as an item of knitwear in the jarring months that follow a long, warm summer.
The track was released as one of three singles on Yo LaTengo’ss wonderful 1997 album, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.‘‘Autumn Sweate’’ embodies theband’ss eclectic influences and most importantly, the feeling of Autumn. Yo La Tengo translates in Spanish to““Do You Have I””. If youdon’tt, I suggest you add it to your playlist now.
‘Cello Son’’ – Nick Drake
If I could recommend one artist for autumn, it would probably be Nick Drake. Where summer is associated with Ibiza club hits and winter with a cup of mulled wine and Nat King Cole, autumn appears to be a time for poignant reflective music – something poor Drake had by the bucketload.
‘Cello Son’’ appears onDrake’ss 1969 debut album, which is fittingly titled Five Leaves Left.Drake’ss atmospheric acoustic compositions bring a warmth no fireplace will conjure as his soft voice lulls you toward the festive season. Frankly, any of thisalbum’ss fantastic spread would have sufficed for this list, but‘‘Cello Son’’ is an undoubtable highlight.
‘Leaves That Are Gree’’ – Simon and Garfunkel
If youhaven’tt heard this Simon and Garfunkel classic before, you might be thinking:““Hold on! Leaves are green in the summer, autumn is a time for the oranges, reds and browns that come with decay”” Fear not,America’ss favourite folk duo have it covered.
The lyrics read:““The leaves that are green turn to brown / And they wither with the wind / And they crumble in your han””. I think you can agree, itdoesn’tt get much more autumnal than that. This 1996 classic from Sounds of Silence gave Billy Bragg the first two lines for his 1983 hit‘‘A New Englan’’.
‘The Last Day ofSummer’’ – The Cure
For some people, living in the temperate North can be quite exciting. In the same way that happinessisn’tt so without the punctuation of sadness, a perpetual summer could become a little tedious and sweltering. With the bait that is Christmas at our noses, many of us march contentedly into the autumn months.
Sadly, it would appear that TheCure’ss Robert Smith laments the last of the sun. Despite his pasty complexion and the blizzard-embracing performance in the‘‘Pictures ofYou’’ music video, Smithwasn’tt looking forward to the cold when writing this mournful 2000 classic from Bloodflowers.
‘Pink Orange Re’’ – Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins are another one of those artists that ooze with a tacit autumnal vibe. As with Nick Drake,it’ss in their ability to weave the most introspective and sentimental soundscapes. Where Cocteau Twins differ from Drake is their dreamy, effect-heavy proto-shoegaze sound and ElizabethFraser’ss unique soprano stylings.
‘Pink Orange Re’’ carries some particularly autumnal colours in its title, but beyond superficiality, the echoed effects depict a sparse soundscape suitable for this lonelier time of year. These soothing tones will comfort you as much as central heating this autumn at a much more agreeable price.
‘Monster Mas’’ – Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers
Halloween is the Christmas of autumn, and BobbyPickett’ss hit is as much of a staple of the season as any carol. His Frankenstein inspired classic is a romp. It is pretty much as fun as music gets. That sense of joyous, spooky irreverence seems all the more important now.
That’s simply how it started too. Pickett was an actor, thus, when he was playing with his band one night, he decided to hone his Boris Karloff impression and the audience loved the hilarity of it. A lightning bolt of inspiration struck him and he decided that the world needed a comic riot to mark the kooky madness of Halloween.
