Do you ever hear a song and think: “this is so autumn”? Well, that is one of my personal favorite feelings in the world. So, in honor of my favorite season, I made a playlist compiled of some songs that remind me of fall.
- Apple Pie – Lizzy McAlpine
Apple pie, both the food and the song are a great fall classic. Lizzy McAlpine has a knack for transporting the listeners of her songs into the exact emotional state and feeling that she is in in her songs. In this song, she speaks of the feeling of “home” and I think yearning for that feeling is very common in the fall season.
- When We Are Together – The 1975
As we come up on this album’s first birthday on October fourteenth, I want to note how much this album as a whole influenced my fall last year. I personally feel like this whole album provides the same nuance and warmth that fall brings, but this song specifically, makes me think of fall sunsets.
- Dancing in the Moonlight – King Harvest
Fall nights are one of my personal favorite parts of the season. After the sunset, walking through the fresh air, stepping on the crunchy red and orange leaves, the moon seems to shine brighter in the fall.
- She’s My Baby – Wings
I think that fall is the perfect time for love songs. We’re coming down from the high of the summer, where most of us were looking for fun rather than stability. As the autumn season progresses, we tend to slow down and crave the love and secureness in a person that McCartney sings of in this song.
- My Love Mine All Mine – Mitski
Mitski is known for her soul-crushing love songs, and she certainly does not disappoint with this one. Again, relating to the theme of yearning for a stable love in the fall, I felt I needed to include a more sad love song to contrast with Wings’ She’s My Baby.
- This Will Be Our Year – The Zombies
Fall is often a time of new beginnings, with the beginning of the school year. This song by The Zombies speaks of hope and ambition for the year, reminding the listener that there are so many opportunities yet to come.
- Like Real People Do – Hozier
Hozier is sort of like if autumn was a human incarnate right? As we get closer to “cuffing season,” love songs put me in the right mood. This song by Hozier perfectly embodies the truest form of mortal love – the way we all want to be loved.
“Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips
We could just kiss like real people do”
Like Real People Do – Hozier
- There She Goes – Sixpence None The Richer
Here we have another fall classic, most likely due to the original version of it by The La’s having a sync placement in one of the most iconic fall shows, Gilmore Girls. Sixpence None The Richer’s cover feels more “fall” to me personally. This song makes me feel like I’m walking through Stars Hollow in the fall, circa 2002.
- ur so pretty – Wasia Project
Fall is the perfect time for yearning. And ur so pretty by the Wasia Project is the perfect song for yearning. I absolutely love what the Wasia Project is doing. All of their songs have so much emotion and sense of desire that everyone can relate to.
- Will Anybody Ever Love Me? – Sufjan Stevens
Sad songs hit harder in the fall don’t they? I personally love listening to mellow, sad, love songs in the autumn, and this song by Sufjan Stevens has been heavily on rotation recently.
- For No One – The Beatles
Revolver is my personal favorite Beatles’ album, and For No One is one of my favorites off the album. I find that a lot of melancholy songs tend to remind me of autumn. Paul McCartney is one of my favorite songwriters – he has the ability to truly move an audience with his evocative lyrics, and the baroque elements that he pulls from in this song remind me of Halloween, as a lot of the instruments and techniques used in the baroque era are similar to ones used in “spooky” pieces.
- Cannock Chase – Labi Siffre
I often reminisce on my childhood, traveling to the mountains in New Hampshire to see the beautiful red and orange foliage. This song brings me back to that time. It has a nostalgic, cozy feel to it, a feeling similar to my childhood.
- Scott Street – Phoebe Bridgers
I find myself yearning for home often during the fall season. Bridgers perfectly captures how I think most college students feel in the first few weeks adjusting back to school. The passing of time is scary, but Bridgers makes us feel less alone with this song.
- Oysters In My Pocket – Royel Otis
In the fall, I am consistently drawn to the indie genre every year. So, I wanted to include one of my favorite indie songs – from an extremely underrated band, Royel Otis – that reminds me of fall!
- Autumn In New York – Billie Holiday
This one’s very on the nose, but I think that it’s still a great fall classic nonetheless. I love Holiday’s voice and the warmth and sweetness she brings to all of her songs. In Autumn In New York, she encapsulates the feeling of walking through Central Park on a crisp afternoon, gazing at the changing foliage.
“Glittering crowds and shimering clouds in canyons of steel
They’re making me feel, I’m home.”
Autumn In New York – Billie Holiday
- Haunted – Laufey
Another jazz song, but I think the genre has a certain “fall feel” to it. Laufey’s voice is beautiful and her lyrics are haunting (no pun intended) which fits right into Spooky Season, and I feel makes this perfect cozy fall essential.
- cardigan – Taylor Swift
Of course I had to add a song from folklore to this playlist. What’s a fall playlist without one? Swift makes me feel like I’m wrapped up in a warm cardigan sipping on hot tea while eating her famous chai cookies.
- Sweet Tooth – Maya Hawke
I wanted to end this playlist with something soft and “sweet.” Hawke’s raspy, sugared voice puts me in the perfect fall mood. This song is very bittersweet – with a lighter, happy melody, accompanied with sadder lyrics.
I’ve included a link to this playlist on Spotify below!