Winter, especially in Ohio, can be very gray and dreary. Spending most of your time indoors all winter may feel boring, lonely, colorless. Hot chocolate, movies, candles, blankets, and good friends can all help with the winter blues. Music can too. Here are my recommendations (both new and old) for a perfect playlist for a snowy winter’s day!
1. “First Winter” – Wrabel
“First Winter” by Wrabel is an unassuming but beautiful love song. It is an ode to a lover, a testament to how love has the power to make old things feel new and winter feel warm. Wrabel’s never-failing falsetto blends beautifully with simple but strong guitar chords. It perfectly personifies that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you begin a new love story. “First Winter” is a lowkey, acoustic song for daydreaming about a winter romance.
2. “Saturday Morning” – Olde Worlde
Olde Worlde has successfully made a contagiously happy song. “Saturday Morning” is the song I want playing in the morning montage scene in my coming-of-age movie— where I’m dancing around to this song while I get dressed, brush my teeth, and put on my mascara. It is a feel-good tune, but it is also humble. It also happens to be another love song. Most of the tracks on this list deal with love in some way… and I’m not sorry about it.
3. “January” – Verzache
“January” is an onomatopoeic song— it sounds like what it is. This song somehow feels like the month of January when I listen to it. Plus, if January was a color it would definitely be the color that is the cover for this single. “January” fills my heart with wonder. It has a pretty, dreamy melody. It feels like a quiet adventure; ideal for escaping the winter weather.
4. “Cherry” – Harry Styles
First of all, if you haven’t listened to Fine Line, Harry Styles’ new album yet, go listen right now. It is perfection. “Cherry” is my favorite track off this album. Like the first two songs on this list, “Cherry” is a love story. It is not, however, a very happy one. It is a story of a breakup, of jealousy, and of moving on. The lyrics of “Cherry” certainly strike an emotional chord. However, its smooth sound allows for melodrama to meet a leveled musical background. This song somehow reminds me of summer and winter at the same time. It is almost as if Harry Styles has captured every season of a love story— every butterfly, every heartbreak— in one beautiful song.
5. “Re: Stacks” – Bon Iver
Now, I must apologize, for “Re: Stacks” is likely the saddest song on this list. Regardless, it is quite angelic. Despite being about unreciprocated love, the song does not fill me with sadness, but rather peace and tranquility. I think when I listen to “Re: Stacks” the lyrics just melt away and the sound of Justin Vernon’s voice mixed with the steady strumming of the acoustic guitar makes for a heavenly melody.
6. “January Love” – David Francisco
“January Love” has a similar vibe to “First Winter” in the sense that it is a song of winter sparks. It is about falling, and giving in to the fall. It tells of the complexities and tensions between timing and desire. “January Love” is a comforting love song for a cold winter’s day.
7. “Winter Song” – The Head and the Heart
The Head and the Heart are one of my all-time favorite bands. All of their music is enjoyable and you can truly find a song to match any emotion on any of their albums. “Winter Song” tells of the change of the seasons, of change in a relationship. It is a song of love, promise, nostalgia, and hope. It is looking forward to spring sunshine through the depths of winter.