Autumn, the most poetic of the seasons. Green turns to gold, the night descends sooner, and we dig out our warmer autumn layers in preparation for weekend walks amongst the falling amber leaves.
Wouldn't It be perfect if somebody put together a list of great autumn-flavoured songs to accompany these moments?
It’s almost like I read your mind!
The Autumn Songs at a Glance
California Dreamin’ - The Mamas and the Papas
Autumn Serenade - John Coltrane
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion - Flaming Lips
We Fell in Love in October - Girl in Red
Autumn Town Leaves - Iron & Wine
Grand Theft Autumn / Where is Your Boy - Fall Out Boy
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
California Dreamin’ - The Mamas and the Papas
The lyrics to this classic hippie-era song do mention ‘on a Winter’s Day’, but they also say ‘All the leaves are brown’, so if you’re in the UK like I am, it’s an autumn tune! There’s definitely that melancholic feel of the season change here in California Dreamin’, and thinking of sun & palm trees is something that I believe a lot of us do at this time of year!
Nightswimming - R.E.M.
R.E.M.’s poetic ode to youthful freedom is pretty much autumn personified. In the song, we’re approaching autumn: “September’s coming soon, I’m pining for the moon”, sings Michael Stipe in one of the song’s most evocative moments. Nightswimming uses the device of the song’s narrator driving in a car at night and metaphorically looking backwards at his recent life, wishing for it all over again.
It’s wistful and full of pathos, but it’s also lit with a golden glow that is as autumnal as a falling leaf.
November Rain - Guns n Roses
GnR’s widescreen epic is a classic tale of holding on to love through difficult times. In songwriting terms, autumn often stands in as an emotional precursor to winter, when things get bad/tough for the song’s subjects. There’s the feeling of encroaching solitude (“Sometimes I need some time, all alone”) that also sweeps in with autumn. This song captures all of that well, if you choose to look for it. If you’re just here for the solo, well, that’s fine too.
Autumn Sweater - Yo La Tengo
Autumn Sweater is from indie rockers Yo La Tengo’s excellent I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One album. This whole record has an autumnal feel (check out the absolutely gorgeous Damage), and this song sums up the feel with organ, soft vocals and a pretty excellent synth bassline to accompany the unexpectedly funky drum parts.
Autumn Serenade - John Coltrane
Coltrane was one of the world’s greatest melody players, in any genre and on any instrument. This lovely jazz number has the silky, chocolaty vocal tones of Johnny Hartman throughout, singing an ode to enduring love. But it’s when Coltrane offers up a very unexpected set of staccato notes and measures of melody that this song transforms into something completely different.
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
Pop punk pioneers Green Day have a large bag of hit songs for all occasions. This single from their monster album American Idiot hits that autumn feeling square in the bullseye with the lyrics “Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last, wake me up when September ends”. Elegiac and economical, this is an example of great songwriting because it’s as accessible as it is effective.
The song is actually about vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong’s father’s death when Armstrong was ten years old. That isn’t too clear when listening directly, but the mood is there in spades.
My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion - Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are masters of tackling huge life issues in songs that sound deceptively optimistic. Vocalist/writer Wayne Cyne isn’t afraid to look up into the sky and face the big subjects: “They tell us autumn's a comin' and soon everything around us will die, Only a fool believes that he is different from the birds in the sky”.
The song is actually about the triumph of nature and humanity in tandem, about one bird sticking around throughout autumn and winter. “This one bird didn't leave you, You can hear it as it flies, It's not very loud but you can hear it if you try”.
We Fell in Love in October - Girl in Red
This one is an indie ballad from Norwegian singer Girl in Red. It was a pretty big hit in 2019, a year after it was first released. It’s a slice of perfect pop, with dreamy vocals and backwards textures hazing in and out of the arrangement. The chorus was pretty impossible to ignore at the time, and the song has aged well.
Autumn Town Leaves - Iron & Wine
Any artist with the stage name ‘Iron & Wine’ has to have at least one good autumn tune in them, don’t they? This gentle acoustic Americana number fits the bill perfectly, with lyrics about songbirds, rain and leaves falling behind walls. It’s gentle, sublime stuff for those autumn weekend mornings when you just feel like going for a walk in those golden leaves.
Grand Theft Autumn / Where is Your Boy - Fall Out Boy
Cheeky chappies Fall Out Boy join the autumn vibe with another one of their irrepressibly jaunty pop punk numbers. You already know exactly what it sounds like, even if you’ve never heard it. The video has the boys outside in cold weather clobber, stomping around whilst clouds of breath bely the autumnal nature of the project. The song itself doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with autumn itself, but the video and title mean it’s a shoe-in for this blog.
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
More indie rock here from The Neighbourhood this time, or The NBHD if you really must. This is another California referencing autumn tune, with the singer’s titular sweater being suggested for his paramour’s frozen hands because “It’s too cold for you, here”. I wonder where they are? Well, I don’t actually, but people do love this song, so have at it! There is a pretty interesting half-way feel change that works really well, actually, and elevates the tune.
Autumn Leaves - Nat King Cole
I reckon it’s always a good idea to leave a masterpiece for the end of an article. From the descending strings at the beginning that mimic falling leaves, to Nat’s velvety vocals, this song is a warm cup of cocoa at a picnic table beside a flowing autumn river. It’s just delicious, and has that little twinge of regret that is required of all truly great emotional ballads. It’s all here, with that extra patina of age that has this song beam in from another era completely.
It’s Almost Dark Out There…
That was the sound of autumn, right there. Did you feel it? Thank you for letting me share my autumn moods with you today, as you frolic in the darkening afternoons that lead up to Halloween. Once you get to Halloween, I want you to check out my Spookiest Halloween Party Playlist blog, of course! If you’re a film buff, you might then want to go deep with my Greatest Horror Soundtracks blog too! Both of these are filled with sustained levels of terror, so prepare yourself before you click the buttons. In the meantime, wrap up warm and enjoy the season!
