Have you noticed the change in weather? Of course you have: the darkness descending earlier, the extra layers you’re wearing, the ice on the windscreen…after a brief autumn, winter spreads its wings.
So it goes.
All seasons need their soundtrack, and winter may actually be better served than others. There’s something about the abrupt changes in the world that occurs around us that must prove inspiring to songwriters. Whether it’s a welcome thing or a lament for a sunnier time, winter has given us some great songs. Today, I’d love to share some of those songs with you! Wrap up warm, get yourself a cup o’ tea, and join me for a snow-strewn wander through a musical winter wonderland…
The Winter Songs at a Glance
Hazy Shade of Winter - Simon & Garfunkel/ The Bangles
Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Winterlong/My Love is Winter - Smashing Pumpkins
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
Winter - Tori Amos
How often do you hear about a song changing the life of a pro wrestler? Mick Foley wrote a whole article about how this song relieved his stress, and it’s an insightful, sensitive read. Winter was Tori’s first hit single (the 4th from her debut album) and is a fan favourite. It’s one of her most famous songs, with a wonderful central refrain plea about loving yourself. Pay close attention to the lyrics and you may notice a very touching narrative turnaround towards the end.
50 Words For Snow - Kate Bush
Eccentric genius Kate Bush actually wrote an entire album about winter. 50 Words for Snow was a quasi-concept album about all things snowy and wintery, with song titles like Snowflake, 50 Words For Snow and a song (Wild Man) about a couple finding a Yeti in the Himalayas! The title track does indeed manage to collect together 50 different terms for snow, and has Stephen Fry helping out with some narration alongside Kate. Some favourite snow names? How about ‘shovelcrusted’, or indeed ‘psychohail’?
Hazy Shade of Winter - Simon & Garfunkel/ The Bangles
Winter is often used by songwriters as a device to talk about ageing, or the loss of innocence. This one is definitely one of those. Songwriter Paul Simon is frequently in a more melancholic frame of mind. A Hazy Shade of Winter fits the bill on the subject of how time crushes the spirit of youth, and was brilliantly covered by the Bangles for the movie Less Than Zero.
Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave’s a bit of a wordsmith, is very well-read and enjoys a degree of self-reference. Therefore, this song - from the No More Shall We Part album - could be about persecution in Russia, cocaine, angels & prophets or maybe a less specific tale of loneliness and isolation. Like all great songs, you can take from it what you will, and read into it how you like.
Let it Go - Edina Menzel
It’s highly unlikely that any parents with kids of age 15 or less will be oblivious to this mega hit. It is of course from the Disney animated movie Frozen, a tale of two witch sisters and a talking snowman who complains that he doesn’t have a skull or any bones.
Let it Go is a power anthem that is all about celebrating who you truly are, a message that resonates regardless of the season.
Early Winter - Gwen Stefani
In the midst of the pop/hip hop of her second solo album, ex-No Doubt vocalist Gwen Stefani went for a classic soft rock ballad in Early Winter. She enlisted Keane keyboardist Time Rice-Oxley to help her pen this hit. True enough, it sounds an awful lot like a Keane tune, and may or may not reference the end of Stefani’s marriage to Bush singer Gavin Rossdale.
Wintertime Love - The Doors
The Doors were certainly an eclectic band! This is evident on all of their albums, but especially on third long-player Waiting For the Sun. Nestled in beside The Unknown Soldier, Spanish Caravan and Hello, I Love You are some wonderfully nostalgic, romantic songs that not enough people talk about!
Wintertime Love is a whimsical song that almost feels like it has beamed in from another century. “Wintertime winds blow cold this season, falling in love, I'm hoping to be. Wind is so cold, is that the reason? Keeping you warm, your hands touching me.” Innocent stuff, from one of the darkest bands of the 60s.
Winterlong - Neil Young
A song from his most classic period, Neil Young’s Winterlong is a tune about that classic winter feeling: loneliness. It’s about waiting, holding on, feeling isolated and searching for reason. The song actually wasn’t released for years (remaining a live proposition beforehand), which kind of only adds to the song’s mood!
Winterlong/My Love is Winter - Smashing Pumpkins
There’s definitely something wintery about The Smashing Pumpkins. Perhaps it's their Chicago origin, with a climate that’s more Edinburgh than LA? I don’t know, but songwriter Billy Corgan returns to wintery themes often. Indeed, the entire Adore album could be called a ‘winter album’, with its frosty sounds and songs of loss and regret.
For songs with ‘winter’ in the title, there’s My Love is Winter from 2012’s Oceania album, and Winterlong, which is an outtake from the Adore sessions.
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
This winter-set folk song is somewhat mysterious. Some people take it as face value - a tale of kids out playing and one of them falls over and hurts themselves - but others read it differently. Is it about the French Revolution, and an example of what would happen to those who opposed the government? Is it about Jesus? I’m not sure, but the song seems pretty symbolic.
Plainsong - The Cure
Not only is this possibly The Cure’s best song (calm down, it’s just my opinion!), it’s also beautifully evocative of that special realm that only they inhabit. The chimes and synth in the beginning describe a cold but beautiful winter vista, and Robert Smith’s lyrics - which talk about cold like the end of the world, “it’s like the cold if you were dead” - are both hugely Goth and very ‘winter’.
Winter Songs
Winter definitely lends itself to beautiful songwriting. The season seems to promote reflective songs, with a heavy dose of melancholia. Maybe it’s because winter is the season where the trees have no leaves and the plants have all died; animals are in hibernation and the grass has frozen. It’s the opposite of the zesty highs of summer, and the songs here all reflect that, in my opinion. As the nights draw in, it’s a good time to look back and take stock. And maybe write a few songs!
