October: Autumn, orange and yellow, halloween, a bittersweet and lingering feeling of anticipation. October. Some would say that it’s a romantic and heartwarming month, others would argue it’s the start of a cold endeavor of wind, rain and bad skin. Regardless if you’re stepping on the crunchiest yellow leaves or crying yourself to sleep every night one thing is for sure: music. From someone who relishes in October and has already prepared their Halloween costumes, here’s my pick for the MOST October, autumn songs to take your hand and walk along with you, so the wind feels softer when it brushes by.
Starting off to really set the “Fall” everyone raves on about, the album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins (1995) personally let me walk around autumn stricken Edinburgh without feeling like it was another miserable, dull day. The soft piano intro, the weird little interludes, the songs that feel like you’re in love in a season of orange and breezes. ‘Cupid De Locke’ sounds like glitter falling in slow motion or ‘To Forgive ‘ has that guitar that pulls you in to make you stay like a fuzzy scarf to keep you tucked in.
Not only to make me feel like I’m the main character roaming the windy leaf ridden streets, Jeff Buckley’s 1998 Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk album does quite the trick. With a hint of mist and ghostlight, ‘Witches’ Rave’ (ironic for October I know) and ‘Vancouver’ and ‘Morning Theft’ are the kind of songs that make you listen to the lyrics when you’re longingly looking out the bus window. They’re haunting, restless, and full of the kind of magic that disappears as soon as you notice it, perfect for the season.
Indefinitely, I mostly associate October/autumn songs with something melancholic, yet refreshing so I think it’s worth mentioning the song Evening in Paris by Lois. It feels like the quiet walk home after everyone else has gone inside. It’s gentle and strange, like remembering a dream you’re not sure you had. Perfect for that still moment when the air smells like wood smoke and something else you can’t quite name.
If we’re talking about that dreamlike fall feeling, the Cocteau Twins are basically the spirit of October bottled up and turned into sound. ‘Wolf in the Breast’ or ‘Cico Buff’, sounds like wind moving through the trees. Half-heard words, echoing guitars, something both comforting and unsettling. It’s not music you listen to; it’s music you fall into.
Finally, an honourable mention to Nothing Left to Say by Tram. Although a bit of a heartache, Nothing Left to Say moves slowly, like breath on glass. It’s that heavy, golden hour kind of sadness where you don’t really want to be happy yet. You just want to sit in it — the waiting, the warmth, the ache. I feel like this song kind of sums up the weird in-between emotions you have in October: the end of Summer, the schedule starting up again, a never-ending Sunday. But October isn’t about endings. It’s about that weird, almost electric space before them — where everything glows for a second before it fades. And these songs? They get it.
“Move over, summer, autumn is here now [explored]” by join the dots is licensed under CC BY 2.0.