Music

My Winter Playlist

Bright Songs for Dark Days

In my part of the world, winter has officially arrived. I live in a college town, and we’re now at the part of the calendar when even in a normal year things get quiet. The landscape is again monochromatic and stark. The days are short and the light is low.

These are songs that I really only listen to during this time of year- they don’t fit with summer’s energy.

The criteria is totally arbitrary. Some are fast, some slow. Some loud, some introspective. There’s no single genre. The only through line is that for whatever reason, they only come out this time of year.

Maybe you have songs like that too?

A hundred lifetimes ago, I would make mixtapes for friends, or girls I wanted to impress. In this one, I seem to make playlists according to season.

“Mountain Song” Jane’s Addiction. Arguably the best track off their Nothing’s Shocking album. When I was growing up, my friends and I would scrape together money for lift tickets (sometimes by towing cars out of the snow), and head to the mountain. It became a habit of mine to play this before I dropped in for my first run of the day.

I’m 99.99% sure Perry Farrell and co. didn’t have skiing in mind when they wrote this, but no matter.

“Sittin’ on Top of the World” The Pogues. This one is found on “Waiting for Herb,” the band’s first with out lead singer Shane McGowan. I first heard it at a house party (remember those?). A cover band tore the roof off the place with a blistering cover of this song. I walked in to this party feeling kinda down, and left on Cloud 9.

Best listened to with the volume up, and little cheer in ya, and a crowd of people ready to dance.

“Mariachi” Ani Difranco. A quieter track off of DiFranco’s 2012 album, Which side are you on? Winter here can be desolate, but this reminds me of the sun, new love, and adventure. When she sings,

“Standing on the corner Waiting for the light When you’re around I Always feel alright”

It’s hard not to.

“Ladyflash” The Go! Team. A six-piece band is from Brighton England, The Go! Team are like nothing else. This track is off their ’04 release Thunder, Lightning, Strike. A review in Pitchfork described the record thusly:

“…rolls early-80s action theme songs, vintage hip-hop, Saturday morning cartoons and cheerleading squads into one sick party record bursting with surly, overdriven guitars, triumphant trumpet lines, and battling drum assaults that seem to break through walls with the barreling force of a thousand Kool-Aid men.”

When my wife first got her new (to us) car, it came with Sirius XM. LadyFlash was in heavy rotation at the time, and I fell in love with it. That happened to be in late fall.

My guess is this would be on my summer list if we’d bought the car in July. A fantastic track all around.

“Conceived” Beth Orton. My favorite song on ‘06’s “Comfort of Strangers.” Apparently the entire album was recorded in the span of just two weeks. A song for the small hours or a cold/clear winter morning, it always surprises me how deliberate a record made this fast can sound.

“Some of the time the future Comes right round to haunt me Some of the time the future Comes round just to see That all is as it could be Like it’s there to remind me We’ve got to wait and see”

“A Sort of Homecoming” U2. From start to finish, The Unforgettable Fire has a very expansive feel to it; far different from what they’d done previously.

While Bono talks about “fields of mourning,” I think of the snow covered rolling hills that go on forever out here in the heartland

“Oops (Utsula Head remix).” 808 State ft. Bjork. In high school, a friend lent me this CD single. This version is particularly infectious. Not sure why it only comes out in the winter. Maybe it’s down to Bjork being from Iceland, or the shades of grey & blue on the cover.

“Only Love Can Break Your Heart.” St. Etienne. Originally sung by Neil Young, this song has been covered many times, including St. Etienne’s 1990 version. There are a lot of versions of this version, but this one captures Sarah Cracknell’s ethereal vocals particularly well. It’s danceable and haunting all at once.

Are there songs you only listen to this time of year? If so, I’d love to hear what they are!