It’s that time of year again, when no sooner have we put away our flip flops and barbecues, then advent calendars start appearing in the shops and the dreaded C-word starts making an appearance. You can’t walk into a shop without hearing Mariah Carey warbling out of the speakers as those trusty Christmas hits kick in and you find yourself falling foul of Whamageddon two days into December.
But winter music isn’t all about Christmas, there are plenty of songs that sum up those crisp frosty winter days without mentioning, reindeer, Santa or sleighbells. Let’s take a look.
1. MUMFORD & SONS – WINTER WINDS
Released by the indie folk band in 2009, this song has everything you’d expect from Mumford & Sons, including banjos and mandolins. The song uses words associated with winter to describe a relationship that’s coming to an end and gone cold and, as with many winter-themed songs, it has a hint of sadness and nostalgia.
2. NORTHERN ATTITUDE – NOAH KAHAN Ft. HOZIER
Quite a few of Noah Kahan’s songs have a distinctly wintery feel, but this one, from the 2022 album Stick Season, is a perfect song for a wintery day. Mixing beautiful lyrics and guitars with the harmonies of two great voices, the song touches on the isolation of being scared of getting into a relationship.
3. HAZY SHADE OF WINTER – SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
With their trademark lyrics, vocals and melodies, Simon & Garfunkel manage to make this song sound both jaunty and melancholy. It has a real winter vibe and gives the sense of things coming to an end. Released in 1966 it’s often overlooked in the S&G back catalogue and is better known from the more upbeat cover version released by The Bangles in 1987.
4. FLEET FOXES – WHITE WINTER HYMNAL
This bittersweet song has so much feeling from the minute the harmonies kick in. It touches on themes of nostalgia, the passing of time, the circle of life and the loss of innocence, using winter imagery. The video uses stop motion animation, which is a work of art in itself.
5. IDINA MENZEL – LET IT GO
Unless you’ve been living on a desert island for the last 15 years, you can’t have missed this one. It comes from the Disney film, ‘Frozen’ which has everything you want from a wintery film – snow, an ice palace, trolls, a sauna and a talking snowman. Don’t blame us if you have this in your head for the rest of the day!
6. TAYLOR SWIFT Ft. LANA DEL RAY – SNOW ON THE BEACH
We couldn’t disappoint the Swifties, and this song, released in 2022 by one of the most influential women in music, uses the idea of snow falling on a beach as a metaphor for the rarity of falling in love with someone at the same time they’re falling in love with you. There’s a real haunting feel to the song, partly because of the beautiful way the two voices blend together and give it an almost ethereal quality that makes you feel Christmassy without you knowing why.
7. ALED JONES – WALKING IN THE AIR
We can’t talk about winter songs without mentioning this song. It’s the epitome of winter with its references to icy mountains and frozen skies and of course, its association with the Snowman, the short, animated film that for many people signals the start of Christmas. As with many of these songs, it manages to make you feel both happy and sad at the same time.
8. FOREIGNER – COLD AS ICE
A classic 70s rock song with an iconic riff, this song is about a cold-hearted lover, but there’s also a literal meaning too as it was written during a blizzard on what was claimed to be the coldest night in New York, when temperatures had dropped to minus 20 degrees. It’s also well-known for being sampled by M.O.P. for their hit of the same name.
9. QUEEN – A WINTER’S TALE
This song is particularly poignant as it’s one of the last songs to feature Freddie Mercury’s vocals. He wrote it from his home in Montreux, Switzerland and it’s about the beauty of life, which considering Mercury knew that he didn’t have long left to live, makes this song even more special. Despite him usually insisting on the musical arrangement being finished before he added his vocals, in this case he recorded his vocals and keyboard first, aware that there wasn’t much time. He didn’t live to see it released, four years later.
10. VANILLA ICE – ICE ICE BABY
We’re ending on a classic. Released in 1990 and sampling the bassline from the classic song ‘Under Pressure’ by Queen and David Bowie (neither of whom received any credit or royalties until a threatened lawsuit), it was the first hip hop single to top the US Billboard charts.
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS
These classic Christmas songs weren’t even intended to be Christmas songs:
- East 17/Stay Another Day – this song has nothing to do with Christmas but just goes to show that if you stick some jingle bells on a song, it immediately becomes a Christmas hit.
- Jingle Bells – talking about bells, this carol singers’ fave was actually written for a completely different holiday – Thanksgiving.
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood/The Power of Love – another one that had nothing to do with Christmas but ended up with a nativity scene in the video.
- Jona Lewie/Stop the Cavalry – this was actually written as a protest song, but it does mention the word Christmas and has a brass band in it.
- Let it Snow – this was written in a heatwave and has absolutely no mention of Christmas.
There’s no law that says you have to listen to Christmas music over the holiday season; as you can see from our list, there are plenty of other options and this eclectic compilation shows how the essence of winter can be interpreted in lots of ways. And we all know how listening to music can help our mental health – something that’s even more important during the dark winter months. So, whether you’re sitting on a beach in the snow listening to Taylor Swift, or dancing away to Vanilla Ice, have a very happy winter!
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