Credit: Libby Hamant
Songs I Wish I Wrote is a monthly column that assembles new and old songs for Ohio State’s music lovers.
Click here to listen to the “Songs I Wish I Wrote: Fall in love with these autumn tracks” playlist on Spotify.
Autumn is many people’s favorite season for a number of reasons, including the lovely weather and pumpkin spice’s domination in bakeries and cafés.
Annually, I curate a playlist of songs that musically mirror autumnal weather, memories and scenes. Plucking just a handful of songs from this year’s playlist — home to over 400 songs – was no easy feat.
Ultimately, I settled on songs that not only feel like fall, but also possess distinctly autumnal titles. Indeed, one can enjoy these tracks right along with their perennial namesakes.
“Rotten Apple” by Alice in Chains
Beyond being beloved seasonal produce, apples have long served as effective symbolic devices in art — seen most recently in hyper-pop sensation Charli XCX’s hit single, “Apple,” which represents generational trauma through the metaphor of fruit.
If XCX’s “Apple” beams with the neon green strobe lights that doused hedonistic summer outings, alternative-rock band Alice in Chains’ “Rotten Apple” is bitten by lonely autumn nights’ whispering wind and amorphous gloom.
Musically, the song is absolutely entrancing. Mike Inez’s sludgy, tenebrous bass riff in the track is one of his most commanding, and the intricate conversation between Jerry Cantrell’s guitars — one a nimbly picked acoustic, the other a wailing electric — is as evocative as an exchange between two human voices.
The dirge also marks one of singer and lyricist Layne Staley’s most hauntingly gorgeous vocal performances. The track’s layered vocal recordings lend an eerie, gripping quality to his devastatingly honest chronicle of lost innocence, suspended sorrow and chronically delayed repentances.
“Autumn Leaves” by Mark Lanegan
Though Lanegan rose to fame in the rock band Screaming Trees, this tune is a gorgeous showcase of his natural penchant for the blues, which permeated his solo releases and work with supergroup Mad Season.
Exuding a melancholy sultriness, his scratchy vibrato is spellbinding, infused with autumnal air’s natural smokiness.
The jazz classic has been beautifully interpreted by crooners such as Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, but Lanegan’s rendition particularly embodies the dark romanticism of a downcast September evening.
“Pale September” by Fiona Apple
Autumn isn’t generally considered a season of rebirth, but there’s something immensely healing in the bright, deliciously crisp days of September. The early autumnal weather is gentle and forgiving, providing a flicker of soul-warming peace and hope between days of blistering summer heat and heartless winter cold.
On “Pale September” — a jazzy, love-drunk ode grounded by a piano riff and string arrangement ripe with longing — singer-songwriter Fiona Apple recognizes such seasonal renewal while opening her heart to a lover.
Apple’s lush voice melts and ascends with effortless agility, wrapping itself around lyrics laden with sensual figurative language — notably, “autumn days” that feel “like cotton on [her] skin” and the “winter” of her heart “giving way to warm” — like a velvet blanket.
“Autumn Sweater” by Yo La Tengo
Another beloved fall tradition is resurrecting a cool-weather wardrobe; luckily, the equally cozy indie-rock band Yo La Tengo’s classic, titled “Autumn Sweater,” is the perfect addition to any autumn outfit.
Shuffling, shadowy and tranquil, it’s a track fit for nighttime walks on campus, feeling happy yet sleepy while watching a golden moon rise above the trees and silently holding the promise of a new season close to one’s heart.
“Cinnamon” by Tamino
No spice screams fall quite like cinnamon, and it’s as wonderful in music as it is in pumpkin pie.
Folk rocker Neil Young and alternative-pop songstress Lana Del Rey both boast excellent tracks titled “Cinnamon Girl.”
To avoid choosing just one “Cinnamon Girl” to spotlight, I instead recommend Belgian singer-songwriter Tamino’s “Cinnamon” for a sweet playlist inclusion.
During the chorus, Tamino’s voice soars with airy self-harmonies, producing a heady and divine audial intoxication complete with melodic guitar strumming and a lush drumbeat. It’s an effervescent tune that would not only feel at home on a cozy study playlist, but also in a mix for a chic yet lowkey nights spent with friends.
“Harvest Moon” by Neil Young
For its flashes of proto-grunge guitar distortion and billows of rustic twang, much of Neil Young’s discography feels as suitable for fall as a lived-in flannel jacket. Due to its namesake — the nearest full moon to the autumn equinox — his composition “Harvest Moon” is inarguably autumnal, and, in my opinion, is among the greatest love songs ever.
Though many individuals seek a partner with whom to keep company in life’s simplest, least glamorous moments — for those are the moments that make for enduring love — it’s still natural to worry about time eroding the ecstasy of newborn passion.
“Harvest Moon” beautifully captures the cozy comfort of a long-time love, complete with folksy acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Young plays a solo on the latter as though it were an extension of his own sweetly sincere voice, all while recalling the magic of new enamorment with shimmering harp. This song, put simply, is love at its purest.
