Autumn Playlist (SIDE C)

We have over a week until autumn begins, but I couldn’t wait to share another autumn playlist. This is my third, making it “Side C.”

I design autumn playlists to take you from the end of September through the end of December. It starts with a little chill in the air, followed by Halloween spookiness, and then closing out with the start of wintertime.

If autumn was a music genre, it would be many things. Autumn is an indie song with acoustic guitar. Autumn is also heavy metal with deep lyrics. And autumn can also be an electronic dance anthem about embracing the dark side.

This season is about letting go. They call it “fall” not only because the leaves are falling, but we are also falling on a metaphorical level. We’re falling away from the year that we’ve nearly made it through. With the days getting darker and the cold weather coming, we’re preparing for hibernation.

Autumn is when the trees are dying, which forces us to think about death and our own mortality. Death is the scariest thing in the world because it’s completely unknown. But nature teaches us that death is not the end. Every year, nature dies in the fall, and is reborn in the winter. Nature teaches us that everything comes in cycles. You can’t let go of something without gaining something.

This playlist is thirty songs which is a bit longer than the last two. It’s been a few years since I did this, so I had a lot more songs that I wanted to fit in. It’s a mix of old and new.

1. Wheels on the Bus – Melanie Martinez

“I’m quietly observing. I’m saying nothin’.”

Autumn begins with a new school year. September means back to school. But just be warned that this is not a kid-friendly song. This is the opener from Melanie Martinez’s “K-12” album, a concept album about school years but with adult themes. This song is about observing the wheels of life, the series of cycles that we go through.

2. Witches – Alice Phoebe Lou

“I’m one of those witches, babe.”

This song is really chill and relaxing with a spooky twist.

3. Killer Queen – Queen

“She’s a Killer Queen, gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam.”

This is a classic. Everyone has to know this one.

4. Crystals – Of Monsters and Men

“Cover your crystal eyes, and feel the tones that tremble down your spine”

Both the lyrics and the melody remind me of fall. This is about knowing that there’s more than what meets the eye.

5. Graveclothes – Birdtalker

“We don’t need no mournful sounds, shake your graveclothes to the ground”

It’s a feel-good song and it’s about staying optimistic when you’re feeling gloomy.

6. Trouble Is a Friend – Lenka

“Trouble will find you no matter where you go, oh oh.”

This song is so Halloween coded and super catchy.

7. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane

“Go ask Alice, I think she’ll know.”

This 1960s song is a reenactment of Alice in Wonderland.

8. The Magic – Lola Blanc

“Can you make me believe it, At the night when I call for the magic?”

Super cute and catchy song, very witchy.

9. Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran

“I only know how to go too far.”

I think of Halloween and vampires when I hear this song. You MUST watch the music video, it’s so good!

10. Scary World – Night Club

“Hey beware, it’s a scary world.”

EDM and strong beats. The world is a scary place and you have to be a follower if you want to stay out of trouble.

11. Eyes Closed – Imagine Dragons ft. J Balvin

“I could do this with my eyes closed.”

Symbolically, we are walking around life with our eyes closed. We only know less than 0.01% of what reality is.

12. Fascination – The Birthday Massacre

“I think I’m falling in love with fear”

We are all fascinated by the dark side. A part of us is drawn to what we can’t understand.

13. Stayin Alive – Capital Cities

“Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother, you’re stayin’ alive”

In this cover of the classic that we all know, you can hear the lyrics much more clearly. We’re all just going about life, stayin’ alive.

14. SPIDER WEB – Melanie Martinez

“I move like a moth or a butterfly, craving a change in the wind”

The message of this song is that you need to create your own reality, forge your own path, build your own web. If you go after what everyone else wants, or what society conditions you to want, then you’ll never be happy or fulfilled.

15. Somebody’s Watching Me – Rockwell

“Why do I always feel like I’m in the twilight zone?“

This is another classic! You can’t have Halloween without this song!

16. Voodoo – Gorgon City

“Was it a spell put on me? Some kind of voodoo, tell me, ’cause I’m not sure”

I find this EDM song to be chilling yet comforting at the same time.

17. A Dangerous Thing – AURORA

“I knew from the very first step, you are a dangerous thing”

Aurora has such a beautiful voice that belongs in a dark fairytale.

18. As Above, So Below – In This Moment

“What you give comes back three fold, As above, so below“

“As above, so below” is an ancient quote that means what happens in the physical world is reflected in the spiritual world and vice versa. And in the middle of autumn, it’s said that the veil between the physical/spiritual is at its thinnest.

19. Seven Devils – Florence + The Machine

“Seven devils all around me, seven devils in my house”

Florence + The Machine always brings powerful music, this song is especially haunting and chilling.

20. Supernova – Within Temptation

“I’m waiting for the light of your supernova, Your last goodbye”

We can’t seem to let go of something until we are holding onto it for dear life.

21. PLUTO – Melanie Martinez

“Pluto, transform me, kill me off slowly”

Pluto is the planet of death and destruction – followed by rebirth.

22. SKIN OF MY TEETH – Demi Lovato

“I’m alive by the skin of my teeth, I survived but it got harder to breathe”

Demi Lovato had a near death experience when she overdosed and it’s a miracle that she survived. This song is a raw and honest look at what happened.

23. Me and the Devil – Soap&Skin

“Me and the devil, walking side by side”

Beautiful and haunting. This is about battling the evils of the world as well as the evils inside of yourself.

24. Your Ghost – Axel Flóvent

“When things go falling off the ground, your ghost will find what you have found”

The message of this song is that overthinking can ruin you.

25. Happy Phantom – Tori Amos

“Woo-oo, time is getting closer, woo-oo, time to be a ghost”

This is a silly song about imagining yourself dying, turning into a ghost, and all of the silly things you’d get to do.

26. Goosebumps – MØ

“I was in love with you, ooh, ooh, gave me goosebumps, I still get it when I think of you”

It’s about missing someone who you had to let go of. And even after you lose someone, sometimes you never lose the feelings.

27. Dark But Just A Game – Lana Del Rey

“We keep changing all the time, The best ones lost their minds”

I see this song meaning as the contrast between dark and light. Life is dark, and it’s heavy and scary, and there’s much to be afraid of. But at the same time, we’re all just playing roles, pretending to know what’s going on, so you can’t take life too seriously.

28. Spark – Ed Sheeran

“We’ll build a fire, And torch our old life, And hope the spark survives”

Towards the end of autumn, you may feel a little hopeless, with the days getting darker and colder. This song is about dealing with the hard times by holding onto the little light that remains, tending to a spark until it becomes a flame again.

29. Solid Gold Love – Sultan + Shepard, Richard Walters

“I’ve got solid gold love for you.”

Autumn makes me think of the color gold. This song is like a cup of hot apple cider on a chilly day.

30. Free – BROODS

“If I lose it all, at least I’ll be free.”

This is the perfect song to end autumn. We’re so scared of gaining something wonderful because it implies that we can lose it. But if you can overcome the fear of loss, then you can be unstoppable. The last day of autumn marks the final day of the year, and on the first day of winter, planet Earth begins a new trip around the sun. And it’s time to start over again.