“Top Five” songs to get you in the fall spirit

Fall is here, though probably only in name, in Florida. For those fortunate enough to enjoy a real, seasonable fall in a place where the seasons actually change, these songs will stir up those red, orange and yellow leaves in the back of your mind’s eye. For those who have only experienced the climatic boredom of the deep South, these songs will capture the spirit of the fall season and create a soundtrack as the nights get cooler and summer fades into mere memories.

“My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion” – The Flaming Lips
This song has much of what listeners have come to expect from The Flaming Lips throughout the last decade or so – orchestral-sounding synthesizers and frontman Wayne Coyne’s opulent vocals, mixed with mysticism and other-worldy imagery. Lyrics like “They tell us, ‘Autumn’s a-coming/And soon everything around us will die’/Only a fool believes that he is/Different from the birds in the sky“ set the fall landscape for this spacey ballad.

“Autumn Sweater” – Yo La Tengo
This song starts with a steady and persistent drumbeat played below synthesized keys that feel mutually exclusive, much like the subject matter regarding awkward and reluctant feelings in a relationship that the lyrics convey. The autumn sweater may be referred to metaphorically in the song, but its literal imagery is undeniable – the tone of the song has the pace and feel of a fall afternoon in the Northeast.
“Autumn Almanac” – The Kinks
In the U.S., The Kinks always seem to take a back seat to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who, but they could turn out a great pop song about nearly anything. This tune is basically a vignette on English life, specifically in the fall. Lyrics like “Breeze blows leaves of a musty-coloured yellow/So I sweep them in my sack/Yes, yes, yes, it’s my autumn almanac” set to a catchy “Yellow Submarine”-like tune are fun for all ages.

“The Killing Moon” – Echo & The Bunnymen
Great for a fall party on a crisp evening, this song might have little to do with the fall; in fact, it’s about unavoidable death and predestination. But the stoic crooning of singer Ian McCulloch has a haunting feel as if he’s singing under a harvest moon in the middle of a field in rural England. The grand instrumentation of the song doesn’t hurt either, making it a perfect choice for the “Donnie Darko” soundtrack.

“Needle In The Hay” – Elliot Smith
The title of the song might evoke imagery of hayrides out in the country at a harvest festival somewhere in Middle America, but this might be one of the darkest songs ever written. Troubled troubadour Elliot Smith penned this melancholy treatment on addiction so well that many misinterpreted his junky humor as literal. Virtually everything in this song is about the darkest depths of heroin abuse, yet it is one of the most beautiful soundtracks for a breezy fall afternoon. Pure genius.

Compiled by Jason Yurgartis.