How are we in the New Year already? This Christmas season, and the year as a whole, has well and truly flown by! I guess it’s time to retire the Christmas music playlist until next December now. But the scarf weather is still here and the days are still so dark and short. Christmas may be over, but winter is still with us. If it’s now taboo to listen to Christmas songs until next winter, then here are some songs you could be listening to instead. Make your hot chocolate, grab your blanket, and get cosy!

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1. RIVER

Okay, so I’m going to start with a controversial one because some people count this as a Christmas song. I, however, think it’s just a song set during the festive month but not specifically about Christmas. It’s quite a solemn song too and not the happy music that we relate to Christmas.

2. BACK TO DECEMBER – TAYLOR SWIFT

Is it really a song recommendation list I have put together if Taylor Swift isn’t mentioned? Of course not. Taylor might be going back to December all the time, but I am go back to this song all the time.

3. SELLERS OF FLOWERS – REGINA SPEKTOR

With a hauntingly beautiful melody, Regina Spektor sings about memories of her childhood growing up in the Soviet Union. Throughout the song she makes a symbolic comparison between the coming of winter and the inevitability of death. “So who’s the winner? Not the roses, not the buyers, not the sellers. Maybe winter.” Regina is such a beautiful songstress and I’ve been such a fan for a long time.

4. THE HOUNDS OF WINTER – STING

Sting is a great songwriter (and a local lad from the North East of England so I’m obligated to support him). Winter is the darkest and coldest season of the year, and this song compares the feeling of losing someone to the harshness of winter.

5. FEBRUARY SONG – JOSH GROBAN

During the winter months, some people experience a seasonal type of depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Whether or not it actually is, I have always interpreted this song from the perspective of someone suffering from SAD. February is the part of winter where it’s being going on for so long you start wondering if it will ever end. I think these lyrics are reflective of someone who feels like they have lost themselves and are filled with complete guilt and regret from withdrawing themselves from their social life.

6. ‘TIS THE DAMN SEASON – TAYLOR SWIFT

Another Taylor Swift song, I hear you say? Well, yes. I would never pass up an opportunity to mention a song from ‘Evermore’. Whilst the title suggests this is a Christmas song, it’s actually a wistful song about returning home for the winter holidays. She really captured the nostalgia linked to returning home after you have moved away.

7. DECEMBER, 1963 – FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS

This is an oldie, but it’s a goldie! I’m really stretching this ‘winter’ theme. There’s no mention of anything wintery in this song apart from the fact it’s set during December, 1963. But it’s such a bop I had to include it on the list.

8. LAZY SNOW – DOWN LIKE SILVER

Anyone want to feel like they’re in a cosy cabin during winter with a fire going? This is the song for you. It’s beautifully describes the calmness of snowfall.

9. WINTER SONG – SARA BAREILLES & INGRID MICHAELSON

Storms and winter are often used to symbolise loneliness and difficult times, and this song is no exception. The lyrics tell the story of someone whose relationship has broken down and they’re wondering if love can once again grow in a feeling that appears so cold.

10. TRACKS IN THE SNOW – THE CIVIL WARS

There’s something really serene about imagining a snow-covered little village by a river. It tells the journey of someone walking through the snow to deliver a gift, noting all the sights and sounds they hear on the way.

11. DECEMBER – GABRIELLE APLIN & HANNAH GRACE

You know how I said people often use winter to symbolise how they’re going through a dark time? This song is the complete opposite. Rather it’s a song about how her lover’s soul makes the winter feel warmer. It’s nice for someone to be finally using the coldness of winter to write a happy love song for once.

12. SNOWFLAKES – PASSENGER

This one is a really short track, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. Winter can be harsh, but songs like this also remind you of the serenity and calmness of snow when it falls to the ground.

13. WINTER SONG – THE HEAD AND THE HEART

Yes, this is definitely another song about summer reflecting happiness and winter representing the darker times in your life. But it is certainly true for me personally that I feel more joy during summer than I do in the winter.

14. JANUARY HYMN – THE DECEMBERISTS

In this song, they use ‘snow’ and ‘winter’ as a metaphor for loneliness, whilst reminiscing on a winter before his lover had left.

15. WINTER PRAYERS – IRON AND WINE

Sorry, here’s another song that compares winter to being alone. Making this playlist has given me the revelation that most songs about winter are mostly about the same thing.

16. DECEMBER – SARA BAREILLES

There’s nothing like the sound of Sara Bareilles’ warm vocals to make the winter seem less cold. December is the last month of the year and in the song she reflects upon the past year and the changes that have happened.

17. COLDER WEATHER – ZAC BROWN BAND

The best thing about country music is the storytelling found within the lyrics. Zac Brown Band puts you into the perspective of a person who travels a lot for their work. The ‘colder weather’ relates to the conflict between the traveller and the home bird in the relationship.

18. WINTER TREES – THE STAVES

When I listen to this song it makes me feel like I’ve been transported to a Scandanavian forest in the winter, using the solitude to reflect. So I thought it would be a great song to end the list with.

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I pulled together all the songs from my post into a Spotify playlist for your convenience, so feel free to give it a follow!

Do you have any favourite songs about the cold winter months? Let me know in the comments!