60 Songs About Winter and Cold Weather

Days Grow Shorter, Darker, and Colder

Autumn's leaves fall to the ground, and the season gives way to the starkness of winter. Days grow shorter, darker, and colder. The first snowflakes gather then blanket the earth in frozen stillness

In both song and literature, winter is often used as a symbol of loneliness, old age, and depression, with cold weather being an opposing force from which to seek shelter. However, if you have the fortitude and stamina to survive the winter, you'll be richly rewarded by the bounty of what follows. Create a playlist of pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that give a nod to winter and cold weather. We have a long list to start you off!

1. "Colder Weather" by Zac Brown Band

The man in this bittersweet ballad is a wanderer at heart. Although he loves his sweetheart, he values his personal freedom even more.

Work calls the guy with the gypsy soul away, and temporarily he must leave his lover. Although unable to commit, he's unwilling to let her go, so he strings his love interest along with excuses for why they can't be together. One of those excuses is that he's stuck in colder weather. The 2010 tune topped the country charts and crossed over to the mainstream pop chart.

2. "A Long December" by Counting Crows

December has plodded along for the narrator in this 1996 alternative rock song. After his significant other left him, he finds himself faced with the quiet and molasses-slow activity level of winter. All he can do now is look forward with hope that his luck will change. May the blanket of depression lift as the days grow longer.

3. "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by The Four Seasons

You always remember the details of your first love. Originally, this chart-topping 1975 pop song was written about the end of Prohibition, December 5, 1933. However, Frankie Valli, frontman of The Four Seasons, pressed the songwriter to retool the lyrics. The result was a tune about a young man's memorable fist love affair which began in late December 1963 and "ended much too soon." Not a December goes by without her crossing his mind.

4. "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood

"Sweater weather" is that cool, crisp time of year that starts when summer has packed up and left town. Sweaters are thus the hallmark of colder weather.

This 2012 indie rock song is about an ambitious young man who pursues his dreams in a cold world. Separated from a sweetheart he cannot forget, the narrator wants to symbolically protect this cherished confidante and lover by keeping her warm within the sleeves of his sweater.

5. "Wintertime" by Norah Jones

Seasonal depression has a grip on the woman in this angst-filled pop number from 2018. Days are shorter during the winter, and the lady isn’t getting enough of the sunlight that her body requires. Feeling helpless, she reaches out to her partner for support:

I know, I know, it's only light
It's only light to you
But there's a thing called the wintertime
I can't make it through.

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This lady needs some professional help before her situation takes a bad turn.

6. "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel

In this 2013, Ella, the snow and ice princess from Disney's Frozen the power pop ballad, embraces her potentially dangerous powers instead of keeping them concealed. "Let It Go" is an anthem of self-acceptance involving Elsa casting aside the burdens of being the perfect girl in favor of becoming a stronger more authentic person ("The cold never bothered me anyway"). The song won a Grammy Award as well as an Oscar Award for the Best Original Song.

7. "Winter Sounds" by Of Monsters and Men

Emotional walls close in on the anxiety-plaqued narrator in this energetic 2015 pop number. As their voice grows weak and heart races, they cling to a protector's embrace only to feel throttled by it rather than comforted.

This ditty revolves around a co-dependent relationship ("I know that you and I can never be apart") and a cyclical pattern of anxiety and cold comfort. The winter sounds symbolize the constant threat of the narrator's stormy mental health.

8. "If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard

It's so hard to find optimism when the wolf is howling outside your door. However, the lonely, desperate man in this country crossover song from 1973 grapples for what little hope he can.

He's been laid off from his factory job in the "coldest time of winter," and Christmas is closing in fast. The narrator shivers from the falling snow and apologizes to his young daughter that he doesn't mean to hate this time of year. As he does so, you must wonder what tough financial choices he's facing. December represents a low point for the family, and he figures that if they can survive the brutally cold month, then a better future awaits.

Considered one of his hallmark songs, "If We Make It Through December" demonstrates Merle Haggard's emotional depth and agility as an artist. While not typically considered a Christmas number, some artists who have covered it have added the melancholy tune to their Christmas albums.

9. "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

This is my winter song
December never felt so wrong
Cause you're not where you belong
Inside my arms.

This delicate 2008 pop song has several important elements of a holiday song—snow, love, and being together those you hold dear. The track mentions winter and December rather than Christmas. The narrator characterizes her winter song as a beacon to summon distant loved ones home. If love is alive, then she believes that they will make the journey. (What pressure!)

10. "February Stars" by Foo Fighters

Perhaps you understand the desperation of wanting to hang on to a fading relationship. If so, you have something in common with the guy in this 1997 rock release who can sense the connection with his love interest weakening. She's the girl who outshines him. He'd do anything for her, but she breaks his heart with aloof disinterest. As a result, he feels alone on a ledge while he watches her flourish.

Among the "February stars floating in the dark" that the narrator refers to is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It represents the girl he'll have a hard time getting over. The mesmerized stargazer desperately clings to remnants of what used to be between them.

11. "Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter" by Ingrid Michaelson

B-r-r-r! Singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson goes retro with this classy pop 2018 tune, a revival of Bing Crosby's vintage 1950 song. The songstress announces a long-range forecast of bitter-cold snow and ice outside but reassures her significant other that they will keep the love in their hearts alive.

As winter rages outside, they plan to snuggle together by the fireside and keep one another warm. Although Michaelson includes the song on her holiday album, it actually doesn't mention Christmas.

12. "January Hymn" by The Decemberists

In this 2011 indie rock track, the lonely narrator goes through the motions of shoveling snow from the sidewalk, attempting to distract himself from the sadness of his girlfriend having left him. As he does so, the man ruminates over what he meant to say to make his lover stay (oh, if only he could have found the words!), and he reflects on memories of growing up in a snowy climate.

13. "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran

The woman in this 2010 global pop hit is resigned to the life of a homeless prostitute. Caught in the grips of crack cocaine addiction, deep despair descends upon her. Tonight she doesn't want to go outside in the bitter cold where she will breathe in snowflakes, die by overdose, and fly away like an angel to another world. Ed Sheeran was inspired to pen his debut single after volunteering at a homeless shelter.

14. "The Hounds of Winter" by Sting

Whether by death or divorce, the man in this 1996 rock track faces a cold, dark December alone without his partner by his side. Now he spends his joyless winter days missing her, retreating more into himself emotionally. This is a clear case of depression.

15. "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Frank Sinatra

Outside there may be whiteout conditions with snow up to his patootie. That’s okay! The amorous fella in this 1961 pop is feeling giddy because he has tossed aside his winter coat and gloves and is now feeling ready to cozy up with his honey next to a crackling fire. Until the snowstorm is gone, that's where they'll be for as long as it takes.

While not technically a holiday song, this winter ditty has been used as one throughout the years. A variety of artists have covered it since it was first released in 1937, from Ella Fitzgerald to Rod Stewart and many more.

16. "Winter Winds" by Mumford & Sons

Winter winds represent loneliness in this folk-rock song from 2009, wherein a melancholy man is drawn to a beautiful woman. His heart is still reeling from a former broken relationship, and he is uncertain whether this new love interest is authentically grounded in love or instead based upon his fear of being alone. Torn between his heart and his head, he takes the path of restraint and chooses to go it alone.

17. "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon & Garfunkel

Looking back upon his life with disillusionment, the man in this 1966 folk-rock tune is a poet with unpublished manuscripts of rhyme but little else to show for his time on this earth. Unfortunately, time has passed him by, and winter is close at hand with a patch of snow on the ground. Old age approaches.

Unsure of his achievements in life, the boho guy offers up advice to others. Using the changing seasons to symbolize the life cycle, the narrator implores young whippersnappers not to squander their youth and to make the most of life at every turn.