21 Best Songs About Fall

The best songs about fall capture the visual imagery of the season in all its beauty with delicate and sensitive lyrics and lush instrumentation.

It’s a popular season for many singer-songwriters who transform this imagery of autumn days into something deeper and more profound.

Read on, and we’ll bring you the definitive musical playlist on the season, featuring popular songs from folk, pop, country, and many other well-loved genres.

The 21 Best Songs About Fall

We’ve compiled this complete list of songs about the fall season to bring you music catering to all tastes.

This includes tracks from iconic rock and roll bands, pioneers of vocal-driven jazz music, and one of the best musical adaptations of all time.

Let’s begin our playlist of the 21 best songs about fall:

21. “Autumn Almanac” – The Kinks

The Kinks wrote and performed many classic songs throughout their career, with “Autumn Almanac” a great example of their musical style.

It’s a relaxing tune that encourages the listener to contemplate the good times that lie ahead, spend time with the people you love, and enjoy life to the fullest.

The Kinks wrote many enduring classics over the years and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for their efforts in 1990.

20. “Autumn Town Leaves” – Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine released “Autumn Town Leaves” in 2018, featuring a pared-down approach to musical structure that expresses the sparse feeling of the season.

It’s a song that evokes images of falling leaves and gentle winds and is a popular folk song for many people who enjoy a camping trip later in the year.

“Autumn Town Leaves” was released as part of the Iron & Wine EP Weed Garden, which also included the popular song “Last of Your Rock ‘N’ Roll Heroes.”

19. “Autumn” – Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini’s simple song “Autumn” is one of the more uncomplicated fall songs to be featured in this playlist that explores the passage of time.

It’s also a heartbreaking piece of music that evokes feelings of longing, exploring the emotions that emerge when someone in your life passes away.

Paolo Nuini released “Autumn” in 2006 on his album These Streets, consolidating his growing reputation as a singer with considerable range and depth.

18. “Autumn’s Not That Cold” – Lorrie Morgan

A more optimistic song about fall that nevertheless deals with a broken relationship is “Autumn’s Not That Cold” by Lorrie Morgan.

In this song, she sings about a failed relationship but doesn’t feel bad about what happened, with the lyrics, “I almost feel guilty … guess I’m just not that lonesome”.

“Autumn’s Not That Cold” was initially recorded by Skip Ewing as a B side in 1988, with Morgan also writing the great song about heaven, “If You Came Back From Heaven,” released in 1994.

17. “Autumn (From The Four Seasons)” – Vivaldi

Classical music is known for exploring many diverse themes and concepts in an abstract manner, using lush instrumentation to capture a specific feeling.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are perhaps the most famous season-themed classical pieces of them all, with “Autumn” one of the stronger entries in the series.

While not as popular as Vivaldi’s best song about spring, the aptly-titled “Spring,” it’s a wonderfully orchestrated piece that captures the spirit of fall with its sweet melodies.

16. “Autumn Song” – Van Morrison

Van Morrison doesn’t hide his intentions with the title of the track “Autumn Song,” which he released in the early 1970s.

“Autumn Song” runs an impressive ten minutes long, exploring the fall season in all its beauty and complexity with jazzy rhythms and gorgeous piano trills.

If you’re looking for more great music from Van Morrison, you can check out one of the best songs about the sea, “Into the Mystic.”

15. “We’re Going To Be Friends” – The White Stripes

The White Stripes has contributed multiple songs about fall over the course of their career, including the popular song “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.”

Our pick for this playlist is “We’re Going To Be Friends,” which features lyrics about reflecting on encounters with people over the summer from the perspective of fall.

It’s a wonderfully perky and catchy song from the White Stripes that features simple yet effective guitar riffs and catchy vocals.

14. “Forever Autumn” – Richard Burton

Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds is among the best musical adaptations of literature to date and featured several popular songs in its playlist.

“Forever Autumn,” which featured the narration of Richard Burton along with lush vocals, is perhaps the most iconic song to be featured in the musical.

With heavy progressive rock influences, Wayne delivered a true masterpiece of music that is still performed to sell-out crowds around the world to this day.

13. “Harvest Moon” – Neil Young

Autumn is the time of year for bringing home the crops and stocking up for the winter season, as “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young explores.

The fall season is used as a visual metaphor for love and yearning, with Young singing, “I want to see you dance again because I’m still in love with you on this harvest moon”

Neil Young picked up two Grammy Award wins over the course of his career, along with an impressive twenty-eight nominations for his contributions to music.

12. “The Boys Of Fall” – Kenny Chesney

Having written one of the best songs about peace, popular singer Kenny Chesney tackles the subject of fall with “The Boys of Fall,” which is all about American football.

This song serves as Chesney’s tribute to America’s most popular sport and how the leading stars are capable of getting up and continuing to play after being knocked down by one of their opponents.

“The Boys of Fall” was written by Casey Beathard and Dave Turnbull, with the popular Nashville singer-songwriters handing it over to Kenny Chesney to perform.

11. “Last Day Of Summer” – The Cure

“The Last Day of Summer” by the Cure is a song about the final days before early fall approaches and the leaves begin to drop from the trees.

A huge hit among fans of the Cure, “Last Day of Summer” uses the transition from summer to fall as a metaphor for facing up to painful challenges in life.

The changing seasons are beautifully rendered in the music, with an undercurrent of regret combined with their idiosyncratic inventive composition making this an enduring classic.

10. “November” – Tom Waits

The month of November sits at the center of the fall season, and Tom Waits took this time of year as the title for this beautiful song about fall.

“No prayers for November to linger longer,” Tom Waits sings in the song, continuing, “Stick your spoon in the wall we’ll slaughter them all.”

If you’re looking for another gorgeous and moving piece of music from Waits, he also wrote one of the best songs about waiting, “Hold On.”

9. “Leaves That Are Green” – Simon & Garfunkel

Like Tom Waits, Simon & Garfunkel were highly regarded for their ability to write sparse yet beautiful music, as is evident in “Leaves That Are Green.”

In this song, the popular duo uses the season as a metaphor for the breakdown of a relationship, singing about how the leaves turn to brown as time progresses.

It’s a folk song masterpiece with their trademark harmonies that might sound a little cliched today but remains popular among fans of the genre.

8. “Autumn Leaves” – Eva Cassidy

Like Simon and Garfunkel, Eva Cassidy’s contribution to the best songs about fall also focuses on the falling leaves that symbolize the season.

“Autumn Leaves” is about the lovelorn feelings someone has for a lost lover, with the falling leaves a metaphor for someone slipping away from your life.

Originally composed for the French song titled “Les Feuilles Mortes,” “Autumn Leaves” represents Eva Cassidy at her most emotionally stirring.

7. “Autumn Serenade” – John Coltrane

Legendary jazz musician John Coltrane brings his exceptional skill and innovative approach to music to the song “Autumn Serenade.”

The gorgeous vocals sing, “Silver stars were clinging to an autumn sky. Love was ours until October wandered by.”

John Coltrane released “Autumn Serenade” in 1963, one of many tracks that earned the icon of jazz music a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

6. “My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion” – The Flaming Lips

“My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion” by the Flaming Lips is a powerful rock song that was featured on the band’s 2006 album At War with the Mystics.

The lyrics “Only a fool believes that he is different from the birds in the sky” demonstrate a profound understanding of man’s relationship with the natural world.

It’s an exciting song that pairs well with the best songs about nature, with a wildness that reflects the stormy weather that comes with fall, encouraging listeners to follow their passions.

5. “November Rain” – Guns N’ Roses

Guns N Roses dominated the rock music scene throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, and it’s not hard to see why when listening to songs like “November Rain.”

The passing of the seasons is used here as a stand-in for the impermanent nature of reality and how love can easily be snuffed out like the flame of a candle.

“November Rain” is another classic release from a band responsible for some of the best songs of all time, including the chart-topping hit “Sweet Child O Mine.”

4. “September” – Earth, Wind & Fire

Fall songs don’t have to be downtempo and sad songs about the end of a relationship, as “September” from Earth, Wind, Fire demonstrates.

This lively disco-inspired song featuring dazzling horn riffs and catchy lyrics takes an altogether more upbeat approach to fall, which encourages listeners to get up and dance.

It’s perhaps not surprising “September” is such an optimistic song since it’s partly about the imminent arrival of the singer’s son and the upcoming day of his birth.

3. “Autumn In New York” – Ella Fitzgerald And Louis Armstrong

Another jazz legend, Louis Armstrong, joins forces with one of the greatest singers of her generation, Ella Fitzgerald, for the song “Autumn in New York.”

“Autumn in New York why does it seem so inviting?” Ella Fitzgerald sings to the soundtrack of Armstrong’s horns, continuing, “Autumn in New York it spells the thrill of first-nighting. “

The pair released many classic songs over the years, with Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All the Time in the World” one of the best karaoke songs adored by millions of fans.

2. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” – Green Day

Green Day released the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” in 2004 and was written by Billie Joe Armstrong after his father passed away.

It’s also a song about the passing of time and the end of youth, using the final moments of summer and the arrival of fall as a metaphor for this ubiquitous life experience.

Featured on the Green Day album Idiot, “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” featured a music video that reflected the anti-war sentiments that ran through their work.

1. “Autumn Sweater” – Yo La Tengo

Autumn is the time of the year for sweater weather, which is the subject of the song “Autumn Sweater” by Yo La Tengo.

While the song features soft and sweet lyrics and vocals, it still has an upbeat tempo that makes it a great track to put on if you’re feeling blue in autumn.

Yo La Tengo released “Autumn Sweater” on their 1997 album I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, the eighth studio album from the American indie rock band.

Summary

This autumn playlist explores the best songs about fall you can listen to that draw upon powerful autumn imagery to evoke a variety of feelings we associate with the season.

They can also serve as a joyful celebration of harvest time and how people look forward to lighting a fire as they wait for winter to arrive.

A popular topic for many singers and bands, we can anticipate plenty more autumn songs to be produced in the years to come exploring the season in its many aspects.

What songs about fall do you enjoy listening to during this season? Leave a comment below.