Playlists
21 Best Songs About Ice
Chill out and relax with these beautiful ice-themed songs.
The best songs about ice can be found throughout the history of music, and it’s a topic that has been covered by classic rock bands through to contemporary hip-hop artists.
Whether evoking a chilling winter’s day in the wilderness or using ice to depict profound emotions, these songs are timeless classics.
Read to discover the best songs about ice you can add to your next playlist and listen to the next time you feel like chilling out.
Table of Contents
The 21 Best Songs About Ice
There are many excellent songs about ice that evoke the beauty and charm of a crisp winter’s morning, as well as ones that use ice to reflect cold-hearted human nature.
We’ve ensured this playlist represents these various thematic approaches while also including tracks from a broad range of singers and classic bands.
So, with that in mind, here’s our playlist of the 21 best songs about ice:
21. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” – Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Released the same year as “Born to Run,” one of the best songs of all time, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” established Bruce Springsteen’s growing reputation.
The song describes the Bruce Springsteen E Street Band’s early formation and features exceptional guitar and vocals.
While “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” was a dud in the charts that year, it’s since become one of his more enduring classics, loved by fans to this day.
20. “Fire & Ice” – Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar combined two contrasting elements in her song “Fire & Ice,” released in 1981 on her album Precious Time.
It’s a powerful rock song that evokes images of fire and ice in the lyrics and the singer’s contrasting emotions in a relationship.
Pat Benatar was responsible for several classic songs that combined rock and pop music during the 1980s to critical and commercial acclaim.
19. “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day” – Jethro Tull
With its wonderfully poetic title, “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day” is a folk rock anthem from the 1970s.
The song’s lyrics explore the expectations people have from their lives and how reality often fails to live up to the high demands we place on ourselves.
Jethro Tull released “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day” on the 1974 album War Child, which was intended to be released with a film that never materialized.
18. “Ice Cream” – BLACKPINK Ft. Selena Gomez
For a more upbeat pop song about ice, there’s “Ice Cream” by BLACKPINK, featuring the gorgeous vocals of Selena Gomez.
It’s a song that features plenty of double entendres about ice cream, blending BLACKPINK’s electropop with Gomez’s American-style pop singing.
Selena Gomez has released many hits, including one of the best songs about lies, 2017’s hit single “Bad Liar.”
17. “Icebox” – Omarion
“Icebox” by Omarion is another excellent pop song released in 2006 that fuses elements of rhythm and blues with soul to great effect.
The lyrics in “Icebox” use the image of an icebox as a metaphor for the heart and soul of someone who feels betrayed by a lover who broke their trust.
Omarion rose to fame as a member of the boy band B2K before breaking out as a successful solo artist in his own right in 2004.
16. “Ice Cold Pool” – Wallows
Contemporary American indie rock band Wallows released “Ice Cold Pool” in 2019 on their ironically titled studio album Nothing Happens.
Here, ice is used as a metaphor for the loss of innocence and the passing of opportunities in life when fun becomes a thing of the past.
Wallows enjoyed their biggest hit with the song “Pleaser” from 2017, drawing inspiration from bands including Arctic Monkeys, the Strokes, and the Libertines.
15. “Trapped Under Ice” – Metallica
The multiple Grammy Award–winning metal band Metallica helped define the genre throughout their impressive musical career.
“Trapped Under Ice” is a classic example of their style, with aggressive vocals set against a backdrop of thrashing guitars and driving drums.
It was released at the peak of their fame in the mid-1980s on the album Ride the Lightning, a title which evokes similar imagery of elemental power.
14. “Icehouse” – Icehouse
The self-titled song “Icehouse” from the band Icehouse takes us back to 1980 as a classic example of new wave music that blends synth-pop sounds.
The lyrics talk about a river that never freezes despite the cold, representing a woman who dreams of a summer that never arrives.
Icehouse was initially formed in 1977 under the name Flowers, with the Australian band later changing their name and achieving mainstream success.
13. “Black Ice” – AC/DC
Another hugely popular Australian band is AC/DC, who also wrote one of the best songs about ice you can add to your music playlist.
“Black Ice” comes from later in AC/DC’s discography but nevertheless captures the spirit and energy the band became known for in their earlier releases.
It’s a striking contrast to the AC/DC song “Heatseeker,” one of the best songs about heat ever recorded.
12. “Too Much Ice” – Lil Pump Ft. Quavo
For Lil Pump and Quavo, ice represents all things fine and sparkling, with “Too Much Ice” referring to jewelry and other precious metals.
It’s a reflection of the preoccupation in hip-hop circles with material possessions, mitigated by a tongue-in-cheek approach to the subject matter.
“Too Much Ice” was released in 2019 and accompanied by a suitably colorful official music video, and it proved to be a big hit with Lil Pump fans.
11. “Ice Queen” – Within Temptation
Merging metal music with industrial rock and goth sound, Within Temptation’s song “Ice Queen” is a brilliant genre mashup from 2000.
Another great song about ice that was released with a powerful official music video, “Ice Queen,” is a driving track with outstanding composition.
Within Temptation released “Ice Queen” on their album Mother Earth, which featured many songs that explored fantasy imagery in the lyrics.
10. “Ice Cream Man” – Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers took aim at the topic of ice with their song “Ice Cream Man” in the 1970s.
The lyrics in “Ice Cream Man” are catchy and memorable, with the track’s title repeated throughout the infectious chorus.
It’s a breezy and entertaining rock and roll song from a popular band that remains widely played on American radio stations to this day.
9. “Walking on Thin Ice” – Yoko Ono
While Yoko Ono is perhaps best known as the partner of iconic Beatles singer John Lennon, she had a strong reputation as a songwriter in her own right.
“Walking on Thin Ice” was Ono’s hit song from 1992, in which she used thin ice as an analogy for living life recklessly and learning things the hard way.
The song was also used as the title for her greatest hits compilation album, which also featured the tracks “Death of Samantha” and “You’re the One.”
8. “Rivers of Ice” – Simple Minds
Scottish rock band Simple Minds released “Rivers of Ice” later in their career and featured the track on their album Real Life.
Its lyrics evoke powerful images of the wilderness and the symbolic appearance of an eagle flying over the landscape, representing freedom.
Like “New Gold Dream,” their impressive song about gold, “Rivers of Ice” showcased Simple Minds’ impeccable songwriting talents.
7. “Ice in the Sun” – Status Quo
“Ice in the Sun” by Status Quo takes us back to the late 1960s for a slice of cool rock and roll from masters of the genre.
The picture of the sun melting the ice away lies at the core of the song’s chorus, which explores themes of love and loss.
“Ice in the Sun” was featured on the Status Quo debut album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo, which captures their retro sound.
6. “Icicle” – Tori Amos
American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos hit the charts with “Icicle” in 1994 on her second studio album, Under the Pink.
It captures the essence of her sweet and expressive vocal range perfectly, with beautiful instrumental arrangements underscoring the lyrics.
Under the Pink was most famous for the single “Cornflake Girl,” which secured Tori Amos’ presence as one of the hottest singers of her generation.
5. “Ice Melts” – Drake
Like hip-hop legend Ice Cube, Drake tackled the theme of ice in his popular rap song “Ice Melts,” produced with Young Thug in 2017.
Drake’s trademark rapping style dominates “Ice Melts,” with pumping bass lines and equally hard-hitting beats driving the tune forward.
A striking companion piece to Drake’s legendary song about underdogs, “Started From the Bottom,” “Ice Melts” is a hip-hop classic for modern times.
4. “Cold as Ice” – Foreigner
A song about ice that needs little introduction to anyone with even a passing interest in modern music is “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner.
With its memorable official music video and catchy vocals, “Cold as Ice” is a popular song that has endured through the decades since it was first released.
Foreigner became known around the globe after “Cold as Ice” hit the US charts in 1977, cementing their reputation as one of the world’s leading rock bands around.
3. “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice
For a more commercial and pop-sounding hip-hop song about ice—in contrast to Drake’s entry—there’s “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice.
The simple yet memorable lyrics have been sung at parties by generations of people who want a funky and upbeat tune to dance to.
The debut single from Vanilla Ice, “Ice Ice Baby,” took its bassline from “Under Pressure” by the rock band Queen and singer David Bowie.
2. “The Thin Ice” – Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd is known as the leading band in the progressive rock genre, with “The Thin Ice” showcasing their guitar and vocal skills fully.
Here, thin ice serves as a metaphor for the dangers of modern-day living, and the song features wonderfully evocative vocals discussing “a million tear-stained eyes.”
“The Thin Ice” was included on the Pink Floyd album The Wall, the title track from which topped the Billboard Hot 100 Charts for several weeks in a row.
1. “Break The Ice” – Britney Spears
Last but by no means least on this playlist of the best songs about ice is “Break the Ice” by pop music icon Britney Spears from 2007.
Fans of electropop-tinged chart music found plenty to love about this upbeat hit tune, which was released with a beautifully animated official music video.
Britney Spears is no stranger to success, having written and performed some of the best karaoke songs of all time, including “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
Summary
There you have it, the best songs about ice you can listen to from some of the world’s leading singer-songwriters and iconic bands.
These moving songs use ice as a metaphor for the coldness of human emotions, as well as to evoke the beauty of the natural world in all its glory.
Whether you’re looking for songs about literal ice or something to take the edge off a broken relationship, there’s a song here just for you.