The 10 best winter songs to warm up your soul

Christmas may be over, but winter is certainly not. While we try to warm up our hands and heart drinking a cup of hot cocoa, there’s something missing: that reassuring feeling that makes you think you’re curled up in a nice heavy blanket, reminding you that it’s so cold outside but everything’s fine, because you have everything you need at your disposal. Winter songs are accompanying us from late December into February, and we decided to pick 10 of the best ones – enjoy!

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow (Hey Oh)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers may be a funk-rock band hailing from California, but Snow (Hey Oh) is so winterish. Could it be the hypnotising guitar riff, the nostalgia-evoking vocal melodies delivered by Anthony Kiedis or the relatable lyrics that he’s singing? We don’t really know, but Snow is great to soothe your soul.

Early Winter – Gwen Stefani

Right from the first guitar notes, that blend themselves with a cold-sounding dry synthesizer that reminds us of an Icelandic landscape, this song sets the mood pretty quickly, but here’s the trick: as soon as the graciously delicate voice of Gwen Stefani enters the song, our hearts get all warm and fuzzy.

The Doors – Wintertime Love

A really peculiar song by The Doors: by taking a listen, this is undeniably Doors style, but it was somehow contaminated by… Christmas tunes?! The chorus is an invitation to dance, and who in their right mind would decline Jim Morrison’s poetic invitation for a winter dance? The only negative thing here is that the song is definitely too short 😉

Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby

Relying upon the sampled bass line from “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, this song is definitely not talking about Winter and love as many other songs in this list did. Vanilla Ice wrote this song at the age of 16, depicting his life experiences in South Florida (definitely not a place that screams cold winter). The title and the whispered “Ice Ice Baby” lines in the song, though, are definitely wintery enough to warrant a spot on the list 😉

Gojira – Born In Winter

“And in the winter cold, with opened eyes / You’ll find the strength to fight and stand upright / One day you’ll walk the world and keep in mind / The heart you’ve been given in winter time”. French metal titans Gojira certainly know how to write a song that hits us right in the feels. Epic, anthemic, colossal: this song can be described in many ways, but we’ll let you decide which one to pick, after listening to this hypnotic song delivered by Joe Duplantier and his talented teammates.

Ariana Grande- Winter Things

It’s quite weird to hear a typically summery ukulele chord progression under Ariana’s voice, but by taking a closer inspection the truth is revealed: this is a love song dedicated to winter by someone who never experienced it, coming from a place where summer has no end. “It ain’t even cold outside, not where / I’m from Feeling like it’s mid-July under the sun / My jacket don’t get no love / No hats and no gloves”. 

Neil Young – Winterlong

Neil Young‘s melancholia is palpable in this tune, which was picked among other Neil’s rarities. Neil is waiting for a woman, who never seems to come by. This song has no traditional structure, and keeps on repeating on a recurring theme. The struggling heart of Neil and the eternal wait of the lover are certainly themes that fit the Winter mood perfectly.

Queen – A Winter’s Tale

The sheer talent that Freddie had in painting pictures with his voice was just incredible. Just listen to this song. Just do it. You will soon have an image forming inside your head, narrated by one of the best singer that ever existed. Brian, Roger and John‘s simple, yet elegant, arrangement really helps to bring justice to this piece of winter poetry.

Simon & Garfunkel  – A Hazy Shade of Winter

One of Simon & Garfunkel gems that was recently re-discovered, “A Hazy Shade of Winter” talks about Simon’s days in England in 1965, by depicting himself as a hopeless poet, full of unpublished work, struggling about what to do next. The transition from fall to winter is the perfect picture to describe those feelings, and we bet you felt that too, after listening to this masterpiece.

Ben Harper – Winter Is For Lovers

Last, but definitely not least, we have a masterpiece by the ultra-talented Ben Harper, who decided to take the instrumental route on his latest album “Winter is for Lovers“. Ok, we cheated here, it’s the title of the album, but each song is cleverly named after a city or a place and as you listen to the album you can’t help but imagine these wonderful places covered in a sparkling layer of fresh snow. In this video, Ben performs the album in its entirety on a gorgeous John Monteleone lap steel guitar:

What’s your favourite winter song and how does it make you feel? Let us know with a comment!

Simon's passion for music generated a long time ago, and led him to become a guitarist and self-produce his music with the band Onyria.

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