Photo by Prchi Palwe on Unsplash
Fall is here, and just like we cozy up with warm sweaters and comfort food, our playlists can provide warmth, tranquility, and mental recalibration. A curated fall playlist eases us into autumn, grounds us, and helps us fully experience the present season. Like a soft sweater for your soul, find out how music can be the perfect companion for the crisp days ahead.
I’m Mindy Peterson, host of Enhance Life with Music podcast, where we explore the ways music makes our lives better. And this is Microhance, a micro-dose of musical enhancement.
Here in the US, we recently celebrated Labor Day; schools are back in session; and today is the first day of October. All of those things mean that the season of Fall is officially underway here in the Northern Hemisphere. I LOVE fall. I live in the Midwest, where fall brings changing colors of leaves, apples, crisp air, cool nights, and – eventually – falling leaves. I love to bring my favorite comfort food recipes back into rotation, like lasagna, chili, and other soups and stews. And… I love to embrace and usher in this change in seasons melodically as well.
For years I have kept a playlist that I call Comfort Food for Ears – I start playing it after Labor Day, when I’m mentally shifting from summer to fall. Even though the weather here in Minnesota during this time period can fluctuate between sweatshirt weather and shorts-and-T-shirt weather, my sonic environment is consistently keeping me stabilized in a pumpkin-spice season, and paving the way for the full-on holiday nostalgia season to follow.
I like to think of this as a way to “hygge” your playlist—curating tracks that bring warmth, grounding, and meaning as the days grow shorter. Hygge is the Danish concept of creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. For me, this means artists like Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole; it’s classic standards sung by Tony Bennett or Aaron Neville, like “You Send Me,” “These Foolish Things,” and “Unforgettable”; it’s jazz played by Miles Davis; or just songs that warm me, like Celine Dion’s “When I Fall in Love.” Other artists on my Comfort Food playlist include Chris Botti, Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra, and Harry Connick, Jr.
Just as we swap out our wardrobes for cozier sweaters, or crave heartier meals, these sounds can help us savor the change in the air and mentally calibrate as the leaves begin to turn and the air grows crisp. It’s a way to wrap ourselves in music the way we wrap ourselves in blankets or scarves.
For those who aren’t ready to curate their own playlist but want to explore this idea – or maybe you want some more inspiration – check out pre-curated playlists. Just for kicks, I checked out Spotify’s playlists, to see what options were out there. A few that caught my eye were:
- autumn vintage jazz (its icon image was from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” so I assume the playlist includes some Vince Guaraldi)
- Gilmore Girls fall
- crisp fall morning with a pumpkin candle
If you really like this idea, you could even take it a step further with a micro-season option: I’m thinking… Halloween playlist, Thanksgiving playlist.
If you have your own fall playlist – or take the time to craft one – I would love to hear what tracks you selected and why. What songs feel like a soft sweater for your soul? What artists give you the warm, contented feeling of a hot cup of tea? Let me know your auditory comfort food for this season.
You can always connect with me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn.
I’m Mindy Peterson, and I hope this inspires you to enhance your life with music.
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