Here we are, mid-January, and the weather has been unbearably cold for the last couple of weeks. It has been too cold to spend a substantial amount of time outside, so students have been spending as much time as they can avoiding leaving their homes. Netflix marathons, anyone?
The Concordian asked students what kind of music they are listening to this time of year: their go-to songs for the snowy, cold days, or even songs that remind them of sitting by the fire, curled up with some hot chocolate.
Most students did not have a straight answer right away, or answered with “Christmas music,” despite it being January. We suggested to these students that they go through their iPods and look at what they have been playing lately. Many of the songs were acoustic, slow, low-key, and quite somber to a certain degree. Arian Zarrinkoub summed up her choice of “River” by Joni Mitchell as “very wintery and very sad.”
Sadness seemed to be an emotion most students associated with the colder months. One student said he has been listening to Women’s Public Strain album.
“There’s a snowstorm on the album cover, and the album is overall very dark and bleak,” he said. “There is not a happy song on this album.”
The theme of cold and sadness is also on Alison Papazois’ playlist, who chose “Mr. Winter” by The Maine.
“Well first, the title reminds me of winter and in the song it talks about this guy Mr. Winter who leaves the girl for three months,” said Papazois. “He was cold and bitter enough to leave her, just as the winter season is cold and bitter.”
Other students said they listen to acoustic songs by artists like The Lumineers and Ed Sheeran.
Natalie Coffen also chose a song that goes the acoustic route, “The Crane Wife 1&2” by The Decemberists.
“The beginning is exactly how I feel when I’m walking down my street in the winter,” said Coffen. “The song has a really warm feeling despite the lyrics being about the cold.”
Another popular answer was “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood.
“It has a warm feeling when you listen to it and it literally makes me want to curl up in a sweater,” said Laura Canter.
Marco Saveriano said that he has been loving the Frozen soundtrack lately, particularly the song, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”
“Does the Hockey Night In Canada theme song count?” asked Justin Share. “It reminds me of playing the sport, both indoors at an arena, or outside in the cold at an outdoor rink.”
Some students chose songs that were linked to specific winter memories. Alex Bissonnette chose “Les Étoiles Filantes” by Les Cowboys Fringants.
“I always listened to them when I was a kid with my parents by the fire.”
“”Montreal” by Raine Maida or “Albatross” by Big Wreck,” said Andrew Bernstein. “I used to listen to “Albatross” when I would drive home in the dead of winter, so it reminds me of the cold.”
A wide variety of songs were chosen by students, but most were slower, darker, gloomier songs than the loud party songs of summer and the upbeat, spirited songs of Christmas. These songs sum up our post-holiday feelings of bracing the cold, while we are counting down the days until spring break.
