Friends, fall is here and I’m just so giddy about it. There’s something endlessly special about this time of year: My cute, cozy jackets are finally in rotation and my morning coffee hits different when I feel that bit of chill (and nostalgia) in the air. It’s hard to feel down when you know the childish delights of Halloween are around the corner.
For me, fall is also synonymous with a bit of adventure. Living in New York City has its perks, but proximity to nature is not one of them—and that definitely weighs on my soul sometimes. I grew up in the Midwest, where sweeping plains and expansive horizons were my norms growing up. I just loved being outdoors, especially when the changing leaves started to show off. So as soon as mid-summer hits, I start scheming my foliage-filled getaways for the season ahead. Next weekend, my husband and I are heading up to the Adirondack Mountains, where we’ll hike, enjoy our charming cabin, and hit up a brewery or two. We also have a leaf-peeping road trip planned for the last week of October: We’ll start in Pennsylvania’s Poconos, head to central New York’s Finger Lakes region, and wrap things up in eastern New York’s Catskills.
And you better believe I’ll have a damn good playlist going the entire time. In high school and through college, my best friend and I burned each other mixed CDs every season, but we eventually graduated to digital playlists. I filed a bunch of them into a “Fall Tunes” folder, which lovingly houses old playlists with names like “August Chill,” “Back to Skool,” “Autumn Out East,” and so on. (We were so cool, right?) Listening to them again this week triggered so many emotions, because they spanned so many autumns in my life.
To curate the playlist below, I picked out some of the greatest hits from that folder, along with a few newer finds; it offers everything from Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” (for those supremely witchy vibes) to Japanese Breakfast’s “Posing for Cars” (for a glorious guitar solo that will drown you in all the feels). And, yes, I added Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” because no fall playlist would be complete without a slightly spooky ’70s rock classic. I hope you enjoy these songs on a moody autumn afternoon—and take in everything October has to offer while you can.
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Full Playlist:
- “Rhiannon,” by Fleetwood Mac
- “Mess is Mine,” by Vance Joy
- “New Slang,” by The Shins
- “Call Me in the Afternoon,” by Half Moon Run
- “If I Ever Feel Better,” by Phoenix
- “Right Down the Line,” by Gerry Rafferty
- “Can’t Fight,” by Lianne La Havas
- “Hallucinogenics,” by Matt Maeson feat. Lana Del Rey
- “Darling,” by Real Estate
- “For Emma,” by Bon Iver
- “September,” by Ayoni
- “Ophelia,” by The Lumineers
- “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” by Blue Öyster Cult
- “Full Moon,” by The Black Ghosts
- “One Man Wrecking Machine,” by Guster
- “When I’m Small,” by Phantogram
- “White Winter Hymnal,” by Fleet Foxes
- “Fade Into You,” by Mazzy Star
- “Rosyln,” by Bon Iver and St. Vincent
- “Posing for Cars,” by Japanese Breakfast
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Source: SELF
