Every year, there’s this horrid and insanely vile horde of emotions that takes over your brain during winter. It feels almost inescapable, some days feel heinous, and others feel like a permanent state of “bleh”. The only thing that can get you out of this endless evil cycle is music. Surrounding yourself with an assortment of sounds can drown out the evils and provide the calm in this slump of a storm.
To provide you with the best list of songs to ease this depression, I decided to ask a few people what songs are taking them out of their seasonal depression. Every person I asked gave almost the same explanation for each of their songs: it made them sit with their emotions, long enough to finally understand them. I took all these answers and compiled a list of songs that will hopefully make this seasonal depression a bit more digestible.
First on this list is my personal safe haven in this seasonal depression, “Drinking” by Bôa. This song is one of those that steers you into the almost nothingness that is seasonal depression, but it also provides comfort in the emptiness. The organic and melodic guitar strums guide the listener through the song, making it one of the most calming and immersive listening experiences.
Next is “On the Beach” by Neil Young. One of my close friends chose this song because she finds it “super comforting to hear that my feelings aren’t only mine.” This is the perfect way to describe the slow and almost tender sound that Neil Young displays when singing about “following a road” and not knowing where it ends.
Following these slow and calming songs is the complete opposite: “Summer Soft” by Stevie Wonder. When defeating this seasonal depression, there should be a mix of highs and lows, and this song is high in every way. The mix of highs and lows creates a balance between understanding the overwhelming sadness of winter and realizing that there are still good days to come. Stevie Wonder’s optimistic and upbeat style reminds us that summer is close and this reign of sorrow will be over soon. Although he’s singing about someone leaving as quickly as the summer, it still invokes a puzzling feeling of joy.
Still riding this upbeat high, “Caraluna” by Bacilos perfectly sums up the absolute awesomeness of summer and joy. Immediately beginning with the upbeat rhythmic drums and lyrics about seeing remnants of someone you love in everything, “Caraluna” is filled with excitement and love. It reminds us that love is in everything, whether we want it to be or not.
The end to this list of songs is a double feature: both “Distant Lover” by Marvin Gaye and “Window Seat” by Erykah Badu. Finishing off your listening journey with both of these songs back to back takes you through the odd mix of emotions that seasonal depression may be forcing you through, while still reminding us and emphasizing that there is an end to these slumps. Both of these songs invoke deep emotions, but Marvin Gaye’s song steers you more into the cold and lonesome feelings during seasonal depression. There is some peace in such deep emotion, making this song the perfect way to ease these feelings. Paired with the groovy and smooth sounds of Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat,” both of these songs work in tandem. Both Erykah Badu and Marvin Gaye are singing about missing someone, but Badu makes it seem like a more unbothered act of doing so. She misses this person, but in a less heartbreaking and yearning way than Gaye sings. Her song “Window Seat” is like the great resolution of these lonesome feelings.
During these long and hard months, it may feel like it’ll always be gloomy, but amazing art like music allows us to find an escape and serves as a reminder that everything isn’t always bad. Better days will come.
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