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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Let's Talk About... Snowed In Tunes

Posted by Travis Ritter on Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 12:20 AM

Anytime snowfall hits the low-lying metropolitan area where I live, all I want to do is listen to these songs:

Yoko Ono - "Listen The Snow Is Falling"
Admittedly, I heard Galaxie 500's version long before I heard this. But over the years, Yoko's version has become a quintessential wintry go-to ("Walking On Thin Ice" is a close second). Being able to actually watch it snow outside while listening to this song is just perfect.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow"
I was a depressed, lonely college kid obsessed with all things Nick Cave when No More Shall We Part was released. I think it was Springtime when the record came out, but my head was perpetually stuck in the darkest months of the year. This song was an avalanche on my soul. And I'm still digging myself out of that one.

Frank Zappa - "Don't Eat That Yellow Snow/Father O'Blivion"
I grew up in the coastal mountains of Humboldt County, CA, where we would get a few feet of snow every year. My childhood friend's dad had this record and we would play this song over and over. It was so hilarious that some guy wrote a cautionary tale about eating snow that some wolf might have peed on. I heeded his warning. We lived in the woods, after all.

Broadcast - "Winter Now"
I start listening to Broadcast a lot once the weather start getting chilly. Especially Ha Ha Sound, where this song can be found. The twinkly keys, brittle guitars, and dreamy, angel voice thrusts "Winter Now" right out into a cold, dark night, where the empty streets are silent and all you can hear are your own footsteps quietly crunching the freshly fallen snow on the ground.