Songs about winter
by: Anastasia KlinovskaPosted on:

Songs About Winter: Personal Soundtracks for the Coldest Season

Winter has a very specific sound. It can be quiet and reflective, cozy and nostalgic, or cold and a little lonely. For some of us, winter smells like snow and hot tea. For others, it sounds like a certain melody playing in the background while the city slows down.

There are plenty of songs about winter, and many of them instantly bring back memories – evening walks, foggy mornings, or long drives through snow-covered streets. Instead of putting together just another generic list, we decided to do something a bit different.

Rather than ranking the best songs about winter, we asked several people a simple question: What song do you personally associate with winter?

So, here are their answers and the stories behind them.

Table of Contents

1. “Only Time” by Enya

The first winter memory comes from Deepak Shukla, Founder and CEO of Pearl Lemon Consulting. For him, winter has always had a very specific sound:

My go-to winter song is “Only Time” by Enya. I grew up in a noisy migrant household in West London, and winters were the only time the chaos softened; everyone was working, the house colder, quieter. I’d sit by the tiny gas heater, listening to Enya on a scratched CD I found in a charity shop. That song felt like warmth in slow motion.

When I play it now, especially in winters here in Italy, it reminds me of those strange childhood evenings: the mix of loneliness and comfort, of wanting life to change and wanting parts of it to stay exactly the same. Enya somehow captured both feelings in one haunting melody.

2. “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses

The next song comes from Mick Owar, Founder of PrimalRecovery, who associates winter with a track that feels as dramatic and reflective as the season itself:

The song I always tie to winter is “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses. There’s just something about that opening piano that feels like cold air hitting you in the face – quiet, heavy, a bit dramatic in the way winter actually is. It’s the kind of track that makes you slow down for a second, which is exactly what winter does to most of us whether we like it or not.

For me, winter’s always been a reflective stretch of the year. You spend more time indoors, more time in your own head, and you tend to notice things you’d brush off in summer. November Rain has that same feeling – it sits low for a while, builds slowly, then opens up into something bigger. That’s pretty much what winter feels like to me: heavy at first, then out of nowhere you get those clear cold mornings where everything snaps into focus.

And when that guitar solo hits, it feels like the moment the sun finally cuts through the frost. Dramatic? Yeah. But winter is too, and the song carries that same kind of atmosphere.

3. “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey

The next story comes from Jeffrey Goldman, co-owner of a personal training studio, who associates winter with a song that became a turning point in both his business journey and mindset:

I’m not a music critic, but running a personal training studio and working 60-hour weeks in medical device sales means I’ve logged thousands of winter miles between client sessions and business meetings across Michigan. My winter song is “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey, and it’s tied to one specific memory that changed how I approach entrepreneurship.

Three winters ago, I was driving to close a deal for the medical device startup during a brutal snowstorm – visibility was maybe 20 feet, roads were ice. That song came on right as I almost turned back, and something about Steve Perry hitting those notes made me push through. I closed the deal, and it became our biggest account that quarter, generating enough revenue to expand our sales territory.

Now every winter when that song plays, it reminds me that the uncomfortable moments – freezing morning training sessions at 5 am, cold calls that go nowhere, driving through blizzards to meet one prospect – those are exactly when you need to keep moving. I’ve started playing it for clients who want to skip winter workouts, and our studio retention during November-February jumped from 67% to 84% over two years.

4. “River” by Joni Mitchell

The next winter reflection comes from Patti (O’Connell) Yencho, Principal Agent and Owner at Professional Insurance Advisors, LLC, who ties a winter song to a defining moment early in her career:

The song I associate with winter is “River” by Joni Mitchell – specifically because of a difficult January early in my career when I had to rebuild trust with a client whose business I’d almost failed to protect properly. Their accountant had made an error that triggered a potential lawsuit, and I spent weeks that winter working through the claims process, learning exactly how interconnected all their policies needed to be.

That experience taught me what became my “whole life or risk” approach – treating insurance as one comprehensive plan rather than disconnected policies. The client’s general liability didn’t talk to their E&O coverage, and that gap nearly cost them everything. We fixed it, but those cold January meetings where I had to admit I should have caught it earlier still stick with me when I hear that song.

Now when I work with accounting firms on their professional liability coverage, I always think about winter as decision season – when CPAs are buried in tax prep but also most vulnerable to the mistakes that show up months later. We’ve built our practice around reviewing coverage during these pressure-point months, not just during comfortable times. Winter is when professionals need protection most, even if they don’t realize it until spring.

5. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love

The next winter association comes from Allison Andrews, Director of Sales & Marketing at Limitless Limo & Party Bus, who connects winter music with the energy of holiday travel and shared celebrations:

I’ve spent years coordinating transportation for hundreds of weddings and events in Columbus, so I’ve heard every possible playlist and seen how music transforms the experience inside our vehicles. For me, winter means “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love – it’s the one song that perfectly captures that electric energy of coming home during the holidays.

What makes it special is the urgency in it. When I’m managing our holiday light tour bookings in December (our busiest season), that song reminds me why people book party buses to see Columbus neighborhoods decorated – they’re creating traditions with friends and family. We ran 47 tours last December, and the groups that planned their playlists ahead always had the best time.

The brass section and that driving beat mirror exactly what happens when a group boards one of our vehicles for a winter celebration. There’s this moment when the music starts, the lights come on, and you see everyone’s stress just melt away – that’s the whole point of what we do at Limitless Limo.

best songs about winter

6. “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel

The next song comes from Charles Blechman, Certified Life Coach, who associates winter with music that marks endings, beginnings, and personal transformation:

I’ve spent 30 years in tech leadership and now coach software engineers through life transitions, so I notice how music anchors memory. For me, it’s “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel – not typically called a winter song, but it’s what played constantly during a December when I was deciding whether to step back from my CTO role.

Winter in Manhattan has this quality where the city slows just enough that you can actually hear yourself think. I’d walk through frozen streets processing whether to leave behind three decades of software engineering, and that song’s line about “walking right out of the machinery” felt like it was written for that exact moment. The cold air made everything sharper, more present.

What stuck with me wasn’t the warmth of traditional holiday music – it was this song about courage and change during the season when everything else is dormant. Now when I hear it, I’m back in that space where endings and beginnings overlap, which is exactly the territory I help my coaching clients steer.

7. “Let It Snow” by Frank Sinatra

The next song comes from Matthew Marshall, Co-Owner of Wright Home Services and Jim’s Plumbing Now, who associates winter with moments of responsibility, teamwork, and going above and beyond:

I’m a family man running Wright Home Services in San Antonio, and every winter when “Let It Snow” comes on, I think about our on-call HVAC techs working through the holidays. We had a Christmas Eve in 2022 where temperatures dropped to 18°F – rare for South Texas – and we had 47 emergency heating calls in one night.

What stuck with me wasn’t just the chaos. It was watching our team miss their own family dinners to make sure elderly homeowners weren’t freezing. One tech, Luis, spent three hours at a widow’s house on Christmas morning because her furnace went out and she had nowhere else to go.

Now when I hear that song, I think about how winter reveals what your company’s really made of. Summer AC emergencies are expected in Texas – 105°F days are our bread and butter. But winter service calls show you who actually values relationships over revenue, because the margins are thinner and the stakes feel more personal.

That Christmas taught me to staff differently for cold snaps. We now pre-schedule rotating holiday shifts starting in November and pay 2.5x rates for major holidays. Our emergency response time during winter has dropped from 4 hours to 90 minutes because people know they’re compensated fairly for missing family time.

8. “Heal” by Tom Odell

The next song comes from Dr. Reema Sethi, Owner of Aura Health & Spa, who associates winter with reflection, planning, and the quiet work that sets up future growth:

I associate winter with “Heal” by Tom Odell – it became the soundtrack to my late shifts in the ER during brutal Michigan winters. There’s something about working overnight when the snow is falling and the roads are empty that makes certain songs stick. That track played on repeat during drives home after 12-hour shifts, and the combination of exhaustion, quiet roads, and that melancholic piano just locked it into my winter memory.

What made it meaningful was that winter represented my transition period – I was already 15+ years into emergency medicine but starting to build Aura Health & Spa on the side. Those cold months were when I’d finish an ER shift, sit in my car for a few minutes to decompress, then mentally switch gears to work on treatment protocols and business plans. Winter became my planning season while everyone else was coasting.

Now when I hear that song, I think about the value of using slower periods to build something new. At Aura, our biggest growth spurts have come from work we put in during January and February – training staff on new devices, refining our consultation process, mapping out our SEO strategy. Winter isn’t downtime; it’s when you set up everything that compounds later.

9. “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson

The next song comes from Dan Wright, co-founder and CEO of Wright’s Shed Co., who associates winter with determination, focus, and making the most of slower months:

I’m going to go with “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson – and not for romantic reasons. When my brother and I were building Wright’s Shed Co. from nothing in our early years, winter was when we actually made our best decisions. Everyone else in construction would slow down, but we used those months to plan the next season, refine our builds, and lock in material deals before spring demand hit.

That song captures the quiet determination of working through the cold months when most people assume nothing’s happening. I remember sitting in an unheated shop at 6 AM in January, sketching out our first custom garage design while that song played on repeat. We weren’t just surviving winter – we were using it to get ahead.

Now at Wright’s Shed Co., we actively tell customers that winter is our fastest turnaround time because there’s less competition for our builders’ schedules. We’ve built thousands of structures, and some of our best work happened in below-freezing temps because we had the space to focus without the spring rush. Winter isn’t downtime if you’re building something that lasts.

10. “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen

The next winter reflection comes from Ryan Ayers, seasoned social work consultant, educator, and writer, who connects a winter song to resilience, hope, and the quiet strength he’s witnessed in challenging moments:

My winter song is “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen – specifically the version I heard playing in a community center break room during a particularly brutal January about fifteen years ago. I was coordinating crisis intervention services for families in emergency housing, and we’d just had three intakes in one morning – domestic violence survivors, kids without coats, everyone exhausted. That song came on the radio, and one of the moms started humming along while filling out paperwork. Her kids stopped crying for the first time that day.

What struck me wasn’t the sadness in the melody but the resilience underneath it. The song acknowledges brokenness but keeps moving forward anyway – which is exactly what I’ve witnessed in two decades of social work practice. Winter strips everything down to survival mode, and you see people’s core strength emerge when they have nothing left to lose.

I think about that moment now when I’m writing about burnout prevention or trauma-informed care for MSW Degrees. Social workers operate in that same stripped-down space year-round – we’re constantly holding both grief and hope simultaneously. Winter doesn’t just happen seasonally in this field; it’s a professional climate we steer, and the best practitioners learn to find that same quiet determination the mom in the shelter showed me.

popular songs about winter

11. “The Stable Song” by Gregory Alan Isakov

The next winter reflection comes from Adam Bocik, Founder and Managing Partner of Evergreen Results, who ties a winter song to the quiet focus and patience required during harsh, cold months:

The song that hits me hardest in winter is “The Stable Song” by Gregory Alan Isakov. I first heard it during a brutal December snowstorm at Grace Mountain Ranch when we were dealing with frozen water lines and making sure our horses had what they needed through the night. Something about his raw, stripped-down folk sound matched the quiet intensity of working outside in single-digit temps.

What stuck with me wasn’t just the cold – it was how winter forces you to slow down and notice details you’d otherwise miss. At the ranch, you can’t rush through feeding in a blizzard. In my agency work, I’ve found the same principle applies: our best campaigns for outdoor brands happen when we strip away the marketing noise and focus on what actually matters to people. Winter teaches patience.

I play that song now when I’m working through complex strategy sessions for clients. It reminds me that growth – whether it’s a brand or a business – happens during the hard seasons, not despite them. The best creative work I’ve seen comes from embracing constraints rather than fighting them.

12. “In the Bleak Midwinter” by James Taylor 

The next winter reflection comes from Katie Waldron, Public Relations & Communications Expert, who associates a winter song with calm, stillness, and the quiet beauty of snowy days:

I always associate James Taylor’s In the Bleak Midwinter with winter.

The sound of the song and the words in the lyrics remind me of winter. It feels cold but in a good way, like you’re watching the snow come down from under a blanket with a cup of something warm. It’s a song that invites you to slow down, to take in the moment.  There’s also a sense of calm about it and beauty in the stillness of winter.  

13. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues

The next winter reflection comes from William Fletcher, CEO of Car.co.uk, who ties a winter song to early mornings, cold drives, and the determination that carried him through the start of his business:

For me, winter always sounds like “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues. I used to drive old motors around Manchester in December back when we were first setting up what would become Car.co.uk, heater barely working and windows fogged up so much I’d wipe them with my sleeve. That song played constantly on the radio – messy, loud, a bit sad but somehow hopeful too. It reminds me of cold mornings where everything felt uncertain, yet we kept moving anyway. Even now, if it comes on while I’m working late, it feels like a nod from those scrappy early days. Winter isn’t just the season – it’s the memories you carry through it.

14. “Leise Rieselt Der Schnee” by Anselm C. Kreuzer, Eduard Ebel, & Markus Segschneider

The next winter reflection comes from Edith Ruprecht, performer and artist, who shared several songs that capture both the serene beauty of snow and the playful side of winter:

My favorite winter song is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdOIjpP3pkU . We sang it in our school choir. It really captures the ice cold feeling of week long snowy weather. 

The most traditional song about the winter is: “Leise rieselt der Schnee” which is about how calm the snow falls. It has similar imagery with the frozen lake just like the other song and it anticipates Christmas coming soon. 

Another favorite is: “ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee”. A cute song about a cat walking in the snow. After a while it looks like the cat has white boots which of course is just the snow sticking to its paws. 

15. “Winter Wonderland” by Michael Bublé 

The next song comes from Alan Katz, Presiding Officiant at Great Officiants, who associates winter with joy, imagination, and the pure feeling of a winter wonderland:

I am both a professional Santa Claus and a professional Wedding Officiant, so I could easily list many Christmas songs. Since this article is about winter itself, the song that means the most to me is Winter Wonderland.

For me it captures the feeling of families playing together in the snow, of parents and children celebrating the cool and sparkling weather. I was born and raised in Southern California, so I never really experienced a true winter wonderland. The song gave me that feeling long before I ever saw real snow.

As a wedding officiant, one of my favorite parts of the song is the moment when they build a snowman in the meadow and pretend he is the one marrying them. It reflects the same mix of joy, imagination, and love that I try to bring to every ceremony. As Santa, it also helps me step fully into the spirit of winter, especially when it invites listeners to “dream by the fire.”

For me, Winter Wonderland is the song that holds all the magic of the season. It feels like winter in its purest form, full of wonder, excitement, and love.

16. “Winter” by Antonio Vivaldi

The next winter reflection comes from Nejc Rusjan, CEO & Founder of Essentia Pura, who associates a classical piece with the focus, reflection, and preparation that winter brings:

My winter song is Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons.” If I remember correctly, I first really noticed it during a particularly cold December when I was buried in work, planning the next stage of my business. 

The sharp violins and shifting tempo feel exactly like winter to me as it is a mix of harshness outside and focus inside. It’s the soundtrack I put on when the days are short, the coffee is strong, and I’m sketching out ideas for the year ahead.

It reminds me that winter is not just an end of the year, but a quiet season to think, refine, and prepare for what’s next.

17. “Snow” (Alternate Version) by Harry Nilsson

The next winter reflection comes from John Raisor, Growth Director at Occam’s Raisor, who associates a song with the quiet beauty of freshly fallen snow and the simple joys of a winter morning:

There’s nothing quite like waking up to a world turned white, all the steel and concrete and structures reclaimed by nature for a while. Since I live in an area where it doesn’t snow very frequently, and the snow usually doesn’t stick around for long, it’s always nice to wake up to snow falling. When that happens, I always put this song on. Drink hot ceylon tea, sit in the window, watch the snow fly, enjoy the song and the moment, then start the day. It’s sung by one of my favorite songwriters, Harry Nilsson, and written by another of my favorite songwriters, Randy Newman. I found out about Harry from his documentary, and I found out about Randy from Harry’s documentary. 

18. “Come Neve” by Giorgia and Marco Mengoni

The next song comes from Isabella Rossi, CPO at Fruzo, who associates winter with love, new beginnings, and memorable moments set to music:

The winter song that brings me my best memories is definitely “Come Neve” by Giorgia and Marco Mengoni. It’s a beautiful Italian duet that came out in the winter of 2017.

That timing is everything for me. I met my husband, who is Italian, that same winter. We had just started dating, and this song was playing everywhere. We’d listen to it constantly. So for me, the song is permanently tied to the quiet and exciting wonder of those first weeks together.

The song itself is about a love that arrives softly and transforms everything, just like snow. It’s about two voices finding harmony. Hearing it now takes me right back to that feeling of a new beginning, and I still love it.

Songs About Winter, Final Thoughts

Winter isn’t just a season – it’s a feeling, a mood, and, as we’ve discovered, a soundtrack. From quiet reflective moments to playful snowy adventures, the songs our contributors shared capture the full spectrum of what winter means to them.

Whether it’s classical pieces, rock ballads, or heartfelt duets, these tracks prove that songs about winter don’t have to be tied to the holidays. Many of them perfectly reflect the moods, stillness, and beauty of the season, making them some of the best songs about winter to add to your playlist.

Now it’s your turn! What song do you associate with winter? Share it in the comments and help us keep building this musical celebration of the season. And if you’re already in the festive spirit, don’t forget to explore our next article on Christmas songs for even more seasonal inspiration.

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