Three months into fall, everyone’s settling into the cozy vibes. Here’s our favorite fall songs to finish the season off:
“Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins
Released in October 1990 by Cocteau Twins, a Scottish dream pop band, “Heaven or Las Vegas” consists of dreamy electric guitars, bass, keyboard, and drum machine accompanying the vocalist throughout the entire song. During the production of the song, life changing events intertwined for the band: fighting drug addiction, going through a relationship crisis, a new born baby, and the sudden death of a close family member. The song fluctuates with deep emotions, leaping beyond the band’s otherworldly vibe.
The song begins with a relatively calm and free melody. When the vocalist sings “Pull him away” and “To stay and stay and then fail,” her articulation of lyrics almost blends into the accompaniment, dragging you into a sad fantasy. The chorus states, “I want to love, I’ve all the wrong glory,” gradually building tension that reflects the reality of “Las Vegas,” but dreams for a “heaven.” The phrase “Am I just in heaven or Las Vegas?” repeats over and over again, and is answered with “Must be why I’m thinking of Las Vegas,” showing that there’s no such thing as an utopia.
During the short bridge, the background vocal harmonies fade away to clarify the lyrics, “I’m dizzy so I go under the Big Dipper.” The bridge evokes a dreamy fall night, neglecting the sorrowful reality, and once again yearning for “heaven.”A thrilling electric guitar solo brings us back to the last repeat of the chorus. Towards the end of the song, instead of tenderness, the lead vocalist sings with more enthusiasm and intensity, truly taking the listeners on a trip between Heaven and Las Vegas.
“we fell in love in october” by girl in red
“we fell in love in october,” released November 21, 2018 is a contemplative song by Norwegian singer/songwriter Marie Ulven, known as girl in red. The song features a beautiful combination of the guitar, bass, saxophone, synth, drums, and of course the vocals which were written and recorded in her bedroom.
It tells the story of a past relationship and how she now associates the months of fall with love because of it. Ulven sings, “we fell in love in October / that’s why I love fall.” The song has romanticized fall for all its listeners, holding on to the warm feeling of summer, but there’s more to the story to be found in the other single released with this song. “forget her” is her feeling the heartbreak from losing this girl in her life and features a more sad tune throughout the entire song in both the vocals and the guitar.
She sings, “she stole my heart, and ran away / left me with some things to say,” showing us the other side of the coin of needing closure and feeling incomplete in the absence of this relationship. In 2022, she revisited these memories and released another sequel to the song “we fell in love in october” named “October Passed Me By”, released on October 14, 2022.
Much more somber than “forget her”, this song sounds almost sour in the beginning, and combines the meanings of its predecessors. In “we fell in love in october” she says, “looking at the stars, admiring from afar” symbolizing admiration and the connection she had, but in “October Passed Me By,” she sings “I was busy with the stars, you were looking at me,” showing us how she felt she may have been blinded by love, not actually paying attention to the real person she was in a relationship with, rather than the idea of love.
“we fell in love in october” is a song with immense depth, and a lot more to the story than one might think at first. If you haven’t already, go give it a listen!
“Ghost Town” by The Specials
Less commonly known, “Ghost Town” by The Specials released June 12, 1998. This piece consists of very spooky, ominous tunes throughout the entire song, kicking off with police sirens in the background.
It tells a story of an abandoned city, with much civil unrest, even singing about fighting in the streets. Terry Hall, the lead singer from the UK says “Government leaving youth on the shelf,” opening this song up for a deeper meaning. When this song was published, there were political tensions across England after the police’s “Operation Swamp 81,” which involved traveling to various Black communities and conducting unnecessary and aggressive stop-and-searches. Tensions were quickly rising between these communities and the police force, and on top of all that it became difficult for Black men to obtain jobs, more so than others, in a period of economic regression.
The people began to respond to this, which includes Terry Hall’s song, where later he sings “no job to be found in this country / can’t go on no more / the people are getting angry,” depicting his entire community’s frustration with the urban decay and racial prejudice unfolding. At one point in the song, he sings “do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?” creating an interesting juxtaposition between how his town used to be, and how things turned out.
Although it wasn’t written for Halloween, it’s still a personal favorite to set a spooky scene, while also exploring important topics.