Where the snow songs are about the weather and the Christmas songs about the holiday, these sit with the season itself: the short days, the long nights and the quiet ache of the coldest stretch of the year.
Updated 2026
Winter by Tori Amos 1992
A father-and-daughter song as bare and still as a frozen field.
A Long December by Counting Crows 1996
Hoping the new year goes better than the one just ending.
River by Joni Mitchell 1971
Wishing for a frozen river to skate away from heartbreak.
Wintertime Love by The Doors 1968
A waltzing plea for warmth in the cold months.
In the Bleak Midwinter by Gustav Holst 1906
A hushed carol that sounds like frost on a window.
Winter Winds by Mumford & Sons 2009
Cold weather pushing a heart toward a hard choice.
Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg 1980
Two old lovers meeting by chance on a snowy night.
Skating by Vince Guaraldi Trio 1965
Light jazz piano that sounds exactly like fresh snow falling.
The Coldest Winter by Kanye West 2008
Grief set to a chill, synthetic pulse.
Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens 2006
Apologizing to loved ones from inside a long, cold spell.
A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel 1966
Looking around at brown leaves and feeling time slip past.