Fall, the best season of the year, is officially upon us. The crisp mornings, sunny but not too hot afternoons, and moody October evenings are back. There’s no better time to walk around campus listening to Taylor Swift and romanticizing your life. If you’re having a hard time deciding which Taylor song to play for the moment, look no further! Here are four oddly specific moments we have all experienced, and the right song for each of them.
- Yesterday and all of this morning it rained, but it was the first cold rain of the season, so you were a little miserable and damp on your walk to class. Luckily, by the afternoon, the rain was gone. The sky is still gray and there’s some mist in the air so the street lamps have faint hazy halos, but it’s cold enough that the mist doesn’t stick to you like it does in the summer. You’re a comfortable cool in your sweatshirt and the air could not be more crisp and clean. There’s a slight smell of a campfire and damp trees, but it’s not strong enough to overpower the clarity of the atmosphere. You’re kind of… enchanted.
“Enchanted” from Speak Now really speaks to this moment (no pun intended)
- For the first time this school year, you can wear a pair of jeans on a sunny day without them sticking to your legs. You can finally take your flannel out of the closet knowing that it won’t be warm enough for you to have to put it in your backpack and ruin your fall outfit. The sky is cloudless, and the sun shines through the small yellow leaves of the trees, contrasting the bright blue of the sky and creating a warm canopy above you. It’s still early autumn so when you step on the fallen leaves, it sounds more like a soft dusting than a crisp crunch. As you walk down the sidewalk, you pass a street sign reading “Cornelia Street.”
Just kidding, but maybe “Cornelia Street” from Lover is the song you pick as your soundtrack for the rest of your dreamy walk down the carpet of yellow leaves.
- Now it’s mid-autumn and every leaf you see on the ground looks worthy of collecting. The trees are almost bare, but none of the leaves have turned brown yet. It’s cold enough at night for frost to gather on the grass, so when the afternoon sun comes out, there are still little droplets of water on the leaves. The cider donut in your freezing hand is dense yet fluffy, and the steam from the cup of cider in your other hand matches your breath — because now you can see it in the air.
“Ivy” from Evermore seems perfect for right now.
- You’re on a pleasant walk on a chilly November evening, and the moon is bright in the sky. You can see your breath as you travel under the streetlight, and the brown leaves crunch under your feet. You’re in the crossover time between Halloween and the holiday season, so when you see the decorations on the surrounding houses, you experience both nostalgia and excitement. You can’t wait to bake holiday cookies, light pine-scented candles, and wear flannel pajamas, but for now, you’re enjoying the end of fall.
Even though it’s not December quite yet, “Back to December” from Speak Now is a great song for this moment.
Enjoy these songs this fall!
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