Tuesday's Top Ten - Winter Songs

"All the leaves are brown/ And the sky is gray/ I've been for a walk/ On a winter's day." - "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & The Papas

Happy Tuesday everyone! Winter is my favorite season. I love snow, cold weather, and when the sun sets early in the evening. I have done lists of Christmas songs in the past, so I thought today I would share my favorite winter songs with you. A couple of these could be considered "not quite Christmas songs", but I'm including them anyway because the subjects of these songs are not holiday-related at all. If I'm missing any of your favorite songs with winter as the theme or the setting, leave me a comment and let me know. Maybe I'll find a new favorite!

1. "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & The Papas - Nothing beats this song for the cold winter months on the East Coast. Being a California girl myself, I can relate to the lines I'd be safe and warm, if I was in L.A./ California dreamin' on such a winter's day.

2. "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor - Technically this song is set in the fall, but the icy scene that James describes gives off a very wintry vibe that makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate. The first of December was covered with snow/ So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston/ The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting/ With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.

3. "Girl From the North Country" by Bob Dylan - This is such a beautiful song. I just love Bob's old folk music from the 60s, and this wintry tune is a masterpiece. Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm/
When the rivers freeze and summer ends/ Please see if she’s wearing a coat so warm/ To keep her from the howlin’ winds.

4. "Baby It's Cold Outside" by She and Him - What makes this version so great, other than Zooey Deschanel's incredible voice, is that she and M. Ward have taken on opposite roles. Zooey is the one in the relationship saying, Mind if I move in closer, while M. isn't so sure, telling her, I really can't stay. It's a fun twist on an old classic from their 2011 holiday album, "A Very She and Him Christmas".

5. "I Am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkel - I love Paul Simon, and this is one of my favorites from his pre-solo career with Art Garfunkel. It's so hauntingly, beautifully heartbreaking. A winter's day/ In a deep and dark December/ I am alone/ Gazing from my window/ To the streets below/ On a freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow/ I am a rock/ I am an island.

6. "Desperado" by The Eagles - This song talks about loneliness, but I have always found it very calming, a nice feel for a winter tune. Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?/ The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine/ It's hard to tell the night time from the day.

7. "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg - This is the other "not quite Christmas song" I was talking about. The story of two old lovers meeting up by chance on Christmas Eve night is all about nostalgia and catching up with the one that got away. It's kind of sappy and cheesy, but I don't care. There's something about this song that I absolutely love any time of the year, but especially in the winter. Just for a moment I was back at school/ And felt that old familiar pain/ And as I turned to make my way back home/ The snow turned into rain.

8. "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon and Garfunkel - I always describe this one as Paul and Art's psychadelic song, and for some strange reason, picture the Peanuts gang dancing to it with their silly dance moves. I have no idea why! These are my favorite lyrics from "A Hazy Shade of Winter": Funny how my memory skips/ Looking over manuscripts/ Of unpublished rhyme/ Drinking my vodka and lime/ I look around/ Leaves are brown/ And the sky is a hazy shade of winter. When I take up drinking (as I often say I will after having a rough day at work), I will start with vodka and lime. ;)

9. "Cover Me" by Bruce Springsteen - Every song on the "Born in the U.S.A." album will probably find it's way onto my blog at some point, and for this post, it has to be "Cover Me". Outside's the rain, the driving snow/ I can hear the wild wind blowing/ Turn out the light, bolt the door/ I ain't going out there no more. So, so good!

10. "New York's a Lonely Town" by The Trade Winds - I always thought this song was by The Beach Boys, because it has that same harmonic, 60s, mellow surfer rock sound that I grew up with. It has a similar theme to "California Dreamin'", with a boy moving from Southern California to New York where there's plenty of snow, but no surfing, and he wants to go back home. My woodie's outside/ Covered with snow/ Cold winds will blow now/ New Yorks a lonely town/ When you're the only surfer boy around.