Fall Playlist

Each fall, I notice a shift in the music I want to listen to. Instead of light and fun, I want songs that feel like the chill in the air and also like the sweaters I pull on in the mornings. Cool and cozy. For me, that’s the sound of fall. With exactly this vibe in mind, I put together an Exhale fall playlist (with a good amount of help from Amy Grass and Rachel Nevergall who have much cooler taste in music than me). I hope you enjoy it!

Bonus: What’s a playlist for a group of your writing pals without a list of corresponding writing prompts? So, here are 20 writing prompts to go along with each song:

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey // I love pumpkin scones and cozy sweaters as much as the next person, but I can’t be the only one here feeling sad to leave another summer in the rear view, can I? Take this opportunity to write about the feelings of moving past something. What is behind you now? And, more importantly, how do you feel about it?

All Too Well by Taylor Swift // I have always loved this T. Swift song because of the details she chooses to include. “I remember it all too well,” she sings about scarves, glances at a stop light, photo albums, and refrigerator lights. Each detail is so ordinary, and that’s one of the superpowers of this song. Choose a room in your house. Look around. What physical things make you feel something fierce? What memories fill your mind? Turn all these details into a scene or a poem.

We’re Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes // Write about a past friend. Maybe your friendship has lasted into adulthood or maybe you lost touch when she moved to Kansas City in third grade. What lasting imprint did this person leave on you? 

Autumn Leaves by Ed Sheeran // Put on your enneagram 5 monocle and do some research about autumn leaves. (Here are two of my favorite leaf-related words to get you started: chlorophyll and abscission.) Does your research spark any new insight? Don’t force anything, but do any metaphors arise in your real life as you think about the trees shedding their leaves?

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson // Everyone is waiting for something—whether big or small in scale. What are you waiting for? How are you handling the wait?

Autumn by Ben Rector // Rector sings about perspective in this song. What’s a situation in your life in which you have the benefit of hindsight—in which you can see how a difficult season brought forth something good? As you write about it, honor the hard and the joy.

To Begin Again by Ingid Michaelson and Zayn // These two lines from this song really get me: “But then the sun came right back / And the kids played as if nothing had happened.” (They remind me of my favorite Michelle Windsor poem.) Think of a time your children were oblivious to something difficult or painful in your life. Does that change the way you think about it? How would they tell that story?

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac // Think about an area of growth in your own life. Have you become bolder somehow? Better able to handle something difficult? Have you embraced change in a way you once couldn’t? 

Keep Driving by Harry Styles // Take note of the details on one of your daily drives. What do you see out the window? What do you hear from within your car? What have you come to expect each time you hit this familiar path? 

I Love You by Billie Eilish // In this song, Billie sings, “I love you and I don't want to.” What’s something that’s true about you but you wish it wasn’t? How does this impact you daily? How has this quality changed throughout the years?

Graceland Too by Phoebe Bridgers // “She could do anything she wants to / She could do whatever she wants to do / She could go home, but she's not going to.” If you could do or go anywhere, what would you choose? What does that path look like?

When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek // I love the metaphors of this song: I’ll be your solid ground. Your memory’s the sunshine every new day brings. What metaphor would you use to describe someone you love? 

Minnesota, WI by Bon Iver // The phrase “never gonna break” repeats throughout this song. What is something in your life that could break you but won’t? Consider your own resiliency. What have you stood strong in the face of?

Whirlwind by Bre Kennedy // I love this line: “You'd think I would have learned that by now.” What is something you’re surprised to still be learning? What lesson is recurrent in your life and why do you think that is?

Ships in the Harbor by Tommy Prine // “It takes time to know when you're wrong / It takes even longer to put it all in a song.” Think about a time you were wrong. Like, unequivocally wrong. How did you handle it? How have you changed? And, what will you do, going forward, with all that situation taught you?

Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves // Pay attention to the light in your home during the golden hour. Where does the light stretch through your house? What does it illuminate? How does it dance and move? Follow it with your camera; collect a story of images.

Mama Werewolf by Brandi Carlisle // Finish the sentence for yourself: Your mama is a __________. How would you describe yourself?

Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová // I love this song because it immediately transports me back to college and Helen Hampson’s couch where I watched this movie for the first time. Think of a movie or a song or a television show that takes you back to a vivid memory in time. What does that moment mean to you? Why has it stayed with you all this time?

Marjorie by Taylor Swift // How would you rewrite Taylor’s lyrics for your kids? Never be so __________ that you forget to be __________. Can you turn that simple sentence into something more?

Bittersweet by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors // “It's bittersweet. / Every curtain falls eventually.” Write about a facade. What is something in your life that appears one way but is, in reality, something entirely different? Why does the facade exist and would it be better to tear it down?