21 Top Songs About November
November is a month that sparks quite a few opinions. For some, it only heralds winter and the coming cold and seasonal depression. For others, it brings the holiday season, love, and company.
If you are looking for a song with November in the title, check out this list!
Contents
1. “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses
Song year: 1991
We all knew this one would come first. “November Rain” is the best song about November musically and lyrically. It’s also one of the top songs about rain ever.
As Guns N' Roses only ballad, this song is based on Axl Rose's troubled relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Erin Everly.
The lyrics perfectly and universally illustrate a relationship strained by time, distance, and exhaustion. The song's metaphor illustrates an almost hopeless feeling of time passing and the temporal nature of all we experience. But that feeling is balanced by the uplifting, evocative music.
2. “Gone Till November” by Wyclef Jean
Song year: 1997
Like “November Rain,” Wyclef's “Gone Till November” handles a relationship, but its narrator is far different.
The storyteller in “Gone Till November” is fed up with too much work for too little money and decides to leave his home until November to pursue a more lucrative venture: drug dealing.
As he pushes drugs and makes more money with his girlfriend in mind, he watches with hope as November gets closer and remembers his girlfriend. This song makes the list because of its singer's interesting voice and interesting social commentary.
3. “November Has Come” by Gorillaz
Song year: 2005
One of the many great songs on Gorillaz's Demon Days, “November Has Come” makes our list for its rich use of metaphor and wordplay.
The song features MF Doom commenting on the state of contemporary music. He expresses his sadness at the disappearance of hip-hop in the vein of “A Tribe Called Quest” and “Run DMC.”
With such a disappearance occurring, the song analogizes the state of music to the months of the year, expressing that if November has come, the end is around the corner.
4. “Mr. November” by the National
Song year: 2005
Fans of the National typically agree that “Mr. November” is one of their favorite songs from the band. Its elliptical lyrics, sparkling guitars, and anthemic chorus probably help.
The verse lyrics are the story of a political candidate telling someone how nervous he is before he is about to speak to a crowd.
He is not sure what to do to fight his nerves until he reminds himself he is “Mr. November” – a nickname for favorites in the American presidential race.
5. “November” by Tom Waits
Song year: 1993
In his usual bizarre fashion, Tom Waits explores metaphors for helplessness and defeat in “November.” Winter has begun and there is no light for our narrator, who finds himself defeated by the season and unable to move past the hopelessness present in it.
He uses an image of being tied to a tree as he calls for warmer months to rescue him from the season. But he finds no one can help him – so he ends up becoming enraged with the November itself in the final lyrics.
6. “November Blue” by the Avett Brothers
Song year: 2002
Many of the songs that crack into this list are country songs, and this lovely, iconic tune by the Avett Brothers is the first to do so. Rather than spell the apocalypse like the Gorillaz's song, or evoke seasonal depression like the Tom Waits song, this song reminds us of November's changes.
The instruments are relaxed and easy to listen to but the lyrics almost contradict them. These melancholy, poetic words evoke the changing color of the leaves, and how time, life, and people all move between states at a pace we can hardly comprehend.
7. “November” by Sleeping Sirens
Song year: 2015
Where the previous songs may be more melancholy, this song about November is wonderfully hopeful. Sleeping with Sirens frontman Kellen Quinn wrote “November” about his previous life living in Oregon.
Rather than see any change in weather, temperature, or life between seasons, everything stays monotonous.
So, in the rest of the lyrics, Kellen decides to break away from a repeating cycle, face his fears, and leave the place that seems to be suffocating him. His decision to face his fear ultimately gave us this band and this song.
8. “November” by Gabrielle Aplin
Song year: 2012
As many songs on this list do, Gabrielle Aplin evokes the changing weather of November to get her message across in this song. Rather than long for a lost lover or a troubled relationship at a crossroads, her narrator reminisces about a breakup. She used to love the month and the fall.
Both sadden her deeply now. The rain that comes down in the month reminds her of an awful broken relationship she is still getting over.
As she continues through the story of this breakup, it becomes clear she will never forgive her past lover for whatever low point he sank to, as she may never get over it.
9. “November Spawned Monster” by Morrissey
Song year: 1990
The infamous Morrissey handles a sensitive subject with grace in “November Spawned A Monster.” His lyrics describe a disabled child and explore the attitudes espoused by people who supposedly sympathize with disabled people.
In the first part of the song, he makes references to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in describing this child, especially in using the title lyric.
Toward the song's end, he begins to describe how this child will have a blessing that the rest of us don't: their focus will ultimately be on being happy and being kind rather than on riches or possessions.
10. “November 18th” by Drake
Song year: 2009
This song from Drake's very early career describes the turning point that would start it all. He finds himself in Houston, trying to put his life together, and enjoying the pleasures of the flesh after leaving his girlfriend.
As he recklessly stumbles through the day in the lyrics, he pays tribute to Houston's rap scene and several people he interacted with before his career launched from there.
11. “Fall Into November” by Folk Implosion
Song year: 1997
Folk Implosion also explores the transitions between seasons in “Fall Into November,” one of their more bizarre songs. The lyrics start by describing the moat surrounding a castle before describing sudden movements between summer, winter, spring, and fall.
The song's message becomes clear at the end: embrace life and enjoy all the year offers you.