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!
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeAP1KyPDzM
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.
12. “November Tale” by the Waterboys
Song year: 2015
The particularly poetic Mike Scott tells a tale of a couple grown apart after the changes in their personalities, interests, and beliefs over the years. The speaker meets a woman he used to know in his youth who has become religious since he last saw her.
As they converse, she tries to convince our narrator that the solution to his everlasting grief is in God, not in escaping the place he used to live. Eventually, they come to a compromise and agree that they’re both right in a way.
The song then ends with a final chorus referencing the days of their youth when they met at a carnival dressed as a harlequin and a clown.
13. “November” by Emerson Drive
Song year: 2004
Emerson Drive’s “November” is the next country song on this list. This hopeful tune sees the narrator remembering a November when he began a relationship with the “one who got away” and from whom he went his separate ways for reasons he does not understand.
So, whenever November comes around, he remembers her and the happy times they had with each other. Naturally, these thoughts lead him to wonder why they split up as he uses the image of a dark December to evoke dread in the listener.
14. “Rose Hip November” by Vashti Bunyan
Song year: 1970
Vashti Bunyan reminds us of the hope, light, and warmth of summer in this song about November. Her lyrics in the laid-back 1970 song conjure images of untamed, wild, beautiful pastureland in the heart of England.
She describes fog hanging over castle moats, hills, and snow coming down over the rolling landscape. As winter approaches, she nonetheless notices “rose hips” on the ground, the berries left behind by fertile roses, and remembers that spring will eventually return.
15. “November was White, December was Grey” by Say Hi
Song year: 2009
Say Hi operates in a similar vein to Vashti Bunyan with this piece. Starting strong with the image of a fire crackling in the cold, frozen wilderness, Say Hi then describes the restless feeling of this song’s narrator.
They cannot sleep in the winter, trudging through the white days of November and the darkened days of December. While they wait for spring, they pace through the house, hoping for a sign of life to finally come. When it does, winter will leave, and they can sleep at last.
16. “November Skies” by Tomas Barfod feat. Nina Kinert
Song year: 2012
This song, which features Swedish vocalist Nina Kanert, starts gloomily but slowly moves into hope. At the song’s start, the narrator lives a life devoid of light, hungry for hope and happiness.
That is until the chorus reveals they can now see the world for what it is: a beautiful, colorful place, no matter the season.
Toward the end they wonder if what she sees is an illusion but conclude that question doesn’t matter; all that matters is they have become a better, happier version of themselves.
17. “Sweet November” by SZA
Song year: 2021
SZA wrote this 2014 song about a near-death experience she had one year. She starts the song strongly with a poetic first verse full of images that show death beckoning and God hinting at her time coming.
The verse reflects what she was experiencing at the time: a serious illness that left her questioning if she would live.
When she moves into the chorus, she begs her family to remember her as someone strong and kind, not someone physically ill and wondering what was to come.
18. “November Song” by Yerin Baek
Song year: 2016
25-year-old Yerin Baek brings her vocal talents to this lovely, jazzy song about falling in love in November. The narrator describes enjoying the little things in a relationship that reflect its actual nature, such as candid photos, quiet moments, or enjoying music together.
To the narrator, these moments make clear there is no need to look elsewhere; this couple is meant to be together forever.
19. “November” by Azure Ray
Song year: 2002
At first glance, Azure Ray’s “November” seems to handle seasonal depression once again, but a closer look reveals a much sadder meaning: the narrator has lost someone, and November reminds them of the loss.
They are waiting for longer days, not because they’re warmer, but because they remove the narrator from the constant reminder that someone is no longer in their life.
But they also know that being so far removed from their pain will only solve things for a time because it will return every November.
20. “November” by PatrickReza
Song year: 2019
There must be some magic in November that either ends relationships or starts them, as this is the umpteenth song about a relationship that begins in November, using the word “remember” as the rhyming couplet to the name of the name.
While the upbeat electronic music is perhaps more the draw with this PatrickReza song, its lyrics are nonetheless interesting.
They describe someone meeting their lover on a strange occasion: getting out of a car that drops them off, before it sets on fire, which prompts the narrator to talk to the object of his affection.
21. “Late November” by Sandy Denny
Song year: 1970
Luckily our last song about November is devoid of cliches and produced by the talented Sandy Denny. However, that does not mean the lyrics are readily understandable.
This series of images seem to describe a journey undertaken in late November or a dream that brings the narrator a sudden clarity.
But do not let the dense lyrics scare you off. Denny’s voice ably carries these bizarre words over calm, folky instrumentation, similar to many of the songs that use piano music, perfect to listen to in late November itself.
Best Songs About November, Final Thoughts
Whether it’s a Guns N’ Roses song or one by SZA, we hope you enjoyed this list of songs about November!
They span from rap, to rock, to folk music and all capture the many images, feelings, and temperatures we associate with this month.