[Intro — Warm Analog Synth, Clean Guitar] First morning I walked outside And didn't immediately start sweating. [Pause] Finally. [Verse 1] Open up the windows. Let the cool air wander in. Pull that old hoodie from the closet. Feels like seeing an old friend. Coffee warming up the kitchen. Golden leaves along the drive. First cold morning since the springtime. Man, it feels good to be alive. Sunlight spills across the treetops. Nothing but October blue. Summer finally packed its shit up. About damn time it followed through. [Pre-Chorus] We only get a few short weeks Before the cold rolls in. So grab your coat. We're heading out. I'm not wasting one of them. [Chorus] This is what October feels like. Cold cheeks and warm hands. Hot cider steaming in a paper cup. Pumpkins piled up on the stand. Red and gold along the roadside. Woodsmoke drifting through the night. If I could hold a season still, I'd hold this one just right. Yeah, this is what October feels like. Everything just feels alright. [Verse 2] Drive out to the pumpkin patch. Kids go running through the rows. Every pumpkin's somehow wrong Until they find the one they chose. "This one's flat." "That one's lumpy." "This one's way too fucking small." Forty minutes searching for one... They're just pumpkins after all. Take a hayride through the orchard. Get completely fucking lost. Buy some apple cider donuts. Eat 'em 'fore we reach the car. Leaves keep crunching underneath us. Cold wind turning noses red. Spend too much on porch decorations. Worth every damn cent we spent. [Chorus] This is what October feels like. Cold cheeks and warm hands. Hot cocoa underneath the changing trees. Pumpkins piled up on the stand. Red and gold along the roadside. Woodsmoke drifting through the night. If I could hold a season still, I'd hold this one just right. Yeah, this is what October feels like. Everything just feels alright. [Verse 3 — Bass and Drums Pull Back] There is just one fucking problem. And it's getting out of hand. Pumpkin spice has breached containment. It's invading every brand. Pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin cereal every year. Pumpkin candles. Pumpkin pancakes. Who the fuck asked for the beer? Then I saw pumpkin-spice potato chips Sitting proudly on display. We've crossed a line as a society. There's nothing left to say. Put that shit inside a pumpkin pie. That's where it belongs. Leave my cider out of this. You've taken this too far. [Hard Stop] Seriously. Leave the cider alone. [Synth Swell] [Bridge — Warm, Reflective] By five o'clock the sun hangs low. The backyard starts to glow. Throw another log onto the fire. Nobody wants to go. Kids are laughing in the yard. Warm cocoa fills my hands. Orange leaves come drifting down And settle where they land. Nothing big will happen here. No story we'll retell. Just one ordinary October night When everything feels well. Maybe these are all the moments We don't know we'll miss someday. So I'll sit right here beside this fire And let October stay. [Instrumental — Melodic Guitar and Analog Synth] [Final Chorus — Full, Warm] This is what October feels like. Cold cheeks and warm hands. Hot cider by a backyard fire. Pumpkins glowing where they stand. Red and gold along the roadside. Stars are coming out tonight. If I could hold a season still, I'd hold this one just right. Give me leaves and worn-out hoodies. Give me fires and autumn skies. Give me one more October evening With the people by my side. We only get a little while Before November says goodbye. So this is what October feels like. And everything feels right. [Outro — Soft Guitar, Analog Pads, Crackling Fire] Perfect weather. Good fire. Hot cocoa. [Pause] Wait. Is this pumpkin spice? [Long Pause] Who did this?
