Winter In LA

Album: For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women) (2025)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Winter in LA" is Japanese Breakfast's shimmering postcard from the wrong side of paradise. Written by frontwoman Michelle Zauner during a December 2024 recording stint in Los Angeles, the track contrasts golden-hour sunsets with the gray churn of inner turmoil. As Zauner told Paper magazine, "I was watching people eat Thanksgiving dinner outside, which was so surreal. I have a really bad relationship with the city. I get severely depressed."
  • While most of LA was busy basking in vitamin D and wellness smoothies, Zauner was quietly unraveling, trying to square the disconnect between her surroundings and her own melancholic state. The song captures that internal contradiction.

    I wish you had a happier woman
    One that could leave the house


    Zauner, ever the anti-angelino, told Mojo magazine: "I'm very not an LA kind of person. I always get depressed when I'm there. I get really confused when I feel gloomy and it's so nice out. I was thinking about all these amazing musicians - Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan - who have had these really fruitful LA years. I was like, what is wrong with me? Why do I have to suffer through everything?"
  • "Winter in LA" was the final track recorded for Japanese Breakfast's fourth album, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). The album, co-produced with Blake Mills (Sky Ferreira, Fiona Apple), explores what Zauner calls "anticipatory grief" - that low-grade dread humming beneath even life's most beautiful moments.
  • The video, co-directed by Zauner and Peter Ash Lee and shot in South Korea, gives visual form to the song's emotional dissonance. It centers on a bride unraveling during her own wedding.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jon Anderson of Yes

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.

Shaun Morgan of Seether

Shaun Morgan of SeetherSongwriter Interviews

Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.

Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues

Justin Hayward of The Moody BluesSongwriter Interviews

Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.