I’ve started a few posts, but most of them ended up as rants against placing blame on the true causes of Hurricane Katrina, or banal discussions about this one episode of MTV’s ‘My Super Sweet 16’ that ended with the line ‘try and beat that party, bitches.’

Actually, maybe I will post on ‘My Super Sweet 16.’

But there is one thing for sure: It’s (close enough to) the fall season. And for some reason, songs you hear in the autumn stay with you, as opposed to saccharine summer tracks that you claim ‘this is my jam’ for about two weeks, then forget ever existed. Fall is a season for open windows, for eating pumpkin pie, for wearing jeans and sweaters. Without further adieu, the Official Fall 2005 Playlist:

Andrew Bird, ‘A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left.’ I still haven’t heard the rest of his new album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs. I’m guessing it’s as good as this, though, since Bird rarely fails to deliver haunting melodies, with plucked violin, bowed violin and guitars layers building before breaking into a two-person vocal harmony. And when was the last time you heard the word ‘bereft’ in a pop song?

Beck, ‘Black Tambourine.’ I’m slowly coming to appreciate Guero more and more. I take a track at a time, listen to it for a week or so, chew on the fatty parts and move on. ‘Black Tambourine’ is simply the latest in a line of standout Beck tracks. It’s got a great bassline, dig?

Common, ‘Testify.’ I’m still trying to figure out if the ‘before you lock my love away’ hook is a sample or not. Either way, the only thing that brings this track down is when the female vocals compete with Common’s flow. He’s a better MC than Kanye. Get over it.

Elysian Fields, ‘Black Acres.’ From the album Queen of the Meadow, this song entered permanent fall rotation last year. Slow. Somber. Sexy. Jennifer Charles, possibly the breathiest voice in pop music, sings ‘it’s so refined, this little death,’ referring to the French ‘le petit mort.’ Figure out that Victorian reference on your own.

Euphoria, ‘Delirum’ (Fila Brazilia mix). I found this one on Fila Brazilia’s Brazilificaion: Remixes 95-99 disc, and my first impulse was that I should have been listening to it in some dark lounge, drinking a Manhattan. And I like that feeling, so on the playlist it goes.

Franz Ferdinand, ‘Do You Want To.’ Sure, it’s not even yet released, but dammit, Franz has me hooked on hipster dance rock. True story: A friend came back from a Franz show, and was floored by the number of scenster hipsters that were actually moving - they’re just that damn catchy.

Handsome Boy Modeling School feat. Roisin and J-Live, ‘The Truth.’ Funkiest. Beat. Ever. J-Live’s a little weak, but he does work in a rhyme for ‘ceteris parabus,’ so he’s forgiven.

Jethro Tull, ‘Sossity; You’re a Woman,’ or ‘Acres Wild’ or … pretty much any song. Jethro Tull is the reason fall is so great. Jethro Tull is fall music. Stop listening to Aqualung and experience one of the other 20 or so albums.

Matthew Sweet, ‘Ugly Truth Rock.’ Much like Beck, I discover Matthew Sweet songs one at a time, despite owning both Girlfriend and Altered Beast. The latter has recently delivered ‘Ugly Truth Rock,’ which was recommended with the footnote of ‘one of my favorite cruising songs while the leaves are turning … I can smell the piles of leaves burning in my hometown,’ by Dave.

Red Snapper, ‘Keeping Pigs Together.’ It’s pretty much your favorite spy movie, only set to better music. This isn’t the hayride sort of fall soundtrack, this is more the driving-at-sunset-with-the-windows-open fall soundtrack.

Van Morrison, ‘Days Like This.’ As it was explained to me, this is the all-purpose fall song. And that’s right: No matter your affect at any given time, from despondent to content, this song fits. The only other track I can think of right now that fits that criterion is Otis Redding’s ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,’ which is obviously a summer song. So Van Morrison it is.

Wilco, ‘Theologians.’ The thing about Jeff Tweedy songs is that I understand them. Or so I say. Then I get to lyrics like ‘I’m all emotion / I’m a cherry ghost’ and I think, ‘no, I don’t understand this.’ But I still get it, at least.