Top 100 Indie Songs of All Time

[ggw]

After a challenge from a reader (thanks Tacos) and few weeks of deliberation, we have finally arrived at our top 100 indie songs of all time. We ranked in chronological order because ranking best to worst would have involved a group of people hurting one another.
 
 To the best of our knowledge, all the songs below were originally released on an indie label. We tried to limit each artist to one song for variety. Obviously certain bellwether bands had two songs included because we just couldn�??t decide.
 
 There are some songs you expect to see and some you don�??t. Most people haven�??t heard of Golden Bear, but we can�??t stop listening to it. Hopefully in a 10 years it won�??t seem as out of place on the same list as Pavement.
 
 We had input from many people and would like to offer thanks to Moish, Drinking Buddy, Nick, Pete, Kevin, Doctor A and Jim for their suggestions. I�??m sure we still missed several great tracks and will hear about it shortly.
 
 1. Live Wire �?? Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love �?? Leathur Records �?? 1981
 2. Lake of Fire �?? Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II - SST �?? 1983
 3. Sitting Still �?? REM - Murmur �?? I.R.S. Records �?? 1983
 4. Spirit Walker �?? The Cult - Dreamtime �?? Beggars Banquet - 1984
 5. I Will Dare �?? The Replacements - Let It Be �?? Restless Records - 1984
 6. Corona �?? The Minutemen - Double Nickles On The Dime �?? SST �?? 1984
 7. I Apologize �?? Husker Du - New Day Rising �?? SST - 1985
 8. Just Like Honey �?? The Jesus and Mary Chain �?? Pyschocandy �?? Blanco y Negro �?? 1985
 9. Monkey Gone To Heaven �?? Pixies - Doolittle �?? 4ad - 1988
 10. Touch Me I�??m Sick �?? Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles �?? Sub Pop - 1988
 11. All Your Lies �?? Soundgarden - Ultramega OK �?? SST �?? 1988
 12. Teenage Riot �?? Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation �?? SST �?? 1988
 13. Freak Scene �?? Dinsosaur Jr. - Bug �?? SST �?? 1988
 14. Express Yourself �?? N.W.A. �?? Straight Outta Compton �?? Rutless Records - 1988
 15. I Wanna Be Adored �?? The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses �?? Silvertone - 1989
 16. About A Girl �?? Nirvana - Bleach �?? SubPop �?? 1989
 17. Where Is My Mind �?? Pixies - SurferRosa �?? 4ad - 1989
 18. Waiting Room �?? Fugazi - 13 Songs �?? Dischord �?? 1989
 19. Whiskey Bottle - Uncle Tupelo �?? No Depression �?? Rockville Records - 1990
 20. Did I Tell You �?? Yo La Tengo - Fakebook �?? Bar None - 1990
 21. Slack Motherfucker �?? Superchunk �?? Superchunk �?? Merge Records �?? 1990
 22. Everything Flows �?? Teenage Fanclub �?? A Catholic Education �?? Matador �?? 1990
 23. Mouth Breather �?? The Jesus Lizard �?? Goat �?? Touch and Go �?? 1991
 24. Summer Babe (Winter Version) �?? Pavement �?? Slanted & Enchanted �?? Matador Records - 1992
 25. Sodajerk �?? Buffalo Tom �?? Big Red Letter Day �?? Beggars Banquet - 1993
 26. I Am A Scientist �?? Guided By Voices �?? Bee Thousand �?? Scat Records - 1994
 27. Skull �?? Sebadoah �?? Bakesale �?? Sub Pop �?? 1994
 28. Cut Your Hair �?? Pavement �?? Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain �?? Matador Records -1994
 29. I�??ll Be Coming Around �?? The Bottle Rockets �?? The Brooklyn Side �?? East Side Digital - 1994
 30. Drank Like A River - Whiskeytown �?? Faithless Street �?? Mood Food �?? 1995
 31. Have You Forgotten �?? Red House Painters �?? Songs for a Blue Guitar - Supreme Recordings �?? 1996
 32. The Distance �?? Cake �?? Fashion Nugget �?? Capricorn Records - 1996
 33. Chan Chan �?? Buena Vista Social Club �?? Buena Vista Social Club �?? Nonesuch Records - 1997
 34. Victoria �?? Old 97�??s �?? Wreck Your Life - Bloodshot Records - 1997
 35. Me and The Major �?? Belle And Sebastian �?? If You�??re Feeling Sinister �?? Matador �?? 1997
 36. Between The Bars �?? Elliott Smith �?? Either/Or �?? Kill Rock Stars �?? 1997
 37. Holland 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea �?? Merge Records �?? 1998
 38. Score From Augusta �?? Beulah �?? When Your Heartstrings Break �?? Sugar Free Records -1999
 39. Ohio �?? Damien Jurado �?? Rehearsals For Departure �?? Sub Pop �?? 1999
 40. To Be Young �?? Ryan Adams �?? Heartbreaker �?? Bloodshot Records �?? 2000
 41. Later Days �?? The Mother Hips �?? Later Days �?? Mother Hips Records - 2000
 42. You�??re No Rock n�?? Roll Fun - Sleater-Kinney �?? All Hands On The Bad One �?? Kill Rock Stars - 2000
 43. Lines in the Suit �?? Spoon �?? Girls Can Tell �?? Merge �?? 2000
 44. Lowdown �?? My Morning Jacket �?? At Dawn �?? Darla Records �?? 2001
 45. New Slang �?? The Shins �?? Oh Inverted World �?? SubPop �?? 2001
 46. Blacking Out The Friction �?? Death Cab For Cutie �?? The Photo Album �?? Barsuk Records - 2001
 47. Let There Be Rock �?? Drive-By Truckers �?? Southern Rock Opera �?? New West Records �?? 2001
 48. Castanets �?? Alejandro Escovedo �?? A Man Under The Influence �?? Blooshot Records �?? 2001
 49. Feed Kill Chain �?? Jay Farrar �?? Sebastopol �?? Artemis - 2001
 50. Yardwork In November �?? The Actual Tigers �?? Gravelled & Green �?? Nettwerk �?? 2001
 51. Jesus, etc. �?? Wilco �?? Yankee Hotel Foxtrot �?? Nonesuch Records - 2002
 52. Fell In Love With A Girl �?? The White Stripes �?? White Blood Cells �?? V2 - 2002
 53. Talk To Me Dance With Me �?? Hot Hot Heat �?? Make Up The Breakdown �?? Sub Pop �?? 2002
 54. Start The Party �?? The Dirtbombs �?? Dangerous Magical Noise �?? In The Red Records - 2003
 55. Outfit �?? Drive-By Truckers �?? Decoration Day �?? New West Records �?? 2003
 56. Quattro (World Drifts In) �?? Calexico - Feast of Wire �?? Quarterstick Records - 2003
 57. Stupid �?? The Long Winters �?? When I Pretend To Fall �?? Barsuk Records - 2003
 58. Set You Free �?? The Black Keys - Thickfreakness �?? Fat Possum - 2003
 59. Flashes & Cables �?? Centro-Matic �?? Love You Just The Same �?? Misra - 2003
 60. Ha Ha �?? Mates of State �?? Team Boo �?? Polyvinyl Records �?? 2003
 61. Free �?? Cat Power �?? You Are Free �?? Matador - 2003
 62. Save It For A Rainy Day �?? The Jayhawks �?? Rainy Day Music �?? Lost Highway �?? 2003
 63. Counting Down The Hours �?? Ted Leo & The Pharmacists �?? Shake the Streets �?? Lookout �?? 2004
 64. Me & Jiggs �?? Josh Ritter �?? The Golden Age of Radio �?? Signature Sounds - 2004
 65. Neighborhood #3 �?? Arcade Fire �?? Funeral �?? Merge - 2004
 66. How Junior Got His Head Pin Out �?? Mofro �?? Blackwater �?? Swampland - 2004
 67. Evil �?? Interpol �?? Antics �?? Matador Records �?? 2004
 68. Each Coming Night �?? Iron & Wine �?? Our Endless Numbered Days �?? Sub Pop - 2004
 69. Nights Like These �?? Lucero �?? Tennessee �?? Madjack Records - 2004
 70. Runnin �?? Heartless Bastards �?? Stairs and Elevators �?? Fat Possum - 2004
 71. 99 Problems �?? DJ Danger Mouse �?? The Grey Album �?? Shaolin Records - 2004
 72. We Are Nowhere And Its Now �?? Bright Eyes �?? I�??m Wide Awake Its Morning�?? Saddle Creek - 2005
 73. Druganaut �?? Black Mountain �?? Druganaut - Jagjaguwar- 2005
 74. He Lays In The Reins �?? Calexico/Iron & Wine �?? In The Reins �?? Overcoat Recordings - 2005
 75. The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth �?? Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! �?? Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - 2005
 76. The Engine Driver �?? The Decemberists �?? Picaresque �?? Kill Rock Stars - 2005
 77. Stevie Nix �?? The Hold Steady �?? Separation Sunday �?? French Kiss Records - 2005
 78. The Dark Don�??t Hide It �?? Magnolia Electric Co. �?? Secretly Canadian �?? 2005
 79. Halloween �?? matt pond PA �?? Several Arrows Later �?? Polyvinyl - 2005
 80. Secret Meeting �?? The National �?? Alligator �?? Beggars Banquet - 2005
 81. The Bleeding Heart Show �?? New Pornogrpahers �?? Twin Cinema �?? Matador - 2005
 82. For Real �?? Okkervil River �?? Black Sheep Boy �?? Jagjaguwar �?? 2005
 83. Lion�??s Teeth �?? The Mountain Goats �?? The Sunset Tree - 2005
 84. Come On! Feel The Illinoise! �?? Sufjan Stevens �?? Come on Feel the Illinoise �?? Asthmatic Kitty - 2005
 85. Hell is Chrome �?? Wilco �?? A Ghost Is Born �?? Nonesuch Records - 2005
 86. The Denial Twist �?? The White Stripes �?? Get Behind Me Satan �?? V2 - 2005
 87. Love In Fear �?? The Constantines �?? Tournament of Hearts �?? Sub Pop - 2005
 88. Helicopter �?? Bloc Party �?? Silent Alarm �?? Vice Recordings - 2005
 89. Cherry Cola �?? Eagles of Death Metal �?? Death By Sexy �?? Downtown - 2006
 90. Hold On, Hold On �?? Neko Case �?? Fox Confessor Brings The Flood �?? Anti, Inc. -2006
 91. Wolf Like Me �?? TV On The Radio �?? Return To Cookie Mountain �?? Touch and Go �?? 2006
 92. Returning To The Fold �?? The Thermals �?? The Body, The Blood, The Machine �?? Sub Pop - 2006
 93. In and Out of Love �?? Trainwreck Riders �?? Lonely Road Revival �?? Alive Records - 2006
 94. Roscoe �?? Midlake �?? The Trials of Van Occupanther �?? Bella Union - 2006
 95. Chinese Translation �?? M. Ward �?? Post-War �?? Merge - 2006
 96. Ten Thousand Orchestras �?? Golden Bear �?? Golden Bear �?? C-Side Records �?? 2006
 97. The Funeral �?? Band Of Horses �?? Everything All The Time-SubPop �?? 2006
 98. Cursed Sleep �?? Bonnie �??Prince�?� Billy �?? Drag City - 2006
 99. Anthem For The Already Defeated �?? Rock Plaza Central �?? Are We Not Horses �?? Yep Roc �?? 2007
 100. Mistreating Queen - Radio Moscow �?? Radio Moscow �?? Alive Records �?? 2007
 
 
 http://www.hearya.com/2007/02/14/top-100-indie-songs-of-all-time/

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

I think I own 28 of them.

[distance]

i own 5.
 
 over 1/3 of that list is from 2004,2005, or 2006.

[kosmo vinyl]

Cool list as there are  some great songs on it... I created a lala station for the 80 songs in their catalog on this list  which can be streamed here

[taperkat]

If you were 20 years old and only listened to the radio, this might be an accurate list. Good attempt, though.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

V2 was an indie label?

[ChampionshipVinyl]

I think I own at least 1/3 of these

[Mobius]

V2, of course, is not indie, but in their defense White Blood Cells was originally released by the very indie Sympathy For The Music Industry label in 2001 - then after it started getting popular V2 signed TWS for $2 million and released WBC in 2002.
 
 This is a fine list if they just called it "100 Cool Indie Songs."  Obviously making 1/2 of the songs from the past five years cripples any crediblity of the list as "all-time".

[kosmo vinyl]

well and Sonic Youth isn't really indie as they only released one on SST, same goes for TVOTR...
 
 and a bunch of the "indie" labels are actually offshots of majors,  whatever it's still a cool list of songs...

[_adam]

CTRL + F
 "Archers of Loaf" not found
 
 laaame

[JohnnyBaconbitz]

Nonesuch ain't no indie, either...unless Time Warner is now considered indie.

[Driveway]

There are definitely some money tracks on that list.  Stupid by the Long Winters is such a great song.  That whole album rocks.

[thirsty moore]

SST, Blast First, Homestead, Neutral etc.  Their first major was Goo on DGC.  That was in 1990.  They had been around for at least 8 years by then.
 
   

Originally posted by kosmo:
  well and Sonic Youth isn't really indie as they only released one on SST, same goes for TVOTR...
 

[beetsnotbeats]

Originally posted by JohnnyBaconbitz:
  Nonesuch ain't no indie, either...unless Time Warner is now considered indie.

Considering how they operate, Nonesuch is more indie than many so-called indie labels.

[TheREALHunter]

No Slayer "Black Magic"?
 and "Express Yourself" by NWA? Talk about a rap song custom made for dorky white college kids to enjoy haha
 They need to unbutton their goddamn cardigans and do some revisions IMO.