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Song · 10,000 Maniacs

“Because The Night” by 10,000 Maniacs

Released 1993

“Because The Night” by 10,000 Maniacs appears on 22 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1993 and 2024. It was first released in 1993. Its best result is #28 on The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #156 alternative song of 1993 and #1,206 alternative song of all time.

22countdowns
8stations
#28best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1993–2024years charted

Watch

10,000 Maniacs - Because the Night (Vinyl Visualizer)

Video from YouTube (Mixtape '90s). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

10,000 Maniacs recorded "Because the Night" live and acoustic for MTV Unplugged in 1993, and it caught fire. Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith wrote the song, and Smith's band took it onto their 1978 album Easter, but the Maniacs' unplugged version climbed to number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, higher than any other version in the US had gone.

They trade the original's snarl for a quick acoustic strum and a warm, steady vocal, which turns the song into something closer to a campfire sing-along. It also became the band's highest-charting single in the US and Canada.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1993 64 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1993 107
1993 90 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 393 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 810 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 370 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 496 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 344 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 1627 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1625 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1642 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1681 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1749 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1804 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1866 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 681 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2024 28 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs 850

Also listed as: Because the Night.

Charting alongside it in 1993

Best songs of 1993 →
  1. 1CannonballThe Breeders
  2. 2CreepRadiohead
  3. 3LingerThe Cranberries
  4. 4PlushStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5No RainBlind Melon
  6. 6Soul to SqueezeRed Hot Chili Peppers

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