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Cover of Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle
Cover: Thirteenth Step

Song · A Perfect Circle

“Weak and Powerless” by A Perfect Circle

From the album Thirteenth Step (2003)

“Weak and Powerless” by A Perfect Circle appears on 37 radio countdowns from 25 stations between 2003 and 2026. It was first released in 2003 on the album Thirteenth Step. Its best result is #10 on The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #9 alternative song of 2003, #4,738 alternative song of all time and #68 of the '00s.

37countdowns
25stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
2003–2026years charted

Watch

A Perfect Circle - Weak And Powerless

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

"Weak and Powerless" was the lead single from Thirteenth Step, A Perfect Circle's second album, in 2003, and it's the band's brooding art-metal pulled as tight as a tripwire. Billy Howerdel and Maynard James Keenan wrote it together; Howerdel produced it, engineered it, played the guitar and sang backing vocals, with Keenan as executive producer and Andy Wallace mixing.

Josh Freese's drums crack and roll, Jeordie White's bass hums low and menacing, and Howerdel's guitars circle in a slow, hypnotic churn until Keenan comes in with that cool, controlled voice, sounding eerily calm in the middle of the storm. It's heavy without ever shouting, which makes it all the more unsettling.

It became A Perfect Circle's highest-charting single, going all the way to number one on both Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. A remix also found its way onto the Underworld soundtrack.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 45 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2003 107
2003 19 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2003 91
2003 23 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2003 106
2003 32 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 101
2003 20 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003 100
2003 22 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2003 92
2003 17 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 30 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2003 89
2003 23 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 101
2003 28 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 42 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2003 42 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2003 107
2003 10 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003 99
2003 14 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2003 106
2003 64 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 105
2003 30 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2003 103
2003 29 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 2003 104
2003 33 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2003 196
2003 16 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 50 Songs of 2003 50
2003 31 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2003 103
2003 45 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003 100
2003 28 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2004 67 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004 106
2004 28 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2004 100
2004 25 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 77 Songs of 2004 77
2004 48 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2004 107
2004 94 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2004 99
2004 45 99X Atlanta, GA 99X Essential 99 of 2004 99
2004 54 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2004 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 1928 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1928 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1919 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 820 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 53 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the Millennium (December 2006) 107
2006 433 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2022 409 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2026 465 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Weak And Powerless; Weak & Powerless.

Charting alongside it in 2003

Best songs of 2003 →
  1. 1Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes
  2. 2Like a StoneAudioslave
  3. 3Bring Me to LifeEvanescence
  4. 4Somewhere I BelongLinkin Park
  5. 5Times Like TheseFoo Fighters
  6. 7Can't StopRed Hot Chili Peppers

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