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Cover of Dirt by Alice In Chains
Cover: Dirt

Song · Alice In Chains

“Would?” by Alice In Chains

From the album Dirt (1992)

“Would?” by Alice In Chains appears on 120 radio countdowns from 42 stations between 1992 and 2026. It was first released in 1992 on the album Dirt. Its best result is #5 on the 103.3 The Edge Top 103 New Rock Songs of the Millennium. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #31 alternative song of 1992, #93 alternative song of all time and #215 of the '90s.

120countdowns
42stations
#5best position
0#1 finishes
4top 10 finishes
1992–2026years charted

Watch

Alice In Chains - Would? (Official HD Video)

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

"Would?" comes from Dirt, Alice in Chains' second album, released in September 1992, but listeners met it first that summer on the soundtrack to the film Singles, in which the band turn up in a cameo; Columbia sent it to US radio in June. Jerry Cantrell wrote it for his friend Andrew Wood, the Mother Love Bone singer who died in 1990, and it's a eulogy with its fists up.

Cantrell takes the verses and Layne Staley the chorus, and that handoff is the whole drama: Cantrell low and wary, Staley a howl that seems to come up through the floorboards. Mike Starr's bass stalks the song like something circling in the dark, Sean Kinney's drums land like slammed doors, and Cantrell's guitar grinds away underneath. Rick Parashar produced it with the band, and recorded and mixed it too.

It has had a long afterlife. The band reworked it acoustically for MTV Unplugged in 1996, VH1 named it the 88th best hard rock song of all time in 2009, and a decade later a trailer for the second season of The Punisher sent it back onto Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart at number 15.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1992 20 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 107
1992 13 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 91
1992 51 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992 105
1992 20 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 101
1993 51 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 100
1997 6 WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997 103

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 97 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 398 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 415 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1994 308 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 80 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1995 105 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1995 197 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 133 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 395 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1996 309 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1998 198 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 134 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 141 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 37 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 83 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 305 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 44 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 304 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 628 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 196 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 317 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2000 54 The Edge KEDJ Countdown 2000 (106 songs) 106
2000 5 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 103
2001 317 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 81 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 8 WFNX WFNX Top 50 Grunge Songs of All-Time (June 2002) 50
2002 129 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 73 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 94 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 60 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 91
2003 131 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 87 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 149 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 259 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 49 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 49 WBCN WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004) 104
2005 70 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 90s 96
2005 261 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 13 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 37 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the '90s (December 2006) 107
2006 289 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 278 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 145 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 311 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 227 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 285 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 75 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 62 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 287 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 135 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 184 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2010 288 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 491 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2011 291 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 47 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time 102
2013 302 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 116 KBPI KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time 200
2013 824 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 302 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 317 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 21 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2014 533 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 18 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2015 473 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 832 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 140 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 348 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2019 1088 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 20 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 409 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 189 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 305 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2020 311 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 526 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 321 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 218 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 197 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 107 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 151 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 164 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2021 122 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2022 47 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 415 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 186 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 423 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 222 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 384 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 166 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 594 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 120 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 174 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 296 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 450 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 10 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 423 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 468 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 139 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2024 467 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 79 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 251 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 374 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 141 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 214 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 31 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2025 284 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2026 190 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 475 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 131 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500
2026 406 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Would.

Charting alongside it in 1992

Best songs of 1992 →
  1. 1Friday I'm in LoveThe Cure
  2. 2Under the BridgeRed Hot Chili Peppers
  3. 3DriveR.E.M.
  4. 4OneU2
  5. 5JeremyPearl Jam
  6. 6TomorrowMorrissey

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