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Cover of Back from Earth by AWOLNATION
Cover: Back from Earth

Song · AWOLNATION

“Sail” by AWOLNATION

From the EP Back from Earth (2010)

“Sail” by AWOLNATION appears on 52 radio countdowns from 31 stations between 2010 and 2026. It was first released in 2010 on the EP Back from Earth. Its best result is #1 on the 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2011, and it was voted number one on three countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #4 alternative song of 2011, #1,184 alternative song of all time and #2 of the '10s.

52countdowns
31stations
#1best position
3#1 finishes
23top 10 finishes
2010–2026years charted

Watch

Sail

Video from YouTube (AWOLNATION - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Sail" first surfaced on Back from Earth, AWOLNATION's 2010 debut EP on Red Bull Records, before finding a second home on the full-length Megalithic Symphony in 2011. Aaron Bruno wrote and produced it himself in Venice, Los Angeles, with Kenny Carkeet engineering, and it's a strange, brooding thing for a hit: a slow, grinding electro-rock pulse, with Bruno's voice climbing from a weary murmur to a full-throated howl.

It was also the slowest of slow burns. The song crept onto the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011, dropped off, then came back a year later and kept going to No. 17, the first song to reach its peak after a full year on that chart. It lingered for 79 weeks in all, and by May 2024 it had racked up more than 810 million streams on Spotify.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 69 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010 94
2011 27 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2011 30
2011 41 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011 91
2011 15 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 101
2011 9 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2011 89
2011 8 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 2 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 5 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2011 99
2011 18 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2011 105
2011 6 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 1 Rock 93.5 Columbia, SC Rock 93.5 WARQ Top 93 of 2011 92
2011 6 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011 103
2011 7 94.3 WCYY Portland, ME WCYY Top 50 Songs of 2011 50
2011 1 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2011 94
2011 4 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 94
2011 6 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2011 90
2011 1 KFMA Tucson, AZ KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2011 50
2011 19 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2011 49
2011 15 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2011 94
2011 2 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2011 98
2011 2 89.7 The River Omaha, NE / Council Bluffs, IA 89.7 The River Top 89 of 2011 89
2011 7 X107.5 Las Vegas, NV X107.5 Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011 50
2011 14 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2011 51
2011 19 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2011 92
2011 26 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2011 96
2012 15 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 50 Songs of 2012 50
2012 27 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2012 51
2012 12 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 Songs of 2012 97
2013 6 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 50 Songs of 2013 50
2013 77 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2013 91
2013 12 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top Songs of 2013 20
2013 15 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2013 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 1047 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 654 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 582 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 156 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 97 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 2 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103.3 Songs of the Decade 103
2019 6 93X 93X Top 93 Songs of the Decade (2010s) 93
2019 2 102.7 WEQX WEQX Top 102.7 of the 2010's Decade 103
2019 12 ALT 98.7 ALT 98.7 Top 98 ALT Songs of the Decade 98
2019 78 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 3 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of Last Decade (2010s) 107
2020 32 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 of the 2010s 102
2020 2 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of the Decade 99
2020 24 X96 X96's Top 100 Songs of the Last Decade 100
2021 69 107.7 The End The End Obligatory Top 100 Alternative Songs of All Time (2021) 100
2022 8 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 148 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 121 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2025 343 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 4 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 2011

Best songs of 2011 →
  1. 1Pumped up KicksFoster The People
  2. 2RopeFoo Fighters
  3. 3The Adventures of Rain Dance MaggieRed Hot Chili Peppers
  4. 4WalkFoo Fighters
  5. 5You are a TouristDeath Cab for Cutie
  6. 6Rolling in the DeepAdele

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