Song · Beck
“Saw Lightning” by Beck
Released 2019
“Saw Lightning” by Beck appears on 13 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 2019 and 2026. It was first released in 2019. Its best result is #3 on the WBER Listener Countdown 2020. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #61 alternative song of 2019.
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"Saw Lightning" was the first single from Hyperspace, Beck's 14th studio album, released in 2019, and it closes a loop 20 years in the making. Back when he was making Midnite Vultures, Beck said, Pharrell Williams' production duo the Neptunes had just broken through, and he promised himself his next record would be with them. It took a while.
Beck and Pharrell wrote and produced it together. Pharrell plays drums and keyboards and adds vocals, while Beck handles piano, slide guitar and harmonica, and the result is a scrapyard of blues and hip-hop with rapped vocals and a wailing harp. Rolling Stone heard the jangly acoustic side of his folkier records crossed with the programmed dance beats of Colors, and it makes a sharp swerve away from that album's glossy pop.
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 | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 61 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2019 | 91 |
| 2019 | 43 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2019 | 89 |
| 2019 | 21 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2019 | 104 |
| 2019 | 36 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2019 | 90 |
| 2019 | 29 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2019 | 89 |
| 2019 | 28 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2019 | 107 |
| 2019 | 27 | 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO | 90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2019 | 90 |
| 2019 | 64 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2019 | 100 |
| 2019 | 72 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2019 | 200 |
| 2019 | 14 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2019 | 103 |
| 2019 | 6 | WERS 88.9 Boston, MA | WERS Top 88 Songs of 2019 | 88 |
| 2020 | 3 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2020 | 64 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 332 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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