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Cover of Star by Belly
Cover: Star

Song · Belly

“Feed The Tree” by Belly

From the album Star (1993)

“Feed The Tree” by Belly appears on 49 radio countdowns from 20 stations between 1993 and 2025. It was first released in 1993 on the album Star. Its best result is #19 on the Live 105 Top 105 Songs of 1993. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #15 alternative song of 1993, #499 alternative song of all time and #371 of the '90s.

49countdowns
20stations
#19best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1993–2025years charted

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Belly - Feed The Tree (Video)

Video from YouTube (Warner Records Vault). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Feed the Tree" was the first single from Belly's 1993 debut album Star, and it remains the band's biggest hit. Tanya Donelly wrote it, sings it and plays guitar alongside Thomas Gorman, with Fred Abong on bass and Chris Gorman on drums and percussion. Gil Norton produced, with Tracy Chisholm engineering.

On the surface it's all sunshine: chiming guitars, a lilting, sing-song melody and Donelly's sweet, slightly wobbly voice floating along like she's humming on a porch swing. But something darker is buried in the soil. Donelly has described the song as a metaphor about commitment and respect, and the tree of the title marks a spot on a sprawling farm where a family lays its dead to rest. That undertow is what keeps the song from being merely pretty.

It went all the way to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks.

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 30 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1993 107
1993 25 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1993 91
1993 19 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105 Songs of 1993 105
1993 24 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 101
1993 25 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 448 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 82 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 152 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1996 380 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 112 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 373 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 395 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 76 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 900 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 168 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 1407 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 236 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 1407 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 237 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 1410 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 276 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 216 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 1408 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 376 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 212 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 1394 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1394 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 230 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 1393 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 685 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 381 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 275 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 315 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 726 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 698 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 684 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 701 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 724 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 746 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 763 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 548 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2021 85 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2022 99 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 375 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 1073 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 603
2022 788 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 70 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2025 151 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500
2025 163 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800

Also listed as: Feed the Tree.

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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