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Cover of Cage the Elephant by Cage The Elephant
Cover: Cage the Elephant

Song · Cage The Elephant

“Back Against the Wall” by Cage The Elephant

From the album Cage the Elephant (2008)

“Back Against the Wall” by Cage The Elephant appears on 45 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 2009 and 2015. It was first released in 2008 on the album Cage the Elephant. Its best result is #2 on the 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2010. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #31 alternative song of 2009, #3,863 alternative song of all time, #284 of the '00s and #113 of the '10s.

45countdowns
28stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
2009–2015years charted

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Back Against the Wall

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

Cage the Elephant's "Back Against the Wall" came off the band's self-titled 2008 debut, and by the time it went out as the album's fourth single they had re-recorded it from scratch. The payoff came in March 2010, when it topped Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, the band's first number one there.

It's a scrappy, sweaty rocker, all swagger and grime, and Robin Murray of Clash magazine summed it up as a noisy blast of dirty rock 'n' roll. The five members share the songwriting credit. The UK single, out in February 2009, padded the B-sides with covers of MGMT's "Kids", cut for Radio 1's Live Lounge, and Pavement's "False Skorpion", a telling pair of picks for a band this scruffy.

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
2009 31 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2009 91
2009 26 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2009 101
2009 96 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2009 101
2009 76 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2009 89
2009 52 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2009 101
2009 102 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge The Top 102 of 2009 102
2009 57 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2009 99
2009 74 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2009 88
2009 48 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 of 2009 94
2009 52 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2009 94
2009 57 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2009 103
2009 41 X103.9 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA X103.9 Top Songs of 2009 103
2009 19 KFMA Tucson, AZ KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2009 50
2009 23 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2009 51
2009 30 96X Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA 96X Top 30 of 2009 30
2009 35 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2009 105
2009 17 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2009 103
2009 31 WVBR Ithaca, NY WVBR Top 93 of 2009 92
2009 60 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2009 90
2009 54 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2009 103
2009 30 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2009 99
2009 44 FM 102/1 Milwaukee, WI FM 102/1 Top 50 of 2009 50
2009 25 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2009 96
2010 67 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2010 91
2010 26 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 47 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 39 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2010 89
2010 40 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 11 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2010 102
2010 34 FM 102/1 Milwaukee, WI FM 102/1 Top 50 of 2010 50
2010 15 94.3 WCYY Portland, ME WCYY Top 50 of 2010 50
2010 2 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2010 94
2010 45 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2010 103
2010 30 89.7 The River Omaha, NE / Council Bluffs, IA 89.7 The River Top 89 of 2010 89
2010 31 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2010 105
2010 104 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2010 107
2010 17 Channel 92.3 San Jose / San Francisco Bay Area, CA Channel 92.3 Top 92 Songs of 2010 92
2011 37 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2011 94
2011 44 X107.5 Las Vegas, NV X107.5 Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 1963 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1506 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1364 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1227 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 435 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 468 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500

Also listed as: Back Against The Wall.

Charting alongside it in 2009

Best songs of 2009 →
  1. 1Use SomebodyKings of Leon
  2. 2UprisingMuse
  3. 3Panic SwitchSilversun Pickups
  4. 4Aint no Rest for the WickedCage The Elephant
  5. 5(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You ToWeezer
  6. 6The FixerPearl Jam

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