Song · Citizen King
“Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)” by Citizen King
From the album Mobile Estates (1999)
“Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)” by Citizen King appears on 24 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 1999 and 2023. It was first released in 1999 on the album Mobile Estates. Its best result is #11 on the Radio & Records Top 104 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #44 alternative song of 1999, #2,244 alternative song of all time and #328 of the '90s.
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"Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)" sits second on Mobile Estates, Citizen King's 1999 second album for Warner Bros., and it reached rock radio that January before getting a proper commercial release later in the year as the band's first single. Dave Cooley and Matthew Sims wrote it, and bassist Mount Sims has explained that it looks back on where the band stood three years before it broke: him stuck working at a general store, aching for a life with nothing in it but music.
It rides a loose, loping groove with a chorus that sticks like gum to a sneaker. It climbed to 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 20 in Canada, and nothing else they put out came close, which left Citizen King filed under one-hit wonders.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 66 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1999 | 107 |
| 1999 | 30 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1999 | 91 |
| 1999 | 88 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1999 | 106 |
| 1999 | 61 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1999 | 101 |
| 1999 | 27 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1999 | 100 |
| 1999 | 98 | WFNX Boston, MA | WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999 | 99 |
| 1999 | 32 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 | 107 |
| 1999 | 24 | 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON | 89X Top 89 Songs of 1999 | 89 |
| 1999 | 83 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 1999 | 103 |
| 1999 | 11 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 104 Songs of 1999 | 104 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 448 | WHFS | WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) | 500 |
| 1999 | 783 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2007 | 871 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 926 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 951 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 980 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1012 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1070 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1124 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2020 | 418 | 105.9 The X | 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) | 420 |
| 2021 | 413 | 105.9 The X | 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) | 420 |
| 2022 | 180 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2022 | 416 | 105.9 The X | 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) | 420 |
| 2023 | 414 | 105.9 The X | 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) | 420 |
Also listed as: Better Days.
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