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Cover of The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies
Cover: The Trinity Session

Song · Cowboy Junkies

“Sweet Jane” by Cowboy Junkies

From the album The Trinity Session (1988)

“Sweet Jane” by Cowboy Junkies appears on 57 radio countdowns from 21 stations between 1991 and 2026. It was first released in 1988 on the album The Trinity Session. Its best result is #4 on The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #53 alternative song of 1994, #321 alternative song of all time and #430 of the '90s.

57countdowns
21stations
#4best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1991–2026years charted

Watch

Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane (Official Remastered HD Video)

Video from YouTube (CowboyJunkiesVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Cowboy Junkies took Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane", the Velvet Underground song from Loaded, and put it on The Trinity Session in 1988 at a crawl. The strut of the original is gone; in its place is a slow, dreamy hush, a song drifting through a late-night room.

Margo Timmins sings it barely above a whisper, and her calm, smoky voice turns a rock and roll anthem into something close to a lullaby. Peter Moore produced, and the arrangement leaves plenty of air around her, letting every note hang.

It's a lesson in how to cover a classic: don't compete with it, find a different room inside it. Alternative radio found that room too, and the Junkies' version has held its own place on the countdowns for years.

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
1994 38 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994 107
1994 71 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1994 91
1994 24 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994 106
1994 65 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994 101
1994 76 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 94 Songs of 1994 94

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1991 966 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1995 26 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 17 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 255 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 51 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 177 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 184 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 200 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 65 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 280 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 148 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 660 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 484 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 1368 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2001 197 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 582 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 358 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 370 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 413 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 611 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 51 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 70s & 80s 96
2006 437 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 187 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 356 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 227 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 448 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 232 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 440 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 403 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 451 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 76 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 447 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 445 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 452 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 450 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 744 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2019 233 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 233 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2020 701 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 135 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 753 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2022 1206 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 603
2023 295 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2024 306 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 4 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs 850
2026 441 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound 1055

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →
  1. 1Black Hole SunSoundgarden
  2. 2CloserNine Inch Nails
  3. 3Self-EsteemThe Offspring
  4. 4Interstate Love SongStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5Come Out and PlayThe Offspring
  6. 6Basket CaseGreen Day

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