Song · David Gray
“Babylon” by David Gray
From the album White Ladder (1998)
“Babylon” by David Gray appears on 43 radio countdowns from 16 stations between 2000 and 2026. It was first released in 1998 on the album White Ladder. Its best result is #3 on the WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2000. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #107 alternative song of 2001 and #2,171 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (David Gray). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
David Gray's "Babylon", the White Ladder track that became his signature song, first went out as a single in July 1999 and then got a second push in June 2000. Gray, Clune and Iestyn Polson produced it between them, with Polson engineering, and the sound stays small and warm: Gray on guitar and piano, Clune handling both bass and drums and singing alongside him, Tim Bradshaw adding keyboards.
It's a song about a love that slips away and then comes back, and the loping rhythm and swelling chorus make the return feel earned. American radio found it too: it topped Billboard's Triple-A chart, and when that chart turned 25 in 2021, Billboard ranked it sixth among the 100 biggest songs the format had ever produced. US copies of the album also carried a remix, "Babylon II".
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2000 | 30 |
| 2000 | 25 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2000 | 102 |
| 2000 | 5 | Virgin Radio United Kingdom | Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2000 | 10 |
| 2001 | 42 | 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON | 89X Top 89 Songs of 2001 | 89 |
| 2001 | 3 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2001 | 30 |
| 2001 | 11 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2001 | 103 |
| 2001 | 58 | 99X Atlanta, GA | 99X Top 99 Songs of 2001 | 99 |
| 2001 | 64 | WHTG Monmouth-Ocean, NJ | G106.3 Top 106 Songs of 2001 | 106 |
| 2001 | 91 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2001 | 100 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Babylon" by David Gray.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.