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Cover of nimrod. by Green Day
Cover: nimrod.

Song · Green Day

“Hitchin' A Ride” by Green Day

From the album nimrod. (1997)

“Hitchin' A Ride” by Green Day appears on 42 radio countdowns from 17 stations between 1997 and 2023. It was first released in 1997 on the album nimrod.. Its best result is #25 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #26 alternative song of 1997, #1,119 alternative song of all time and #155 of the '90s.

42countdowns
17stations
#25best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1997–2023years charted

Watch

Green Day - Hitchin' A Ride (Video)

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

"Hitchin' a Ride" was the opening shot of Nimrod, Green Day's fifth album: the first single, sitting second in the track list, out in September 1997. Petra Haden's violin adds a sly, slinking color, Billie Joe Armstrong's guitar coils around a swampy, stop-start groove, and the whole band hits like a slammed door.

Armstrong wrote the words and all three members share the music credit. Rob Cavallo produced it with the band, Ken Allardyce engineered and recorded it with Tony Flores as co-engineer, and Chris Lord-Alge mixed. Mike Dirnt's bass prowls underneath and adds a second voice to Armstrong's, while Tré Cool hits hard enough to shake the dust off the rafters. It's still punk, but punk that has learned to stalk before it pounces.

It climbed to number five on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, number nine on Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 25 in the UK. It later turned up on the compilations International Superhits! in 2001 and God's Favorite Band in 2017.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 37 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1997 107
1997 30 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1997 91
1997 31 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1997 105
1997 56 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1997 101
1997 62 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997 100
1997 39 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1997 107
1997 31 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997 106
1997 93 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1997 99
1997 32 X103.9 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA X103.9 Top 103.9 Songs of 1997 104
1997 59 KNRK Portland, OR KNRK Top 94 Songs of 1997 94
1997 25 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1997 100
1997 35 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 97 Songs of 1997 97
1997 100 WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997 103
1998 96 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1998 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 216 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 200 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 898 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1929 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 350 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 1933 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1993 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1975 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 65 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2003 1897 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1897 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1884 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 338 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 197 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 332 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 367 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 324 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 440 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 329 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 116 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2010 344 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 349 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 350 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 350 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2020 346 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 322 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 328 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 335 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420

Also listed as: Hitchin' a Ride; Hichin' a Ride.

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →
  1. 1Song 2Blur
  2. 2Walkin' On The SunSmash Mouth
  3. 3TubthumpingChumbawamba
  4. 4FlySugar Ray
  5. 5The Impression That I GetThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  6. 6Semi-Charmed LifeThird Eye Blind

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