Song · John Butler Trio
“Zebra” by John Butler Trio
From the album Sunrise Over Sea (2004)
“Zebra” by John Butler Trio appears on 6 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2003 and 2026. It was first released in 2004 on the album Sunrise Over Sea. Its best result is #8 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #210 alternative song of 2003.
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"Zebra" was the John Butler Trio's opening move for Sunrise Over Sea, their third album, which arrived in 2004, and it catches the lineup of that era in full flight: Butler on 12-string guitar and lead vocal, Shannon Birchall on double bass, Nicky Bomba on drums. The riff had been rattling around Butler's head for years, but it kept slipping away whenever he actually picked up a guitar. The words grew out of scatting that riff to his baby daughter, and the push and pull of opposites in each line gave Bomba the image of a zebra unsure whether it's white with black stripes or the other way round.
Butler produced it himself, with Michael Caruana on Hammond organ and Michael Barker on congas and spoons. It went top 30 at home in Australia and in New Zealand.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 8 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 396 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2022 | 286 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2022 | 640 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2024 | 487 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2026 | 599 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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