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Cover of Bricks Are Heavy by L7
Cover: Bricks Are Heavy

Song · L7

“Pretend We're Dead” by L7

From the album Bricks Are Heavy (1992)

“Pretend We're Dead” by L7 appears on 33 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 1992 and 2025. It was first released in 1992 on the album Bricks Are Heavy. Its best result is #15 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #17 alternative song of 1992, #1,267 alternative song of all time and #361 of the '90s.

33countdowns
13stations
#15best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1992–2025years charted

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Pretend We're Dead

Video from YouTube (L7 - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Pretend We're Dead" led off Bricks Are Heavy, L7's third album, on Slash in 1992, and it's the sound of the band finding a hook sharp enough to smuggle their snarl onto the radio. Donita Sparks wrote it, and Butch Vig produced it alongside the band, giving the guitars a thick, sludgy heft while the chorus sticks like tar.

It became a modest international hit, hanging around Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks for 20 weeks and peaking at number eight, and reaching 21 in the UK. Making the video was no picnic: a crane malfunction left Suzi Gardner hurt, and meddling producers leaned hard on Sparks's ideas, a saga later told in Sarah Price's 2016 documentary, which borrowed the song's title.

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
1992 15 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 107
1992 16 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 91
1992 45 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992 105
1992 15 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 101
1992 35 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 257 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 361 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 413 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 315 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 437 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 275 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 506 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 1038 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 243 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
2000 216 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2001 219 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2002 172 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 591 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 232 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2004 194 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 438 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2005 247 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 791 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 315 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 374 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2020 401 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 319 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 345 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 319 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 369 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 735 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 344 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2025 359 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500

Also listed as: Pretend that We're Dead; Pretend That We're Dead; Pretend Were Dead.

Charting alongside it in 1992

Best songs of 1992 →
  1. 1Friday I'm in LoveThe Cure
  2. 2Under the BridgeRed Hot Chili Peppers
  3. 3DriveR.E.M.
  4. 4OneU2
  5. 5JeremyPearl Jam
  6. 6TomorrowMorrissey

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