Song · Lyle Lovett
“If I Had a Boat” by Lyle Lovett
From the album Pontiac (1987)
“If I Had a Boat” by Lyle Lovett appears on 17 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1987 on the album Pontiac. Its best result is #70 on The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #218 indie & aaa song of all time and #393 of the '80s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (lylelovettdotcom). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"If I Had a Boat" is pure Lyle Lovett, words and music by the man himself, and it comes from Pontiac, his second studio album. That record has only grown in stature. It reached number 12 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and number 33 on the Village Voice's list of the top albums of 1988, the German edition of Rolling Stone ranked it 201st among its 500 best albums in 2004, and the Italian magazines Il Mucchio Selvaggio and Velvet counted it among the top 100 albums of the '80s.
Looking back in 2023, Pitchfork's Nadine Smith heard a terrific showcase for his subversive, idiosyncratic take on country, with songwriting that lands somewhere between magical realism and creative nonfiction.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 473 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 683 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2009 | 137 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2009 | 124 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 661 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2012 | 285 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2016 | 192 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2018 | 734 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 443 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 443 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2020 | 648 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 396 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2022 | 70 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2023 | 485 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
| 2024 | 628 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2026 | 256 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
| 2026 | 271 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: If I Had A Boat.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "If I Had a Boat" by Lyle Lovett.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.