Cover of Play by Moby
Cover: Play

Song · Moby

“Natural Blues” by Moby

From the album Play (1999)

“Natural Blues” by Moby appears on 34 radio countdowns from 20 stations between 1999 and 2023. It was first released in 1999 on the album Play. Its best result is #10 on the Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2000. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #61 alternative song of 2000 and #1,925 alternative song of all time.

34countdowns
20stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1999–2023years charted

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

Moby dug "Natural Blues" out of the archives for Play, his fifth album, in 1999. The voice at its heart belongs to Vera Hall, lifted from her 1937 recording of "Trouble So Hard", which Moby found on a box set of American folk music gathered by the field collector Alan Lomax; that's why Hall and Lomax share the writing credit with him.

He produced and engineered it himself, looping Hall's plea over and over against a slow, rolling beat until an old field recording starts to sound like a hymn for the club's last hour. Moby called it ethereal and mournful, and he's right on both counts. I Monster took a turn at the mix. In Britain it climbed to number 11, and in Iceland it went all the way to the top.

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
1999 99 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999 99
1999 49 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 107
2000 73 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2000 107
2000 66 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2000 91
2000 55 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2000 105
2000 68 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2000 101
2000 83 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2000 100
2000 90 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2000 93
2000 53 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2000 100
2000 34 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 2000 107
2000 53 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2000 99
2000 10 Virgin Radio United Kingdom Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2000 10
2000 94 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of Y2K 102
2000 48 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2000 102
2000 72 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2000 102
2000 21 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2000 30
2000 94 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2000 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Charting alongside it in 2000

Best songs of 2000 →
  1. 1JudithA Perfect Circle
  2. 2Last ResortPapa Roach
  3. 3CalifornicationRed Hot Chili Peppers
  4. 4Pardon MeIncubus
  5. 5OthersideRed Hot Chili Peppers
  6. 6Kryptonite3 Doors Down

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