Song · Pavement
“Spit On A Stranger” by Pavement
From the album Terror Twilight (1999)
“Spit On A Stranger” by Pavement appears on 9 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2007 and 2022. It was first released in 1999 on the album Terror Twilight. Its best result is #357 on The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,562 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (Pavement). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Spit on a Stranger" comes from Terror Twilight, the 1999 Matador album that turned out to be Pavement's last, and it went out as a single that June. Stephen Malkmus wrote it, and it finds him in a gentle mood, the slacker sneer eased into something warm and a little rueful, the guitars chiming instead of clanging.
The single carried a sleeper, too: "Harness Your Hopes", which years later, in 2017, overtook everything else in the catalog as the band's most-streamed song on Spotify. When the single came back as a reissued EP in April 2022, it was "Harness Your Hopes" that finally got a video of its own.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1118 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2007 | 475 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2008 | 1143 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1162 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1137 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1059 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1093 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1129 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2022 | 357 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
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