Song · Phoebe Bridgers
“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers
From the album Punisher (2020)
“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers appears on 20 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 2020 and 2026. It was first released in 2020 on the album Punisher. Its best result is #1 on the Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2020, and it was voted number one on two countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #392 of the '20s.
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"Kyoto" was the second single from Phoebe Bridgers' second studio album, Punisher, in 2020, and it's the moment she cranks the amps. Written with Morgan Nagler and Marshall Vore, it gets called indie rock, garage rock, grunge-rock and pop rock depending on who's listening, and it's a bit of all four: a bright, driving arrangement with Nate Walcott's horns blaring over a stack of electric guitars, Jenny Lee Lindberg on bass and Vore on drums. Bridgers produced it with Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska, and Mike Mogis mixed.
Bridgers named it for the Japanese city, writing it on her first trip there in February 2019, but it's really about her tangled relationship with her father and, in her own framing, impostor syndrome. The Line of Best Fit named it the best song of 2020, and it earned Grammy nominations for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 16 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2020 | 89 |
| 2020 | 88 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2020 | 107 |
| 2020 | 1 | Indie 102.3 Denver, CO | Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2020 | 103 |
| 2020 | 6 | 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO | 90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2020 | 90 |
| 2020 | 3 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2020 | 89 |
| 2020 | 2 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2020 | 100 |
| 2020 | 52 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2020 | 199 |
| 2020 | 1 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2020 | 90 |
| 2020 | 6 | WERS 88.9 Boston, MA | WERS Top 88 Songs of 2020 | 88 |
| 2020 | 70 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2020 | 104 |
| 2021 | 38 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2021 | 91 |
| 2021 | 27 | ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA | ALT 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2021 | 51 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1156 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
| 2022 | 297 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2023 | 56 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2024 | 268 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 438 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 120 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2025 | 286 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 366 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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