Song · Sam Roberts
“Brother Down” by Sam Roberts
From the EP The Skin, Sin, and Slander EP (2001)
“Brother Down” by Sam Roberts appears on 9 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 2003 and 2012. It was first released in 2001 on the EP The Skin, Sin, and Slander EP. Its best result is #6 on the 102.1 The Edge Top 200 New Rock Songs of the Millennium. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #456 alternative song of 2003 and #5,754 alternative song of all time.
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"Brother Down" was Sam Roberts' debut single, and the song kept growing long after he first put it on tape. It's a loose, loping rock tune with a hook that sneaks up and settles in, the kind of thing that sounds best with the windows rolled down, and Roberts liked it enough to record it again for his debut album, We Were Born in a Flame. It got a US single release in 2004.
In Canada it went to No. 2 and ranked among the 30 most-played songs on the country's radio in 2002. Between 1995 and 2016, only two songs by Canadian artists got more airplay on the nation's rock stations, and as of June 2024 it was still the song he plays live more than any other.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 58 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 | 101 |
| 2003 | 13 | The Bear Ottawa, ON | The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2003 | 107 |
| 2004 | 34 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2004 | 103 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1966 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2009 | 484 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 128 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) | 200 |
| 2010 | 6 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 New Rock Songs of the Millennium | 200 |
| 2011 | 49 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of the 2000s | 102 |
| 2012 | 71 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time | 102 |
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