Song · Spoon
“The Way We Get By” by Spoon
“The Way We Get By” by Spoon appears on 12 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2009 and 2026. Its best result is #117 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #893 indie & aaa song of all time and #358 of the '00s.
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"The Way We Get By" sits on Kill the Moonlight, Spoon's fourth album, from 2002, and it's a clinic in how little a great pop song needs. Britt Daniel wrote it during the album's sessions; the chorus came to him out of nowhere, early on, and the rest of the song grew outward from it. The band was stripping its sound to the studs at the time: one riff going round and round, lean drums, Daniel clipping his lines short. The words doff the cap to several Iggy Pop and Stooges records, a sign of Daniel's taste for 1970s punk and proto-punk.
Mike McCarthy produced it with the band, Jim Eno behind the kit. It never charted, but TV placements and later compilations kept finding it new ears, and it has become one of Spoon's most recognizable songs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 537 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 189 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2013 | 536 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2019 | 581 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2022 | 117 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2023 | 759 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2024 | 213 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 679 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 126 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 305 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 492 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
| 2026 | 512 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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