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Song · The Breeders

“Divine Hammer” by The Breeders

From the album Last Splash (1993)

“Divine Hammer” by The Breeders appears on 23 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1994 and 2023. It was first released in 1993 on the album Last Splash. Its best result is #81 on the Radio & Records Top 94 Songs of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #259 alternative song of 1994 and #895 alternative song of all time.

23countdowns

7stations

#81best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1994–2023years charted

Watch

The Breeders - Divine Hammer (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (4AD). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Divine Hammer" was the second single from Last Splash, the Breeders' second album, released on 4AD and Elektra in October 1993. Kim Deal wrote it and co-produced it with Mark Freegard, and it's a bright, buzzing little rush, Kim and Kelley Deal's guitars chugging and chiming over Josephine Wiggs' bass and Jim MacPherson's drums, the Deal sisters' voices sweet and a touch sardonic.

Under the sugar is something sour. Kim has called it a song about existential angst: searching all your life for a divinity everybody promised you was out there, and suspecting there's nothing there at all. She traced it back to the Sunday school of her childhood and the anger of having believed everything she was told.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#646 of the '90s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1994	81	Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart)	Radio & Records Top 94 Songs of 1994	94

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1994	288	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)	500
1996	308	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)	498
1999	409	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)	500
1999	444	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	445	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	447	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	447	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	1342	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	447	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	447	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	450	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2006	327	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)	499
2007	1107	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1089	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1090	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1129	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1080	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1067	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1046	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	885	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s	908
2022	401	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s	900
2023	668	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s	893

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →

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