Song · The Decemberists
“Make You Better” by The Decemberists
From the album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (2015)
“Make You Better” by The Decemberists appears on 21 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 2014 and 2026. It was first released in 2015 on the album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. Its best result is #4 on the WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2014. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #220 alternative song of 2014.
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"Make You Better" comes from What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, the Decemberists' 2015 album, and it's Colin Meloy in a plainer, more direct mood than usual. He wrote it alone and sings lead, with Rachel Flotard and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals, and the band produced it with Tucker Martine, who recorded and mixed it too. It's a warm, swelling mid-tempo rock song that builds patiently toward a big, bittersweet chorus, the harmonies thickening as it goes.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 32 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2014 | 89 |
| 2014 | 30 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2014 | 103 |
| 2014 | 30 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2014 | 104 |
| 2014 | 50 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2014 | 89 |
| 2014 | 4 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2014 | 107 |
| 2014 | 62 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Year in Review: Top 200 Songs of 2014 | 200 |
| 2015 | 16 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2015 | 125 |
| 2015 | 19 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2015 | 89 |
| 2015 | 21 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2015 | 90 |
| 2015 | 15 | 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN | WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2015 | 50 |
| 2015 | 53 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 100 Songs of 2015 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 128 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2019 | 331 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 331 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2022 | 1223 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
| 2022 | 881 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2024 | 858 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2024 | 332 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 814 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 427 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2026 | 487 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
Also listed as: Make you Better.
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