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Cover of Wincing the Night Away by The Shins
Cover: Wincing the Night Away

Song · The Shins

“Australia” by The Shins

From the album Wincing the Night Away (2007)

“Australia” by The Shins appears on 24 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2007 and 2025. It was first released in 2007 on the album Wincing the Night Away. Its best result is #8 on the WEQX Top 102.7 of 2007. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #79 alternative song of 2007 and #2,696 alternative song of all time.

24countdowns
9stations
#8best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
2007–2025years charted

Watch

The Shins - Australia [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Video from YouTube (Sub Pop). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Australia" is the second track on Wincing the Night Away, the Shins' third album, and it went out as the record's second single in the UK on 9 April 2007. It's a bright, galloping strum of a song, all bounce on the surface and cryptic underneath, with Phil Ek on hand for additional production.

Don't go looking for kangaroos: the words never mention Australia once, and listeners have argued about what they do mean ever since. The song has had a long second life in video games, riding the soundtrack of Project Gotham Racing 4 and turning up as downloadable content for Rock Band, first through the Rock Band Network and in 2018 for Rock Band 4.

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#StationCountdownof
2007 95 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2007 100
2007 31 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 2007 107
2007 18 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2007 101
2007 8 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2007 103
2007 32 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2007 100
2007 64 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2007 1558 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1296 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 714 WYEP WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade 913
2009 1274 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 816 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 1312 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1074 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 966 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 395 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 868 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 803 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2020 1433 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2022 868 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s 907
2023 179 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places 800
2024 641 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 541 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 440 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 342 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714

Charting alongside it in 2007

Best songs of 2007 →
  1. 1Icky ThumpThe White Stripes
  2. 2DashboardModest Mouse
  3. 3The PretenderFoo Fighters
  4. 4Lazy EyeSilversun Pickups
  5. 5Read My MindThe Killers
  6. 6TarantulaThe Smashing Pumpkins

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