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Cover of Contra by Vampire Weekend
Cover: Contra

Song · Vampire Weekend

“Giving Up The Gun” by Vampire Weekend

From the album Contra (2010)

“Giving Up The Gun” by Vampire Weekend appears on 28 radio countdowns from 22 stations between 2010 and 2025. It was first released in 2010 on the album Contra. Its best result is #15 on the WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2010. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #52 alternative song of 2010, #2,983 alternative song of all time and #191 of the '10s.

28countdowns
22stations
#15best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
2010–2025years charted

Watch

Vampire Weekend - 'Giving Up The Gun' (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (XL Recordings). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Giving Up the Gun" was the second single from Contra, Vampire Weekend's second album, from 2010, and it has an unlikely pedigree: Ezra Koenig first performed it with L'Homme Run, a comic rap duo he was part of, and took the idea from Noel Perrin's 1979 book of the same name, a gift from his father. It even samples Radiohead's "Let Down".

Rostam produced it, played guitar and mixed it with Justin Gerrish, and the song races along on a pounding beat, with guest cellists Hamilton Berry and Seth Rosenfeld sawing underneath. The Malloys' video stages an indoor tennis tournament refereed by RZA, where a young player battles past Joe Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal, meets herself in the final and needs a word from her coach, Lil Jon.

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
2010 19 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 19 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 33 89.9 WLCA St. Louis, MO WLCA Top 89 of 2010 89
2010 44 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010 94
2010 72 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2010 88
2010 15 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2010 104
2010 64 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010 94
2010 21 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2010 89
2010 69 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2010 107
2010 34 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2010 100
2010 24 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2010 103
2010 23 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 2010 25
2010 47 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2010 90
2010 23 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2010 91
2010 52 Exit 97.7 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY WEXT Top 97 of 2010 97
2010 55 Channel 92.3 San Jose / San Francisco Bay Area, CA Channel 92.3 Top 92 Songs of 2010 92
2010 82 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2010 91
2010 88 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2010 99
2010 55 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010 100
2010 60 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95 Songs of 2010 95

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 1703 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 664 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 677 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 552 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 305 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 535 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 277 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2024 239 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2025 702 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909

Also listed as: Giving Up the Gun; Giving up the Gun.

Charting alongside it in 2010

Best songs of 2010 →
  1. 1Little Lion ManMumford & Sons
  2. 2Tighten UpThe Black Keys
  3. 3RadioactiveKings of Leon
  4. 4The High RoadBroken Bells
  5. 5AnimalNeon Trees
  6. 6Lay Me DownDirty Heads

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