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Cover of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco — Cover: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Song · Wilco

“Jesus Etc.” by Wilco

From the album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

“Jesus Etc.” by Wilco appears on 26 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2002 and 2026. It was first released in 2002 on the album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Its best result is #5 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #7 indie & aaa song of 2002, #23 indie & aaa song of all time and #91 of the '00s.

26countdowns

9stations

#5best position

0#1 finishes

3top 10 finishes

2002–2026years charted

Watch

Wilco - Jesus Etc 6-27-26 Solid Sound Festival, MASS MoCA North Adams, MA

Video from YouTube (sgibson818). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Jesus, Etc." turns up fifth on Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the 2002 album that had been scheduled for September 11, 2001, before the band's label cut them loose and the release was pushed back. Jeff Tweedy wrote it with Jay Bennett and handled the lyrics himself, and it's the record's gentlest heartbreaker: a lazy, sighing country-soul tune with Tweedy singing soft and close, mixed by Jim O'Rourke with a warm, slightly haunted glow.

Its title is an accident. Bennett has said it started out as "Jesus Don't Cry", but when he labeled a CD of it he got lazy and scrawled "Jesus, Etc." instead, and the name stuck. Tweedy later heard eerie echoes of 9/11 in the album and its inward look at America, and he was honored if anyone found comfort in it. Fans count this among the best songs Wilco ever made.

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

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2002	7 (tie)	93XRT Chicago, IL	WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2002	30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2004	536	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004)	885
2007	94	WTMD	WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time	897
2009	23	WYEP	WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade	913
2009	11	WYEP	WYEP 913 Essential Songs	913
2012	245	WYEP	WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown	500
2013	46	WXPN	WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013)	885
2014	225	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014)	885
2016	11	WYEP	WYEP 913 Countdown 2016	913
2018	325	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs	892
2019	84	WYEP	WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019	1017
2019	84	WYEP	WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019	1099
2020	372	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020
2022	5	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s	907
2022	247	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time	1055
2022	101	KEXP	KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)	491
2023	135	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time	909
2023	665	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023	1229
2024	284	WYEP	WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years	1049
2024	10	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century	1055
2024	20	WXPN	WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024)	885
2025	34	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century	909
2025	46	WYEP	WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far)	714
2026	234	WYEP	WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time	1180
2026	541	KXT	KXT 917 Song Countdown	917
2026	374	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound	1055

Also listed as: Jesus, etc.; Jesus Etc; Jesus, Etc.; Jesus etc.

Charting alongside it in 2002

Best songs of 2002 →

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