Song · Wilco
“What Light” by Wilco
From the album Sky Blue Sky (2007)
“What Light” by Wilco appears on 7 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2007 and 2025. It was first released in 2007 on the album Sky Blue Sky. Its best result is #30 on the WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2007. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #30 indie & aaa song of 2007, #2,705 indie & aaa song of all time and #377 of the '00s.
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Wilco handed "What Light" out for free before Sky Blue Sky arrived in 2007: while the band streamed their sixth album in full on their website, this song went out as a download that cost nothing. Jeff Tweedy wrote it alone, sings it and plays 12-string guitar, and the credits read like a roll call of the new lineup, since Sky Blue Sky was the band's first studio record with Nels Cline and Pat Sansone.
Cline brings lap steel and electric guitar, Sansone plays piano and sings backing vocals with bassist John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche covers drums and percussion, Mikael Jorgensen adds Hammond organ, and Jim O’Rourke plays acoustic guitar. T.J. Doherty recorded it, Jim Scott mixed it, and Nonesuch put out the album.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 30 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2007 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 775 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 537 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2012 | 289 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2013 | 771 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2022 | 576 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2025 | 402 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
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