Year-end consensus · Indie & Adult Alternative · one countdowns combined

The best indie rock songs of 2009

Q: What was the top indie rock song of 2009?

Combining 1 year-end radio countdowns, the top indie rock song of 2009 is "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, which appeared on 1 of the lists.

One radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2009: The Current. Combining every list, the top indie rock song of 2009 is “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, which appeared on one of the one countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Phoenix was the year’s most-charted artist, with two different songs placing 2 times across the countdowns.

1countdowns

89songs charted

1different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2009

Ranked by combined points across every 2009 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Home Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros	100	1	#1	1
2	My Girls Animal Collective	99	1	#2	–
3	I and Love and You Avett Brothers	98	1	#3	–
4	1901 Phoenix	97	1	#4	–
5	Two Weeks Grizzly Bear	96	1	#5	–
6	The Field Mason Jennings	94	1	#6	–
7	Dominos Big Pink	93	1	#7	–
8	The Rake's Song The Decemberists	92	1	#8	–
9	Lisztomania Phoenix	91	1	#9	–
10	Help, Im Alive Metric	90	1	#10	–
11	Fresh Air Brother Ali	89	1	#11	–
12	Crystalised The xx	88	1	#12	–
13	Love Vigilantes Iron and Wine	87	1	#13	–
14	Heads Will Roll Yeah Yeah Yeahs	85	1	#14	–
15	The Tornado Loves You Neko Case	84	1	#15	–
16	Stillness Is The Move Dirty Projectors	83	1	#16	–
17	While You Wait for the Others Grizzly Bear	82	1	#17	–
18	Summertime Clothes Animal Collective	81	1	#18	–
19	Horchata Vampire Weekend	80	1	#19	–
20	Aint no Rest for the Wicked Cage The Elephant	79	1	#20	–
21	I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked Ida Maria	78	1	#21	–
22	Get Over It Solid Gold	76	1	#22	–
23	Don't Haunt This Place The Rural Alberta Advantage	75	1	#23	–
24	French Navy Camera Obscura	74	1	#24	–
25	Zero Yeah Yeah Yeahs	73	1	#25	–
26	Gimme Sympathy Metric	72	1	#26	–
27	The Reeling Passion Pit	71	1	#27	–
28	Fitz and the Dizzy Spells Andrew Bird	70	1	#28	–
29	I'll Fight Wilco	69	1	#29	–
30	Tenuousness Andrew Bird	67	1	#30	–
31	Heavy cross The Gossip	66	1	#31	–
32	Strange Overtones David Byrne and Brian Eno	65	1	#32	–
33	I Cut Like A Buffalo The Dead Weather	64	1	#33	–
34	Fresh Blood The Eels	63	1	#34	–
35	40 Day Dream Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros	62	1	#35	–
36	The Fear Lily Allen	61	1	#36	–
37	Little Secrets Passion Pit	60	1	#37	–
38	Never Had Nobody Like You M. Ward	58	1	#38	–
39	(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To Weezer	57	1	#39	–
40	Drumming Song Florence And The Machine	56	1	#40	–
41	Daniel Bat For Lashes	55	1	#41	–
42	Optimist (We Are Not For Them) P. O. S.	54	1	#42	–
43	Pull My Heart Away Jack Penate	53	1	#43	–
44	Us Brother Ali	52	1	#44	–
45	Percussion Gun White Rabbits	51	1	#45	–
46	The Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone) The Decemberists	49	1	#46	–
47	People Got A Lotta Nerve Neko Case	48	1	#47	–
48	Prizefighter The Eels	47	1	#48	–
49	Uprising Muse	46	1	#49	–
50	Bruises Chairlift	45	1	#50	–
51	Geraldine Glasvegas	44	1	#51	–
52	Meet Me On The Equinox Death Cab for Cutie	43	1	#52	–
53	No You Girls Franz Ferdinand	42	1	#53	–
54	Laughing With Regina Spektor	40	1	#54	–
55	Walking On A Dream Empire of the Sun	39	1	#55	–
56	Dreams Brandi Carlile	38	1	#56	–
57	The '59 Sound The Gaslight Anthem	37	1	#57	–
58	These Are My Twisted Words Radiohead	36	1	#58	–
59	Relator Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson	35	1	#59	–
60	Ambling Alp Yeasayer	34	1	#60	–
61	Crying lightning Arctic Monkeys	33	1	#61	–
62	Hell Tegan and Sara	31	1	#62	–
63	Tightrope Yeasayer	30	1	#63	–
64	Death By Diamonds and Pearls Band Of Skulls	29	1	#64	–
65	Velvet Big Pink	28	1	#65	–
66	Hang You From The Heavens The Dead Weather	27	1	#66	–
67	Just Breathe Pearl Jam	26	1	#67	–
68	When We Swam Thao W/The Get Down Stay Down	25	1	#68	–
69	The Fixer Pearl Jam	24	1	#69	–
70	Never Forget You The Noisettes	22	1	#70	–
71	Kick Drum Heart Avett Brothers	21	1	#71	–
72	Not Fair Lily Allen	20	1	#72	–
73	Ain't No Friend Of Mine Mason Jennings	19	1	#73	–
74	Wilco (The Song) Wilco	18	1	#74	–
75	Hurt Feelings Flight of the Conchords	17	1	#75	–
76	The Calculation Regina Spektor	16	1	#76	–
77	My Love The Bird And The Bee	15	1	#77	–
78	Love Long Distance The Gossip	13	1	#78	–
79	Bible Thumper Solid Gold	12	1	#79	–
80	You and I Wilco	11	1	#80	–
81	Heartbroken In Disrepair Dan Auerbach	10	1	#81	–
82	Savion Glover P. O. S.	9	1	#82	–
83	Panic Switch Silversun Pickups	8	1	#83	–
84	Oh No Andrew Bird	7	1	#84	–
85	Laundry Room Avett Brothers	6	1	#85	–
86	First Train Home Imogen Heap	4	1	#86	–
87	Beach Baby Bon Iver	3	1	#87	–
88	Daylight Matt And Kim	2	1	#88	–
89	Sweet Disposition The Temper Trap	1	1	#89	–

Every station’s number one of 2009

Station	Number one song	Countdown
The Current	Sweet Disposition The Temper Trap	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2009

All 2009 countdowns in this ranking

The Current The Current Top 89 Songs of 2009 89 songs

About the 2009 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 2009 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all one qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the indie & aaa results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.