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

The best indie rock songs of 2019

Q: What was the top indie rock song of 2019?

Combining 10 year-end radio countdowns, the top indie rock song of 2019 is "Harmony Hall" by Vampire Weekend, which appeared on 9 of the lists.

Ten radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2019: 107.1 The Peak, 90.9 The Bridge, Exit 97.7, Lightning 100, The Current, WERS 88.9, WFUV, WRNR 103.1, WTMD and WXPN. Combining every list, the top indie rock song of 2019 is “Harmony Hall” by Vampire Weekend, which appeared on nine of the ten countdowns and was voted number one by two of them. Ten different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Ready To Let Go” by Cage The Elephant, “Harmony Hall” by Vampire Weekend, “Hard Case” by Tedeschi Trucks Band, “Tell Me When It's Over” by Sheryl Crow feat. Chris Stapleton and “History Repeats” by Brittany Howard and others. Vampire Weekend was the year’s most-charted artist, with five different songs placing 25 times across the countdowns.

10countdowns

509songs charted

10different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2019

All 509 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2019 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Harmony Hall Vampire Weekend	848	9	#1	2
2	Stay High Brittany Howard	806	10	#4	–
3	Lo/Hi The Black Keys	697	10	#2	–
4	Peach Fuzz CAAMP	649	10	#5	–
5	Saying Goodbye J.S. Ondara	620	8	#3	–
6	Seventeen Sharon Van Etten	617	9	#5	–
7	Saw Lightning Beck	605	9	#6	–
8	Sisyphus Andrew Bird	602	10	#5	–
9	Redbull and Hennessy Jenny Lewis	588	9	#11	–
10	This Life Vampire Weekend	579	7	#3	–
11	Sing Along Sturgill Simpson	577	10	#4	–
12	I Get No Joy Jade Bird	559	8	#9	–
13	Missed Connection The Head and the Heart	558	9	#2	–
14	Patience Tame Impala	533	7	#5	–
15	Ready to Let Go Cage The Elephant	533	7	#1	1
16	Dylan Thomas Better Oblivion Community Center	531	8	#9	–
17	Go The Black Keys	525	8	#9	–
18	Colors Black Pumas	505	7	#1	2
19	No Bullets Spent Spoon	499	8	#7	–
20	Doin' Time Lana Del Rey	488	8	#2	–
21	Burning Maggie Rogers	476	7	#2	–
22	Gloria Lumineers	467	7	#10	–
23	Love is Love Grace Potter	460	7	#12	–
24	When Am I Gonna Lose You Local Natives	452	7	#9	–
25	Almost (Sweet Music) Hozier	443	8	#8	–
26	Overexcited Guster	409	7	#1	1
27	Rylan The National	408	7	#11	–
28	Fighter Joseph	408	7	#21	–
29	High Steppin' Avett Brothers	391	9	#8	–
30	Hard Case Tedeschi Trucks Band	387	6	#1	1
31	Uneventful Days Beck	386	6	#14	–
32	Social Cues Cage The Elephant	380	5	#10	–
33	Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile The New Pornographers	377	6	#6	–
34	Change Mavis Staples	375	6	#1	1
35	Help Me Stranger The Raconteurs	371	7	#22	–
36	Old Black Magic Josh Ritter	371	5	#9	–
37	Love Is Everywhere (Beware) Wilco	368	6	#7	–
38	Hero Michael Kiwanuka	366	6	#11	–
39	Juice Lizzo	366	5	#1	2
40	Might Be Right White Reaper	349	6	#5	–
41	Summer Girl Haim	331	6	#14	–
42	I Was Wrong Bailen	318	6	#8	–
43	Everyone Hides Wilco	317	5	#6	–
44	Life In The City Lumineers	315	6	#5	–
45	Black Moon Rising Black Pumas	314	5	#7	–
46	Sunflower Vampire Weekend	313	6	#14	–
47	Hello Sunshine Bruce Springsteen	294	6	#7	–
48	Redesigning Women Highwomen	291	4	#17	–
49	Movement Hozier	284	6	#20	–
50	Crowded Table Highwomen	278	6	#20	–
51	Moderation Florence And The Machine	271	5	#15	–
52	Bad Case Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real	271	4	#3	–
53	Love All Night (Work All Day) Yola	268	4	#13	–
54	Bad Guy Billie Eilish	267	3	#2	–
55	Wasted Youth Jenny Lewis	266	4	#13	–
56	Alligator Of Monsters And Men	264	5	#11	–
57	Not Big Thief	263	3	#6	–
58	Exits Foals	257	6	#13	–
59	You Had Your Soul With You The National	249	5	#10	–
60	Heart Rainbow Kitten Surprise	248	4	#24	–
61	This Land Gary Clark Jr.	245	3	#3	–
62	Faraway Look Yola	243	3	#6	–
63	Love You For A Long Time Maggie Rogers	241	4	#15	–
64	Bags Clairo	240	4	#10	–
65	Complainer Cold War Kids	239	3	#7	–
66	Justice Citizen Cope	238	6	#39	–
67	Outside Of This Town Christone Kingfish Ingram	232	4	#11	–
68	Cuz I Love You Lizzo	225	3	#8	–
69	All Your'n Tyler Childers	213	4	#38	–
70	Different Kind of Love Adia Victoria	211	6	#35	–
71	Calm Down Pete Yorn	204	5	#16	–
72	Mariners Apartment Complex Lana Del Rey	204	3	#20	–
73	Get Out And Get It Devon Gilfillian	202	3	#3	–
74	Hey, Ma Bon Iver	197	3	#7	–
75	The Well Marcus King	196	5	#13	–
76	So Caught Up Teskey Brothers	190	4	#40	–
77	Now That You're Gone The Raconteurs	185	3	#26	–
78	Better Than I Used To Illiterate Light	182	4	#16	–
79	Borderline Tame Impala	181	3	#22	–
80	Come For Me Sunflower Bean	179	2	#6	–
81	Gotta Get To Know Ya Seratones	177	4	#14	–
82	Hypersonic Missles Sam Fender	177	3	#4	–
83	All Mirrors Angel Olsen	175	4	#39	–
84	Holy Roller Emily Wolfe	172	3	#2	–
85	When I'm Gone Gary Clark Jr.	170	3	#18	–
86	You Ain't The Problem Michael Kiwanuka	166	2	#3	–
87	Losing Battles Josh Ritter	163	3	#30	–
88	Turn The Light Karen O / Danger Mouse	161	2	#23	–
89	Heads Gonna Roll Jenny Lewis	158	2	#19	–
90	Highwomen Highwomen	156	2	#15	–
91	Ruby Strand Of Oaks	156	4	#30	–
92	Unchained Devon Gilfillian	156	3	#27	–
93	Orphans Coldplay	154	2	#12	–
94	Sunday Driver The Raconteurs	152	4	#40	–
95	lucy Soccer Mommy	149	4	#37	–
96	Blind Leading the Blind Mumford & Sons	147	3	#26	–
97	Tell the Truth Avett Brothers	143	3	#49	–
98	Baptise Me Robert Randolph & The Family Band	143	4	#61	–
99	Like A Force Of Nature Todd Snider	139	2	#7	–
100	Black Cadillac Mondo Cozmo	138	3	#48	–

Every station’s number one of 2019

Station	Number one song	Countdown
107.1 The Peak	Ready To Let Go Cage The Elephant	WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2019
90.9 The Bridge	Harmony Hall Vampire Weekend	90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2019
Exit 97.7	Hard Case Tedeschi Trucks Band	WEXT Top 97 of 2019
Lightning 100	Tell Me When It's Over Sheryl Crow feat. Chris Stapleton	Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2019
The Current	History Repeats Brittany Howard	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2019
WERS 88.9	Overexcited Guster	WERS Top 88 Songs of 2019
WFUV	Juice Lizzo	WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2019
WRNR 103.1	You're the 103.1 for Me Mary Prankster	WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2019
WTMD	Colors Black Pumas	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2019
WXPN	I Found Out The Head and the Heart	WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2019

All 2019 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2019 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 2019 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 ten 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.