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

The best indie rock songs of 2020

Q: What was the top indie rock song of 2020?

Combining 2 year-end radio countdowns, the top indie rock song of 2020 is "Kyoto" by Phoebe Bridgers, which appeared on 2 of the lists.

Two radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2020: The Current and WFUV. Combining every list, the top indie rock song of 2020 is “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, which appeared on two of the two countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Two different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Guess Again” by Jeff Tweedy and “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers. Fiona Apple was the year’s most-charted artist, with four different songs placing 7 times across the countdowns.

2countdowns

140songs charted

2different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2020

All 140 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2020 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Kyoto Phoebe Bridgers	198	2	#1	1
2	Under the Table Fiona Apple	187	2	#6	–
3	And It's Still Alright Nathaniel Rateliff	187	2	#6	–
4	Turntables Janelle Monae	184	2	#2	–
5	Shameika Fiona Apple	180	2	#4	–
6	Lilacs Waxahatchee	173	2	#10	–
7	Dreamsicle Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit	171	2	#13	–
8	Private Lives Low Cut Connie	166	2	#15	–
9	Bad Decisions The Strokes	162	2	#13	–
10	The Steps Haim	158	2	#4	–
11	Hard On Everyone Kathleen Edwards	154	2	#9	–
12	Ferris Wheel Sylvan Esso	148	2	#22	–
13	Can I Believe You Fleet Foxes	147	2	#20	–
14	Can't Do Much Waxahatchee	146	2	#22	–
15	Options Open Kathleen Edwards	145	2	#3	–
16	Lost In Yesterday Tame Impala	137	2	#25	–
17	Texas Sun Khruangbin & Leon Bridges	130	2	#10	–
18	Revolution Heartless Bastards	126	2	#26	–
19	Be Afraid Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit	125	2	#32	–
20	anything Adrianne Lenker	117	2	#30	–
21	I'm Ready Black Pumas	117	2	#18	–
22	Five More Minutes The War and Treaty	114	2	#37	–
23	People I've Been Sad Christine and the Queens	109	2	#5	–
24	circle the drain Soccer Mommy	108	2	#12	–
25	I Want You To Love Me Fiona Apple	103	2	#14	–
26	This Forgotten Town The Jayhawks	102	2	#41	–
27	JU$T Run the Jewels	100	1	#1	1
28	Letter To You Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band	99	1	#2	–
29	Moment in the Sun Sunflower Bean	96	1	#5	–
30	How Lucky Kurt Vile and John Prine	93	1	#7	–
31	How Lucky Kurt Vile	93	1	#7	–
32	Everything Has Changed Best Coast	92	2	#40	–
33	BLACK PARADE Beyoncé	91	1	#9	–
34	My Future Billie Eilish	91	2	#32	–
35	I Remember Everything John Prine	89	1	#11	–
36	exile Taylor Swift	89	1	#11	–
37	Exile Taylor Swift and Bon Iver	88	1	#12	–
38	March March The Chicks	85	2	#27	–
39	Time Stands Nathaniel Rateliff	85	2	#43	–
40	I Don't Mind Sturgill Simpson	82	1	#17	–
41	ooh la la Run the Jewels	81	1	#18	–
42	Ghosts Bruce Springsteen	80	1	#19	–
43	Letter To You Bruce Springsteen	80	1	#19	–
44	Lockdown Anderson. Paak	79	1	#20	–
45	Strong Enough Ray LaMontagne	78	1	#21	–
46	Now I'm In It Haim	78	1	#21	–
47	Figure It Out Blu DeTiger	77	2	#36	–
48	Dance Of The Clairvoyants Pearl Jam	77	2	#35	–
49	My Own Soul's Warning The Killers	76	2	#29	–
50	Domino Nicole Atkins	76	1	#23	–
51	For Sure Future Islands	74	1	#24	–
52	Open Relations Heart Bones	74	1	#24	–
53	Feel You My Morning Jacket	74	2	#47	–
54	Garden Song Phoebe Bridgers	73	1	#25	–
55	Fire Waxahatchee	72	1	#26	–
56	On The Floor Perfume Genius	70	2	#38	–
57	Letting Me Down Margo Price	70	1	#28	–
58	Can't Fight Lianne La Havas	68	1	#30	–
59	Victory Avett Brothers	67	2	#56	–
60	Feel the Way I Want Caroline Rose	67	1	#31	–
61	Lockdown On Date Night Tuesday Ondara	66	1	#31	–
62	Impossible Weight Deep Sea Diver	64	1	#33	–
63	Mariana Trench Bright Eyes	63	1	#34	–
64	I Contain Multitudes Bob Dylan	61	1	#36	–
65	Can't Cool Me Down Car Seat Headrest	58	1	#38	–
66	So Much Love Nada Surf	58	1	#39	–
67	Everything I Wanted Billie Eilish	57	1	#39	–
68	The Problem Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell	57	1	#40	–
69	Where To Start Bully	55	1	#41	–
70	Living in Ghost Town The Rolling Stones	53	1	#43	–
71	Murder Most Foul Bob Dylan	52	1	#44	–
72	Gaslighter The Chicks	52	1	#44	–
73	False Prophet Bob Dylan	51	1	#45	–
74	Dying to Believe The Beths	51	1	#45	–
75	Hollywood Car Seat Headrest	50	2	#57	–
76	Love You For A Long Time Maggie Rogers	49	1	#46	–
77	Is It True Tame Impala	48	1	#47	–
78	Time (You and I) Khruangbin	48	2	#67	–
79	Held Down Laura Marling	48	1	#48	–
80	Bittersweet Lianne La Havas	47	1	#49	–
81	It Might Be Time Tame Impala	46	1	#50	–
82	You're Not Alone Semisonic	45	1	#50	–
83	Making Do Lake Street Dive	44	1	#51	–
84	No Sidewalks Mixtape for the Milky Way	44	1	#51	–
85	You Can't Rule Me Lucinda Williams	43	1	#52	–
86	Hell N Back Bakar	43	1	#52	–
87	The Adults Are Talking The Strokes	42	1	#53	–
88	Heat Waves Glass Animals	42	1	#53	–
89	The Let Go Elle King	41	1	#54	–
90	New Song No. 2 Gully Boys	40	1	#54	–
91	AUATC Bon Iver	39	1	#55	–
92	I'll See You In My Dreams Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band	39	1	#56	–
93	Don't Wanna Haim	37	1	#57	–
94	Cold Chris Stapleton	37	1	#58	–
95	Golden Chastity Brown	35	1	#59	–
96	Heavy Balloon Fiona Apple	34	1	#60	–
97	Model Village Idles	34	1	#60	–
98	Help Me Low Cut Connie	33	1	#61	–
99	Therefore I Am Billie Eilish	33	1	#61	–
100	Video Game Sufjan Stevens	31	1	#62	–

Every station’s number one of 2020

Station	Number one song	Countdown
The Current	Guess Again Jeff Tweedy	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2020
WFUV	Kyoto Phoebe Bridgers	WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2020

All 2020 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2020 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 2020 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 two 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.