2003 Modern Rock 500

WOXY

The most important songs in Modern Rock, as determined by WOXY staff in 2003.

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1 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2 Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
3 Smiths - How Soon is Now
4 Pearl Jam - Alive
5 Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
6 REM - Radio Free Europe
7 U2 - New Years Day
8 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
9 Janes Addiction - Jane Says
10 Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right
11 Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
12 Green Day - Longview
13 Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
14 New Order - Blue Monday
15 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
16 Pearl Jam - Jeremy
17 Radiohead - Creep
18 Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll
19 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
20 U2 - With or Without You
21 Smashing Pumpkins - Today
22 Bob Marley - Jamming
23 Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole
24 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
25 Police - Roxanne
26 Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
27 Elvis Costello - Alison
28 Replacements - Alex Chilton
29 Faith No More - Epic
30 David Bowie - Space Oddity
31 Cure - Boys Dont Cry
32 Blondie - Heart of Glass
33 Stone Roses - I Wanna be Adored
34 Fugazi - Waiting Room
35 B52s - Rock Lobster
36 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give it Away
37 Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All
38 Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
39 Janes Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
40 Beck - Loser
41 Dead Milkmen - Bitchin Camaro
42 Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
43 Offspring - Come Out and Play
44 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosis Dead
45 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
46 Clash - London Calling
47 Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
48 Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
49 Clash - Rock the Casbah
50 Pearl Jam - Even Flow
51 XTC - Dear God
52 Elvis Costello - Whats So Funny Bout
53 Breeders - Cannonball
54 Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
55 Modern English - I Melt With You
56 Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
57 U2 - Pride In the Name of Love
58 Blur - Song 2
59 New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
60 Nirvana - Come As You Are
61 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
62 Afghan Whigs - Rebirth of the Cool
63 REM - Losing My Religion
64 Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
65 Cure - Just Like Heaven
66 Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
67 REM - Its the End of the World
68 Green Day - Welcome to Paradise
69 Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
70 Lo Fidelity Allstars - Battle Flag
71 Jam - Thats Entertainment
72 Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
73 Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
74 Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
75 Dave Matthews Band - What Would You Say
76 Devo - I Cant Get No Satisfaction
77 Patti Smith Group - Dancing Barefoot
78 Tool - Sober
79 Television - Marquee Moon
80 Gary Numan - Cars
81 Depeche Mode - People are People
82 Counting Crows - Mr Jones
83 Nine Inch Nails - Closer
84 Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
85 David Bowie - Changes
86 Weezer - Hash Pipe
87 U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
88 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
89 Anthrax - Bring the Noise
90 Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
91 Clash - Train in Vain
92 Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
93 Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
94 Blondie - Rapture
95 Alice in Chains - Rooster
96 Pavement - Cut Your Hair
97 Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
98 James - Laid
99 Beck - Where Its At
100 Sublime - What I Got
101 Primus - Tommy the Cat
102 Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
103 White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
104 Cracker - Teen Angst
105 Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me
106 Boomtown Rats - I Dont Like Mondays
107 U2 - One
108 Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party
109 Cake - Distance
110 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust
111 Ministry - Everyday is Halloween
112 Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
113 Squeeze - Tempted
114 Jesus and Mary Chain - Head On
115 Rage Against The Machine - Guerrilla Radio
116 REM - Orange Crush
117 Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
118 Folk Implosion - Natural One
119 Police - Message in a Bottle
120 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
121 Pretenders - Brass in Pocket
122 Prodigy - Fire Starter
123 Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
124 Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With
125 Everclear - Santa Monica
126 Live - I Alone
127 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
128 Cracker - Low
129 REM - One I Love
130 Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
131 Alice in Chains - Would
132 Soul Coughing - Screenwriters Blues
133 Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
134 Coldplay - Yellow
135 Cure - Love Song
136 Oasis - Wonderwall
137 Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
138 Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
139 Vapors - Turning Japanese
140 Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning
141 Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
142 Royal Crescent Mob - Get on the Bus
143 Public Image Limited - Rise
144 Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You
145 Faith No More - We Care a Lot
146 Offspring - Self Esteem
147 Radiohead - Paranoid Android
148 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
149 Replacements - I Will Dare
150 Fatboy Slim - Rockafeller Skank
151 Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
152 Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
153 Social Distortion - Ball and Chain
154 Living Colour - Cult of Personality
155 Devo - Whip It
156 Killing Joke - Eighties
157 David Bowie - Suffragette City
158 Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
159 Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
160 Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight
161 Foo Fighters - This Is a Call
162 Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
163 Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon
164 Tears For Fears - Shout
165 Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
166 New Order - True Faith
167 Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
168 Romeo Void - Never Say Never
169 Blind Melon - No Rain
170 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
171 Dada - Dizz Knee Land
172 Charlatans UK - Only One I Know
173 Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
174 Las - There She Goes
175 Green Day - When I Come Around
176 Talking Heads - And She Was
177 Sugarcubes - Birthday
178 Church - Under the Milky Way
179 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside
180 Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
181 Jimmy Eat World - Middle
182 Weezer - Undone the Sweater Song
183 Depeche Mode - Route 66
184 David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
185 B52s - Private Idaho
186 Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
187 Alice in Chains - No Excuses
188 Tool - Schism
189 Pearl Jam - Daughter
190 Cure - In Between Days
191 Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
192 U2 - Beautiful Day
193 Patti Smith - Gloria
194 Beastie Boys - So Whatcha Want
195 Afghan Whigs - Debonair
196 Cake - Never There
197 Nirvana - In Bloom
198 Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
199 XTC - Senses Working Overtime
200 Alarm - Strength
201 Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
202 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
203 U2 - I Will Follow
204 Veruca Salt - Seether
205 Primus - Jerry was a Race Car Driver
206 U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky
207 REM - Pretty Persuasion
208 Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up
209 Echo and The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar
210 Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey
211 BT Mike Doughty - Never Gonna Come Back Down
212 Belly - Feed the Tree
213 Jack Johnson - Flake
214 Rancid - Ruby Soho
215 U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
216 Social Distortion - Bad Luck
217 Foo Fighters - Everlong
218 Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
219 Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin Beats
220 Butthole Surfers - Pepper
221 Love and Rockets - So Alive
222 Oasis - Supersonic
223 Guided By Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knife
224 Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
225 Flaming Lips - Do You Realize
226 Eels - Mr Es Beautiful Blues
227 Rage Against The Machine - Renegades of Funk
228 Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
229 Happy Mondays - Step On
230 Garbage - I Think Im Paranoid
231 English Beat - Save it for Later
232 L7 - Pretend Were Dead
233 G Love and Special Sauce - Rodeo Clowns
234 Weezer - Say it Aint So
235 Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline
236 Pixies - Where Is My Mind
237 Bob Mould - Sunspots Wishing Well
238 Nirvana - Lithium
239 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
240 Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
241 Moby - Southside
242 XTC - Mayor of Simpleton
243 REM - Stand
244 Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
245 Deftones - Change In the House of Flies
246 Offspring - Gotta Get Away
247 Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
248 Cibo Matto - Sci Fi Wasabi
249 Radiohead - Karma Police
250 INXS - One Thing
251 Soundgarden - Spoonman
252 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
253 Ramones - Do You Remember Rock N Roll
254 Queens of The Stone Age - No One Knows
255 Pretenders - My City Was Gone
256 Bears - Fear is Never Boring
257 311 - Down
258 Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
259 Sublime - Wrong Way
260 Cure - Close to Me
261 Police - Cant Stand Losing You
262 Weezer - Buddy Holly
263 White Stripes - Fell in Love With a Girl
264 Porno For Pyros - Pets
265 Sinead OConnor - Mandinka
266 They Might Be Giants - Dont Lets Start
267 Ben Folds - Rockin the Suburbs
268 Waterboys - Whole of the Moon
269 Pretenders - Message of Love
270 Nirvana - All Apologies
271 Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
272 Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
273 Depeche Mode - Strangelove
274 The - Uncertain Smile
275 Flaming Lips - She Dont Use Jelly
276 Massive Attack - Safe from Harm
277 Disposable Heroes Hiphoprisy - Television Drug of a Nation
278 Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
279 Jam - Town Called Malice
280 Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
281 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue
282 Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade
283 Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless
284 Bjork - Joga
285 Tricky - Black Steel
286 Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days
287 U2 - Bad Live
288 Toad the Wet Sprocket - All I Want
289 Cake - Short Skirt Long Jacket
290 Oasis - Live Forever
291 My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
292 Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
293 Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker
294 English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
295 Tori Amos - God
296 Strokes - Last Nite
297 Sunny Day Real Estate - Pillars
298 Portishead - Sour Times
299 Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
300 Soul Asylum - Somebody to Shove
301 Simple Minds - Dont You Forget About Me
302 Meat Puppets - Backwater
303 XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
304 Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
305 Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
306 Semisonic - Closing Time
307 Radiohead - Optimistic
308 The - Infected
309 Paul Westerberg - Dyslexic Heart
310 Pearl Jam - Better Man
311 REM - Cant Get There from Here
312 Blondie - One Way or Another
313 Presidents of the United States of America - Lump
314 Nine Inch Nails - Down in It
315 Elliott Smith - Miss Misery
316 Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
317 Superdrag - Sucked Out
318 Beastie Boys - No Sleep til Brooklyn
319 U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One
320 Hole - Doll Parts
321 Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
322 Urban Dance Squad - Deeper Shade of Soul
323 Better Than Ezra - Good
324 Dinosaur Jr - Feel the Pain
325 Lush - Ladykillers
326 Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
327 Suede - Metal Mickey
328 Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat
329 Green Day - Good Riddance Time of Your Life
330 Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma
331 PJ Harvey - Down By the Water
332 Material Issue - Valerie Loves Me
333 Elastica - Connection
334 Jonathan Richman Modern Lovers - Dodge Veg O Matic
335 Cure - Why Cant I Be You
336 Concrete Blonde - God is a Bullet
337 Smithereens - A Girl Like You
338 Joy Division - Shes Lost Control
339 They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
340 Cake - Rock N Roll Lifestyle
341 Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching
342 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
343 REM - Driver 8
344 Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
345 The - This is the Day
346 Ben Harper - Burn to Shine
347 Juliana Hatfield - My Sister
348 Robyn Hitchcock - My Wife and My Dead Wife
349 Fatboy Slim - Praise You
350 Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic
351 Soundgarden - Outshined
352 Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours
353 Wallflowers - One Headlight
354 U2 - Mysterious Ways
355 Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
356 Ben Folds Five - Underground
357 Ass Ponys - Little Bastard
358 Tones on Tail - Go Club Mix
359 Live - Pain Lies on the Riverside
360 Call - Walls Came Down
361 Guided By Voices - Chasing Heather Crazy
362 Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mine
363 Mission of Burma - Thats When I Reach For My Revolver
364 Firehose - Flyin the Flannel
365 Foo Fighters - All My Life
366 Fishbone - Party at Ground Zero
367 New Order - Love Vigilantes
368 Papas Fritas - Way You Walk
369 Gang of Four - I Love a Man in a Uniform
370 Tori Amos - Crucify
371 Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman
372 Blur - Girlsand Boys
373 Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey
374 REM - So Central Rain
375 Dramarama - Anything Anything
376 Split Enz - I Got You
377 Pavement - Shady Lane
378 Pedro The Lion - Rapture
379 Pixies - Gigantic
380 Radiohead - Just
381 Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
382 Smithereens - Blood and Roses
383 Trio - Da Da Da
384 Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Impression That I Get
385 Stone Temple Pilots - Wicked Garden
386 Coldplay - Clocks
387 Sinead OConnor - I Want Your Hands on Me
388 Replacements - Ledge
389 Velvet Underground - What Goes On in the Heart
390 Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly
391 Barenaked Ladies - Be My Yoko Ono
392 Joe Jackson - Sunday Papers
393 Cornershop - Brimful of Asha
394 Liz Phair - Supernova
395 White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty
396 Love and Rockets - Ball of Confusion
397 Concrete Blonde - Joey
398 REM - Superman
399 Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine
400 Soul Coughing - Is Chicago Is Not Chicago
401 PJ Harvey - Good Fortune
402 Bob Mould - See a Little Light
403 Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So
404 Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
405 Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child Wild One
406 Interpol - PDA
407 Berlin - Sex Im a
408 U2 - Walk On
409 INXS - Dont Change
410 Primus - Wynona
411 Matthew Sweet - Sick of Myself
412 Dinosaur Jr - Start Choppin
413 Ass Ponys - Swallow You Down
414 REM - Dont Go Back to Rockville
415 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peek a Boo
416 Nirvana - About a Girl
417 Afghan Whigs - Creep
418 Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This
419 Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains
420 Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way
421 Fixx - One Thing Leads to Another
422 Beastie Boys - Sure Shot
423 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Sex On Wheels
424 Pretenders - Middle of the Road
425 They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng
426 Prodigy - Breathe
427 Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
428 Audioslave - Like a Stone
429 Sonic Youth - 100
430 Meryn Cadell - Sweater
431 Doves - Catch the Sun
432 Pixies - Debaser
433 Green Day - Basket Case
434 Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
435 Blink 182 - Whats My Age Again
436 Soundgarden - My Wave
437 REM - Whats the Frequency Kenneth
438 Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade
439 Tripping Daisy - I Got a Girl
440 Supergrass - Moving
441 Soul Coughing - Circles
442 Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell
443 Poe - Hey Pretty
444 Guided By Voices - Glad Girls
445 John Mayer - No Such Thing
446 Spacehog - In the Meantime
447 Housemartins - Happy Hour
448 Guided By Voices - Everywhere With Helicopter
449 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Zephyr Song
450 Bjork - Human Behaviour
451 World Party - Ship of Fools
452 Grant Lee Buffalo - Mockingbirds
453 Pogues - Fairytale of New York
454 Lou Reed - Dirty Blvd
455 They Eat Their Own - Like a Drug
456 Machines of Loving Grace - Butterfly Wings
457 Grandaddy - Crystal Lake
458 Ultravox - Vienna
459 Garbage - Stupid Girl
460 Timbuk 3 - Futures So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades
461 Dandy Warhols - Not If You Were the Last
462 Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong
463 Belle and Sebastian - Boy With the Arab Strap
464 Sleater Kinney - Youre No Rock N Roll Fun
465 Basement Jaxx - Rendez Vu
466 Ben Folds Five - Brick
467 Guadalcanal Diary - Litany Life Goes On
468 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
469 Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper - Elvis is Everywhere
470 Weezer - Island in the Sun
471 Smoking Popes - Need You Around
472 A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
473 Camper Van Beethoven - Pictures of Matchstick Men
474 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
475 Ben Kweller - Wasted and Ready
476 Blur - Theres No Other Way
477 Talk Talk - Its My Life
478 Cake - Sheep Go to Heaven
479 Sea Ray - Revelry
480 XRay Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours
481 Judybats - Being Simple
482 U2 - Gloria
483 Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
484 Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes
485 Sugarcubes - Hit
486 Smithereens - Behind the Wall of Sleep
487 Fountains of Wayne - Radiation Vibe
488 Daisy Chainsaw - Love Your Money
489 AllAmerican Rejects - Swing Swing
490 Guided By Voices - Surgical Focus
491 Afghan Whigs - Honkys Ladder
492 Streets - Lets Push Things Forward
493 Clinic - Walking With Thee
494 Sugar - Helpless
495 Hot Hot Heat - Bandages
496 Ben Folds Five - Battle of Who Could Care Less
497 Over The Rhine - Give Me Strength
498 Wilco - Monday
499 Placebo - Pure Morning
500 Vines - Get Free
Other Modern Rock 500 countdowns by year

Note the station did not broadcast a Modern Rock 500 in 2004.

Credit to WOXY listener Craig Froehle for providing the underlying source materials for these yearly lists.

Combinations

Here is one massive combined countdown with all songs from every year of the countdown, ranked by average position (1394 songs in all).