Providence (track)
by Sonic Youth
Year: 1988
From the album Daydream Nation (track #8)
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Providence appears on the following album(s) by Sonic Youth:
- Daydream Nation (track #8) (this album) (1988)
- Daydream Nation Live In Glasgow, Scotland 2007 (track #8) (2018)
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Providence ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this track. | Show all 306 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/01/2026 07:48 | Siromynian | 20,078 | 71/100 |
| ! | 07/27/2026 22:30 |  serpico | 3,986 | 89/100 |
| ! | 05/17/2026 20:28 | libbyshuss | 963 | 78/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 22% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 77.2/100, a mean average of 76.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this track is 16.5.
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Providence comments
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slurpdurp 12/19/2016 19:29 | #180531
As far as interludes go, this is how you do it right. It doesn't kill the momentum of the album it all. It builds the emotion and most of all it builds the atmosphere tremendously. It combines all the elements of Daydream Nation that made it unique and slows it down into a cool 2 minute track. It lowers the energy but not the momentum and is placed perfectly after the high paced Hey Joni.
DeusExMackia TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/18/2018 13:53 | #211169
It's the point on the album when the theming comes into its own; there's a such a sense of loss and despair in the face of mad, unending franticness. It perfectly captures that feeling of disassociation from modern life and feeling lost in the modern world. Poetic levels of beauty.
You know that when this song is probably the worst on it's album, you're listening to one of the greatest albums of all time. This song is exactly what was needed to cool down after Hey Joni, and it sets the tone for Candle perfectly.
Cojo7 04/12/2016 02:53 | #163670
It's obviously the weakest track on the album, but I think it's still a cool interlude that oozes nostalgia.
eclab 01/07/2013 11:28 | #60548
Kinda atmospheric, I suppose. Hey Joni needs a cool down.
