Popdust has named Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ Man on Fire as one of the Top 50 Songs of the Decade.

“The indie folk of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros lives in the American heartland of the past, which we’re disillusioned with but nostalgic for at the same time,” writes the music website. “That includes frontman Alex Ebert, who describes ‘Man on Fire’ as being a release from ‘all the problems, pain, murder, heartache, shame, and those things I bring up, especially the conflict.'”

Popdust describes itself as “a music and culture website dedicated to bringing you all the content you need to survive the End Times, from climate crisis and the ravages of capitalism to the algorithms of pop music in the age of K-pop.” Man on Fire made Popdust’s Top 25 – joining the likes of Pure Comedy by Father John Misty, Formation by Beyonce, 33 “GOD” by Bon Iver, Levitate by Kendrick Lamar and This is America by Childish Gambino.

Ebert described the story of Man on Fire to Artist Direct:

“It builds on a demo I did. Instead of recreating the song, we just went with the demo and contributed to it. It was written and recorded at a time where those lyrics were at their post potent for me in my life. They still are. At the time of writing, I was really frustrated with myself and the slow progress of the guidelines of progressive thought. It’s like, ‘Well, we’ll get there.’ I just wanted to sort of burn the entire façade and dance. It’s the same as All Wash Out, except it uses fire or dance to do it. With all of the problems, pain, murder, heartache, shame, and those things I bring up, especially the conflict, I felt like instead of trying to fix it or work on it within the paradigm of problem-solving, I wanted to throw it all away and just dance in the streets. That’s what it’s about. It was born from a really intense, defiant, and frustrated place. That’s one of the reasons I love that song.”

Among the bottom 25 on Popdust’s list were FKA twigs, Tayor Swift, Julien Baker, and Charli XCX. “Notably absent is anything by Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber, because we don’t believe bad listening habits should be encouraged,” writes Popdust.