EVERY WEEKND SONG RANKED

BY: Jeff Daugherty

With four studio albums, three mixtapes and an incredibly underrated EP under his belt, Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, has consistently built a repertoire of hits over nearly ten years. Abel’s brand of dark R&B is utterly unique, and the likes of his talent hasn’t been seen since the King of Pop himself. Though it’s not yet Thursday, enjoy this deep dive into every Weeknd song so far, and remember, if it ain’t XO then it gotta go. 

94. Devil May Cry (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

This is not only The Weeknd’s worst song, but possibly one of the most disappointing and uninspired movie tie-in songs of all time. You’ve likely already forgotten about it.

93. Repeat After Me (Interlude)

Not really much to say about this one—just an interlude.

92. Dark Times (feat. Ed Sheeran)

Maybe you like Ed Sheeran and this song, and I won’t take that away from you. It’s just pretty silly to me that this collaboration exists. It doesn’t totally work, and it’s not bad—it’s just boring.

91. Heaven or Las Vegas

Truly incredible that so little happens in this six minute song. Wilder still that it was the original closer to Thursday.

90. Stargirl Interlude (feat. Lana Del Rey)

It’s another interlude. I’m including it for the sake of completion.

89. Nothing Without You

One of the less memorable tracks on Starboy. Full of thematic and lyrical retreads. 

88. Love To Lay

I like the beat, but there’s little else going for this poppy track. Have I mentioned that there are too many tracks on Starboy?

87. As You Are

This is a reasonably middle-of-the-road song that would’ve been a B-side or cut altogether if it was on Kiss Land instead of Beauty Behind the Madness. It’s good, but nothing to write home about.

86. Privilege

If we ever see the second half of My Dear Melancholy, it’ll be interesting to see where this track leads. As it stands, it’s a pretty good part one with such lyrics as “I’ve got two red pills to take the blues away.”

85. Same Old Song (feat. Juicy J) 

A pretty good track that tackles one of Abel’s favorite Trilogy themes, potential. The refrain of “same old song” applies both to the girl trying to take advantage of him and this song, which is solid but treads on well-worn subject matter at this point in Echoes of Silence.

84. Attention

I’ll keep saying it: Starboy had too many damn songs. This generic afterthought is slightly redeemed by its chorus and a kinda maybe interesting use of autotune? It still could’ve been cut, though.

83. Rockin’

Catchy but kind of lame. Would be ranked higher on this list if it wasn’t smack dab in between “Reminder” and “Secrets” on Starboy—two much stronger examples of Abel’s budding pop talent.

82. Die for You

Sorta a meta-admission of his dark persona’s manipulative ways, “Die for You” is a deceptively upbeat ode to gaslighting.

81. All I Know (feat. Future)

Boring filler track on Starboy. Sorry. 

80. Gone

This muddled fever dream of codeine and lean is lyrically chaotic. The messy production (even on Trilogy), perhaps a deliberate choice to simulate the feeling of a night out with The Weeknd at the House of Balloons, holds this one back from being a classic.

79. What You Need

Less can be more, and the chill, ambient vibes of “What You Need” do a solid job easing listeners into House of Balloons. 

78. Ordinary Life

Abel talks a lot about giving up everything for an ordinary life. This is another song on that theme, with grim lyrics and a bass-boosted beat that masks his despair. It’s good for what it is

77. Losers (feat. Labrinth)

It’s not a bad song, there are just a lot of better ones on Beauty Behind the Madness. It might’ve fit better on the second half of the album.

76. Prisoner (feat. Lana Del Rey)

The lyrics on “Prisoner” get pretty dark as Abel reflects on his many addictions that he’ll never shake. Lana Del Rey is the perfect addition to this moody piece.

75. The Knowing

It’s hard to believe that this was originally the last track on House of Balloons. Vocally, and production-wise, it’s great, and the fact that it’s so low on this list is just a testament to everything he’s done since. 

74. Until I Bleed Out

The trippy closer to After Hours pulls all the instrumental tricks out of that album’s playbook to simulate the cacophony of feelings he’s grappling with. “I keep telling myself I don’t need it anymore” he keeps repeating in an attempt to convince either us, himself or both. 

73. Tell Your Friends

This one’s the calm before the storm on Beauty Behind the Madness. Abel treats us to a chill bit of braggadocio before going darker and harder on subsequent tracks. 

72. Six Feet Under

There’s a lot of repetition on Starboy. Maybe it was rushed out—there was a turnaround time of only a year—but the repetition works on “Six Feet Under,” with a very catchy refrain of, well, the words “six feet under.”

71. Pretty

“Pretty” is pretty straightforward. It’s all about the chorus here.

70. Next

A brief departure from the Valerie arc that concludes between “The Fall” and “Echoes of Silence,” “Next” has Abel asserting that girls just want him because he’s about to blow up. Considering this was the second to last track on Echoes of Silence (third to last on Trilogy), he may have had a point there.

69. Rolling Stone

The title’s pretty on the nose; it’s about weed and ecstasy. But I’ll never say no to guitar on a Weeknd track.

68. Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun)

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this track, and as a standalone track it’s actually great—it’s just a sorta unnecessary epilogue to Echoes of Silence and Trilogy as a whole. 

67. Alone Again

“Alone Again” slowly immerses listeners back into Abel’s world. This time, though, the production is way different. The ‘80s influences on After Hours creep in here. Not a bad opener at all. 

66. Thursday

The lo-fi title track to the Thursday mixtape is pretty low-key and honestly a little forgettable. Moving on.

65. Try Me

A good number of Abel’s songs see him drifting in and out of his ex’s lives, regardless of whether they’ve moved on. This is a pretty good example of one of those.

64. Angel

Absolutely devastating finale to Beauty Behind the Madness. Just… wow.

63. Can’t Feel My Face

The Weeknd’s biggest radio hit is easily his most polarizing among fans. It’s devoid of substance, sure, but don’t pretend it isn’t one of the catchiest singles to hit the airwaves in years.

62. Coming Down

Some of the best Weeknd songs have the simplest premises. Here, in the afterglow of another rowdy night, Abel reaches out to the girl he needs every time he’s coming down. It’s a selfish dynamic that many in their teens and early twenties can relate to. 

61. Valerie

Valerie is a central character on the original mixtapes. This track added for the Trilogy re-release of Thursday almost sees Abel taking responsibility for his corruption of Valerie—only for him to commit to his co-dependent relationship with her and continue to cheat on her. 

60. The Town

“The Town” is about Toronto, but it’s really about leaving Toronto and how you can never really go home. It’s a great transitionary track for The Weeknd, which is really what Kiss Land was all about, in retrospect.

59. Save Your Tears

This isn’t the synthiest song from After Hours, but it makes great use of the synthesizer while layered vocals bring the chorus home. Lyrically, it’s an honest, mature reflection on the feeling that comes from seeing an ex moving on and finding new happiness. 

58. I Was Never There

The first of The Weeknd’s Gesaffelstein tracks on My Dear Melancholy, is gorgeously produced with angsty lyrics that harken back to parts of the Trilogy era. “I Was Never There” segues into something else that’s equally interesting about halfway through, a welcome transition. 

57. Secrets

This new wave-inspired disco bop sounds great, even if the lyrics are underwhelming. But you didn’t come to Starboy for the lyrics. 

56. Montreal

The intro, also interspersed throughout this Canadian original, is appropriately in French. Previous themes on Thursday and House of Balloons converge here as Abel toils with the realization that his indecision robbed him of a chance for love with someone he knew before he blew up.

55. The Zone (feat. Drake)

YMMV depending on how you feel about Drake, but the Canadian rapper fits well with the tone Abel’s striking on Thursday. “If pole dancing’s an art, you know how many fuckin’ artists I know?” is a standout lyric.

54. The Birds (Pt. 1, Pt. 2)

This two-parter off Thursday follows The Weeknd’s typical formula for two parters, though it’s distinct for being separated into two separate tracks. Anyway, uptempo part one, gut punch part two. 

53. Twenty Eight

Each mixtape got a tenth track tacked on for their Trilogy re-release. This one is worth listening to for the crazy vocal work alone. 

52. Belong to the World

Upbeat, check. Cool weather effects, check. A killer chorus? Absolutely. 

51. Escape from LA

Salacious details aside, this is both a love song and an indictment of the city that Abel calls home now. Mostly memorable for the “we had sex in the studio” bit, yet it still holds up after multiple listenings. 

50. After Hours

The darkest single on The Weeknd’s album of the same name gives us a glimpse behind the scenes of what his nights look like now. It works well as a companion piece to “Hardest to Love.” With all the bravado sandwiched between the two tracks, Abel offers a circular journey through the aftermath of heartbreak. 

49. Real Life

“Real Life” immediately lets us know what the production is going to sound like on Beauty Behind the Madness. It’s poppier than past releases but still introspective, and all in all a solid appetizer for the main course to come. 

48. D.D.

Abel’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” fits so perfectly on Echoes of Silence that you’d be forgiven if you hadn’t heard the original and thought it was always XO. Not saying The Weeknd is the new King of Pop, but he’s only gotten better since this cover blew us all away in 2011. 

47. Echoes of Silence

Everything’s broken in the finale to Trilogy. Abel faces the music while turning his melancholy around on the girl he loves. He begs her not to leave him—but after all we’ve witnessed him put her through, it’s hard to argue that she shouldn’t. “Echoes of Silence” pits The Weeknd’s larger-than-life stage persona against the cold reality of the morning after a never-ending party. 

46. Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)

I’m not going to tell you to like this song if you’ve already decided to hate it, but for a movie tie-in it’s not nearly as terrible as everyone makes it out to be. In fact, if you took Fifty Shades out of the title, you’d never know this song was written for that movie.

45. Love in the Sky

The premise: sex on drugs. That’s it. But that soundscape… Be sure to listen to this one with good headphones for the full effect, because there’s so much going on behind the simple lyrics.

44. True Colors

This entry in The Weeknd’s prolific lexicon of “songs about maybe not trusting a new lover completely” could maybe have been an MJ original once upon a time, so it wins points there. 

43. In the Night

Absolute banger off Beauty Behind the Madness. More MJ vibes here as well.

42. Hardest To Love

Yet another breakup anthem off After Hours—sensing a pattern here? This one feels oddly mature, and, for a change brings a sense of closure rather than agonizing over the past.

41. Life of the Party

The second track on the second mixtape of Trilogy takes us back into the dark world of Abel and his girls as he eggs on his lonely star. This one sets up the pins that he’ll knock down throughout Thursday. 

40. Outside

Sometimes all you need is a simple idea, a slow beat and some haunting backing vocals. There’s not much else to “Outside,” it’s just Abel showing off his competitive side. He does this a lot, and this track is the best example of an evergreen theme. 

39. Party Monster

Another Starboy banger, “Party Monster” is an irony-free mediation on Abel’s lifestyle. There’s nothing too deep here but it sure does slap. 

38. Faith

If After Hours is a comeback album—about Abel’s return to the single life, to drugs, to recklessness—“Faith” offers the background to that dark descent back to his old ways. The drug dependency, the codependency is all on full display here as he looks inward. 

37. Wasted Times

This low-key track is notable for playing into the tabloid fodder of Abel’s relationships with Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez. Fortunately, if you don’t care about that stuff, you can simply enjoy it as a tribute to that awkward space between broken up and back together. 

36. Sidewalks (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

On an album full of features this one definitely stands out. “Homeless to Forbes list” is a great lyric as well. 

35. Scared To Live

“Scared To Live” makes a compelling argument for tight, ten-track Weeknd albums like the old days. The ideas here could’ve been incorporated elsewhere in After Hours—hang on, the drums and phenomenal chorus just kicked in. Disregard everything I just said.

34. Professional

On this opener to Kiss Land, The Weeknd describes professional and personal woes as his rising star tries to find footing. For all who worried that Abel’s debut album would be more commercial than Trilogy, this track went a long way toward putting those concerns to rest.

33. Often

 Consider this the warm-up act for “The Hills.” It’s slower, moodier, with just as great a hook as that single. Production is key here, as a sampled Turkish song from 1978 leaves a ghost trail of haunting, hard to decipher vocals behind the catchy chorus.

32. Snowchild

The most contemplative track from After Hours with the most nostalgic music video portrays Abel as a snow child caught in LA. He’s been touring in the States and living in the States for almost a decade now, but he’ll never forget his Canadian roots.

31. In Your Eyes

If this were a ranking of my favorite Weeknd tracks, it’d be way higher up, but I’m really trying to be objective. “In Your Eyes” is easily the coolest and most innovative single off After Hours. The highlight is an incredible saxophone solo; moving forward, it would be amazing to see more hits like this from The Weeknd.

30. Live For (feat. Drake)

Say what you will about Drake—and oh boy, is there a lot to say about that guy. The two artists came up together in Toronto before briefly falling out; this feature is a throwback to “The Zone” in the best way.

29. Odd Look (feat. Kavinsky)

Consider this the equivalent of an after-credits sequence on Kiss Land. Kavinsky’s place on the Drive soundtrack launched him into the mainstream, and this song, something different for The Weeknd, makes excellent use of both artists’ talents.

28. Hurt You

The second of The Weeknd’s collabs with Gesaffelstein is a ballad that crescendos into a mellow chorus. No frills, no fancy tricks. 

27. Too Late

“Too Late” is the coda to the pretty high profile relationship that After Hours is about in general. It’s an appeal for a second chance that will never come and brilliantly sets the tone for the entire album. 

26. Reminder

It’s hard to believe that this edgy rebuttal to accusations of selling out appears on Abel’s most radio-friendly album. He addresses the Teen Choice Awards, radio DJs who don’t really know him and what he really wants to do: “make that money and make dope shit.” 

25. I Feel It Coming (feat. Daft Punk)

This single is pretty easy to hate, and it hasn’t exactly aged perfectly since it first dropped in 2016. It’s a Daft Punk original through and through, but it also allows The Weeknd to prove himself as the heir apparent to Michael Jackson. For that reason, it’s earned a spot in the top 25. The Daft Punk vocals still suck though.

24. King of the Fall

It was a dark day when this song was taken off streaming platforms. Perhaps no other single better bridges the gap between Canada Abel and LA Abel—Cali may have been the mission, but this last romp through the old stomping grounds of Toronto (at least until “Snowchild”) is a great way to leave the Great North.

23. Acquainted

Another track that dances the fine line between the old Weeknd and his post-2015 pop stylings. It’s kind of a ballad with a catchy hook, and it describes a kind of relationship that can be hard to put into words. 

22. Shameless

The acoustic guitar on “Shameless” from Beauty Behind the Madness makes this seem like a love song, but it absolutely isn’t. Neither Abel nor the girl described here should be together, but his lack of shame or remorse almost guarantees an unhappy ending to their situationship.

21. Adaptation

Leaving Toronto for superstardom meant leaving behind a lot. This Kiss Land track is about adapting to a new life with money, sex, cars and a whole lot of loneliness. 

20. Starboy (feat. Daft Punk)

On its surface, this is ostensibly the most shallow song in The Weeknd’s entire body of work. Yet dig a little deeper and you’ll see it’s a rebuttal of his reception post-Beauty Behind the Madness. He’s not trying to uplift you, he’s trying to “put you in the worst mood.” He’s saying that you made him this big, so get over it. 

19. The Fall

All paths on Trilogy converge here. Valerie, Diana, Abel. The money, the drugs, the sex. He hasn’t learned, and that’s the point—the thesis here is that living dangerously necessitates living fearlessly. Whether Abel’s lying to us or himself is up for debate. You know what isn’t? How great this song is. 

18. House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls

This track secures its spot in the top 20 for that opening alone. Why isn’t it higher up? There are other tracks from House of Balloons that dive even deeper into the debauchery at 65 Spencer. Still a fantastic throwback and that 707 switch in the middle is just… chef’s kiss. 

17. Lonely Star

The best track on the weakest of the three mixtapes—don’t get me wrong, Thursday is still great, it just suffers from middle child syndrome—re-introduces us to the Valerie arc and sets her up for the fall. 

16. Initiation

The chaser to “XO / The Host” is a frenetic, anxiety-inducing piece that perfectly captures the never-ending party that Abel and his girl have found themselves in. His dark persona comes out here as he pushes her to keep going and staying on his level, even as he loses control of his own comedown. 

15. Pray for Me (Black Panther)

The last track on the Black Panther soundtrack is its best, an excellent collaboration between The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar. It’s also The Weeknd’s best movie tie-in song yet. 

14. The Party & the After Party

“With your Louis V bag, tats on your arms, high-heeled shoes make you six feet tall…” Those are some iconic lyrics from this House of Balloons classic. Need I say more?

13. False Alarm

I have a soft spot for this track off Starboy. For one, it’s some of the most fun that this polarizing album has to offer, with an insanely catchy chorus. There’s also some very clever wordplay and it’s always a pleasure to listen to The Weeknd observe others in his party lifestyle as a fly on the wall.

12. Loft Music

One of the lighter moments on the first Trilogy tape features Abel’s usual allusions to sex and drugs, but it’s also explicitly set at the loft of 65 Spencer, the now-famous House of Balloons. For that alone, it’s hard to turn down, but the way it leads into “The Knowing” is one of the best transitions from an artist known for his great transitions. 

11. The Morning

This was one of The Weeknd’s best when it originally dropped on House of Balloons. Abel’s performance of this song in a key scene in Uncut Gems elevates it to legendary status. This is the track I think of when I think of that early era—clearly the Safdie Brothers feel the same.

10. Tears in the Rain

Remember that monologue from Blade Runner? You know the one, partially ad-libbed by Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty. “Tears in the Rain” is a gorgeous reminder of the many influences that went into Kiss Land. It’s pretty bold to end your debut album on such a bleak note. Abel drops his “bad guy” persona for a moment of solemn self-reflection.

9. Blinding Lights

When the radio overexposure to this song wears off, it’ll go down as one of Abel’s best. The synthwave single is the ultimate earworm, and full of enough energy and hype to make for a hell of a live performance.

8. Wanderlust

There aren’t too many songs to dance to on Kiss Land, so “Wanderlust” (and its Pharrell remix) offers a nice taste of what was to come from The Weeknd in 2013. This might’ve been our first indication that the pop charts were up for grabs. 

7. Call Out My Name

The standout song from 2018’s EP My Dear Melancholy, is stoic, stripped down and for some XO fans a return to form that recalls the Trilogy era of The Weeknd. It’s an easy R&B hit that cuts deep—you can hear the pain in his voice, setting the tone for the project that bridges the gap between Starboy and After Hours. 

6. Heartless

Easily the best track from After Hours, this would’ve been the song of the summer if it weren’t for COVID. About halfway through the album, Abel lets us know that he’s back to his old ways—in case you had any doubts before. 

5. High for This

The first track on House of Balloons is the first song many of us heard from The Weeknd. It opens the tragic storyline that runs through Trilogy: a fucked up kid introduces his wary girlfriend to drugs and the party lifestyle. It’s dark, it’s brooding, and it sticks with you.

4. The Hills

Say what you will about The Weeknd as a pop idol, filling stadiums and shouting out party anthems, but “The Hills” is his greatest banger yet. On Beauty Behind the Madness Abel’s dark sensibilities met with pop production, resulting in some radio hits like this one. It’s as memorable the first time you hear it as it is the thousandth. 

3. Kiss Land

“This ain’t nothing to relate to.” While the mixtapes reflected Abel’s “KIDS without AIDS” adolescence, his debut studio album Kiss Land is an odyssey following the young R&B singer’s rise to stardom, and this titular single unapologetically shows off that new direction. It’s also catchy as hell. 

2. XO / The Host

Much of the appeal of the original mixtapes were Abel’s storytelling prowess, and “XO / The Host” is the culmination of the fall-from-grace story arc that runs through Trilogy. When he croons “XO… don’t you forget” there’s about a 100% chance that you won’t. 

1. Wicked Games

This is it: peak XO, Abel’s absolute best. The love, the shame, the drugs, the pain. This was the track off House of Balloons that introduced most of the world to The Weeknd, and what a track it is.