LOS ANGELES, July 13: A decade-old indie ballad by Los Angeles band Lord Huron has quietly become one of the most-streamed songs in the world, surpassing even the biggest recent releases by global superstars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Dua Lipa.

Originally released in 2015 as the closing track on Lord Huron’s second album Strange Trails, the melancholic "The Night We Met" remained largely under the radar for years. But in 2024, it claimed the 35th spot on Billboard’s global end-of-year singles chart — higher than Dua Lipa’s Houdini (No. 37) and Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ’Em (No. 41). In the UK, it ranked 60th for the year, outpacing Charli XCX’s biggest single.

Even more impressively, the track recently crossed the 3-billion-stream mark on Spotify — a feat unmatched by any Taylor Swift song — and has amassed an additional 3 billion views on TikTok, according to music data tracker Chartmetric.

Lord Huron frontman Ben Schneider, speaking about the song’s success, called it “unbelievable.”

“It wasn’t a hit at first. Years passed and nothing much happened. But then things just started to take off,” Schneider said.

That turning point came in 2017, when “The Night We Met” featured in the Netflix teen drama 13 Reasons Why. Schneider was initially hesitant, but his wife encouraged him to say yes. While the song experienced a brief spike in popularity after airing, it didn’t fade — instead, its popularity steadily grew.

“I figured it’d fade quickly,” he recalled. “But it just kept building. It’s had this weird, unheard-of long tail.”

A duet version with Phoebe Bridgers followed in 2018, but it was TikTok that truly fueled the song’s resurgence. In 2024 alone, it garnered nearly 1 billion Spotify streams — a 57% increase over the previous year.

Its emotionally raw lyrics — “I had all and then most of you / Some and now none of you” — have made it a go-to track for emotional TikToks and mood playlists. Yet its resonance goes beyond heartbreak. Influencer Molly-Mae Hague, for instance, used the song in her pregnancy reveal video in 2022.

“It’s a vessel that fits a lot of people’s personal stories,” Schneider explained. “That’s maybe why it’s had such a lasting, slow-burning effect.”

Importantly for the band, the song’s viral success didn’t trap them in one-hit-wonder status. By the time it exploded, Lord Huron had already cultivated a strong fanbase. “Even though it far outstrips our other songs, we have enough going on not to be defined by just that moment,” he said.

Now, the band is preparing to release their fifth album, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, which continues Schneider’s fascination with storytelling and parallel lives. The record is built around a fictional 1950s-style jukebox that can transport people to alternate realities.

“Not with regret,” Schneider said, “but with wonder at how different life could be if small choices had gone another way.”

Featuring a cameo from actress Kristen Stewart, the album introduces several characters who spin through this unpredictable “magic jukebox” — an idea born out of Schneider’s own reflections on chance, fate, and creative randomness.

Lord Huron began as Schneider’s solo project in 2010 but evolved into a full band known for blending Americana and indie-folk with haunting, cinematic storytelling.

Looking back, Schneider now sees the 13 Reasons Why placement as a sliding doors moment in his career. “I want to keep making new things, and hopefully something we create will resonate as deeply as that song,” he said.

For now, The Night We Met remains a slow-burning miracle — a once-overlooked ballad that found a second life and struck a chord with a generation.