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Cover of Living With the Law by Chris Whitley
Cover: Living With the Law

Song · Chris Whitley

“Big Sky Country” by Chris Whitley

From the album Living With the Law (1991)

“Big Sky Country” by Chris Whitley appears on 20 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1991 on the album Living With the Law. Its best result is #141 on the WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,523 alternative song of all time.

20countdowns
5stations
#141best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1999–2026years charted

Watch

Chris Whitley - Big Sky Country

Video from YouTube (ChrisWhitleyVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Big Sky Country" was the second single from Living with the Law, Chris Whitley's 1991 debut, and it made a real dent that year, climbing to No. 35 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. It's all dust and distance, a lonesome, rattling blues with plenty of open air around it.

The video leans into that: Whitley sings and plays his 1931 National Triolian in a Spanish mission, a cemetery, a carnival midway and the American desert, with stretches of stop-motion animation and bassist Alan Gevaert turning up here and there. John Mayer has since covered it live.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 1748 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1748 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1748 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 1959 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 1738 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 1721 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1721 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1721 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1341 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1273 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1291 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1332 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 630 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 1386 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1444 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1501 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2022 844 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2023 748 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places 800
2025 141 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500
2026 901 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

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