My Top 1000 Songs #363: Chivalry

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

I don't necessarily share the same passion for the Mekons as some devotees out there. Their wide-reaching and at times experimental amalgam of punk, country, folk, and British whimsy can be hit and miss for me (though I really like 1988's So Good It Hurts and 1989's Rock 'n Roll). But wow, I adore this song!

"Chivalry" appeared on 1985's Fear And Whiskey, and was one of those tracks everyone at the college radio station immediately latched onto and played to death. I was still pretty disdainful of anything that reeked of "country music" (it took Wilco to open me up to Americana), though I liked the more jangly and cowpunk variations offered by bands of that era like the Long Ryders and Jason & The Scorchers. But "Chivalry" totally worked magic on me, the weird blend of country fiddles and British post-punk feeling novel and thoroughly captivating. It was melodic and catchy and totally different from anything else I was listening to.

I don't spin the album itself very often, but I still find the song as irresistible as I did back in my DJ days, unfailingly taking me back to a specific moment in my life while holding up as more than mere nostalgia. 

Live in 2019: