“The Weight,” a song written by Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist of The Band, has been covered by many artists. But it’s only right that The Band has the best and most powerful version of the song.
It first was first recorded on the group’s brilliant debut
album, Music from Big Pink, released in 1968. And its most memorable version of
the song, in my humble opinion, is included on the best concert film ever made
– Martin Scorsese’s transcendent, mesmerizing The Last Waltz, filmed primarily
during The Band’s farewell concert in 1976.
Don’t ask me what the song is about. Even Robertson’s
explanation of its origins is hazy and obscure. It’s a first-person account of
a visit to a town called Nazareth, a place he identifies as Nazareth, Penn.,
home of Martin Guitars, whose instruments arguably created the sound foundation
of rock music.
“The Weight” is a haunting song – heavily influenced,
according to Roberson, by the experiences of The Band’s drummer, the late,
great Levon Helms, a native of a rural Arkansas burg called Turkey Scratch.
Some consider it a country song, which of course it is. But it is also a rock
anthem, The Band’s best-known song, even though it was never a successful
single.
I heard it again tonight, sitting on my patio as I watched a
thunderstorm sweep in from the south. I was struck, as I always am, by its
sense of yearning, its aching search for a haven from the storm, its desperate
need for connection and kinship.
In these desperate days – as the agony of Ukraine plays out
on our TV screens and in our internet feeds – it resonates even more
powerfully. But maybe that’s just me.
'Mister can you tell me where a man might find a bed?'
He just grinned and shook my hand, and ‘No’ was all he said.
Take a load off Fanny,
Take a load for free.
Take a load off Fanny,
And you put the load right on me.”
THE BAND: The Weight, from the movie THE LAST WALTZ - YouTube
Good stuff, Kerry! Always thought Levon wrote it. Live and loin.
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