The Weight
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Weight
"The Weight" is the title of a 1968 song by The Band. It is one of the group's best known songs and among the most popular songs of the late 1960s counterculture. The song "The Weight" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 songs that shaped rock and roll" [link]
The song was composed by The Band's Robbie Robertson and appears originally on The Band's first album, Music from Big Pink.
Song theme
"The Weight" takes the folk music motif of a traveler, who arrives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.Once there, he encounters various residents of the town, and the song is a story of these encounters, which are all really subtle spiritual encounters.
The residents include a man who cannot direct the traveler to a hotel, Carmen and Satan walking side by side, "Crazy Chester," who offers a bed in exchange for the traveler taking his dog, and Luke who has gone out to wait for the apocalypse, leaving his young bride neglected.
The traveler refers to "Miss Fannie," who has sent him on his journey to Nazareth, and "the weight" of the song is a reference to the burden of travel, of giving a message to the town, and of sin. The chorus refers to taking a load off of Fannie and putting it on the singer. The numerous Biblical allusions in the character names and incidents in the song are allegorical, referring to a purgatorial experience.
Robertson on \"The Weight\"
According to Robertson, "The Weight" was somewhat inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel, about which Robertson once said: "He did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood, people trying to do good in Viridiana and Nazarín, and it's impossible to do good. In "The Weight" it's the same thing. Someone says, 'Listen, will you do me this favor? When you get there will you say "hello" to somebody or will you pick up one of these for me?' 'Oh, you're going to Nazareth, that's where the Martin Guitar factory is. Do me a favor when you're there.' So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it's like, 'Holy shit, what has this turned into? I've only come here to say "hello" for somebody and I've got myself in this incredible predicament.' It was very Buñuelish to me at the time."
Musical construction
"The Weight" is sung primarily by Levon Helm, The Band's drummer. Rick Danko, the bassist, sings the fourth verse, and joins Helm in singing the fifth verse. The chorus is sung by all three of The Band's singers.
Each verse follows the format of:
- Chords:A, C# minor, D, A
- Lyrics: I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead";
- Chords: A, E, D, A, E, D
- Lyrics: Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Film and commercial play
"The Weight" has featured prominently in many films and commercials, including movies such movies as Hope Floats, Igby Goes Down, The Big Chill, Easy Rider, Girl, Interrupted, Patch Adams and Starsky & Hutch, and on television in "My Name is Earl" and in a commercial by Cingular/AT&T Wireless, a telecommunications company.
The song was also included on the "Easy Rider" soundtrack, but was performed by the band Smith because of contractual problems preventing use of The Band's version.
Played by other musicians
"The Weight" has been covered by many other acts, including the North Mississippi Allstars, The Staple Singers, The Grateful Dead, O.A.R., Spooky Tooth, Aretha Franklin, the band Smith, and a joint effort by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. In The Band's concert film, The Last Waltz, The Staples and The Band perform the song together.
Levon Helm also performed the song with Ringo Starr and his All-Star Band. Josh Kelley and his backing band, The Weight, also perform this song at live shows[link].
Australian artists Jimmy Barnes and The Badloves covered this song in 1993, which charted remarkably well.
Bands named for the song
There are two bands named after this song. The lead singer of the Athens, Georgia country band "The Weight" is Joseph Plunket, and the band's first full length album, Compass, was released in 2002 on the now-defunct 12-Volt Records. The record has been followed by several more releases to date, including 2004's Sabot Productions release, Ten Mile Grace. Plunket has since moved to New York City and re-formed the band.
A second band, led by Josh Kelley, is also called "The Weight" and consists of Dave Yaden, Darwin Johnson, Slim Gambill, Micheal Miley, and Donald Barret[link]. The band led by Kelley is expected to release its inaugural album in April 2006.
External links
- [The Weight' lyrics].
- [An interpretation of The Weight's lyrics by Peter Viney].
- [Full song chords and lyrics].
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.