{"id":46854,"date":"2025-03-25T10:53:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=46854"},"modified":"2025-03-25T10:53:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:53:35","slug":"the-weight-wlbott-hall-of-bands-ballads-and-burdens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=46854","title":{"rendered":"The Weight: WLBOTT Hall of Bands, Ballads and Burdens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As one of the favorite songs by several of the Elders, we will explore “The Weight”, the 1968 song by The Band<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elder JJZ => Elder JA<\/strong>
I think you two [Mountain Sapphire] could do a fabulous version of \u2018The Weight<\/em>,\u2019 written by fellow Canadian Robbie Robertson of The Band<\/strong>. Have you tried to do this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder JA => Elder JJZ<\/strong>
Yes, The Weight<\/em> is one of our favourites. I often start with \u201cRolled into Edmonton\u2026\u201d I don\u2019t recall ever recording it so I\u2019ll add it to the studio schedule. But my next priority is to try to get the green screen set up properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder JJZ => Elder JA<\/strong>
Can\u2019t wait to see the recording. I\u2019ve always thought The Weight<\/em> as a US Civil War song but it\u2019s a lot more than that. For some reason, I find this particular lyric great, even though I\u2019m more of a cat person. And not to stretch analogies, if you think about war and immigration, people reach out to others to care for their loved ones in trying times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCrazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog
He said, “I will fix your rack if you take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s OK, boy, won’t you feed him when you can?”<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Elder JA => Elder JJZ<\/strong>
Are you thinking of \u201cThe Night They Drove Old Dixie Down\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never thought about \u201cThe Weight\u201d as being a song about war. To me it is more like a scene from \u201cAlice\u2019s Restaurant\u201d, with some guy stopping by to visit some old friends and finding that they have a lot of troubles of their own.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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“The Weight”<\/strong> was written by Robbie Robertson, who found the tune by strumming idly on his guitar, a 1951 Martin D-28, when he noticed that the interior included a stamp noting that it was manufactured in Nazareth<\/strong>, Pennsylvania (C. F. Martin & Company is situated there), and he started crafting the lyrics as he played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lyrics, written in the first person, are about a traveler’s arrival, visit, and departure from a town called Nazareth<\/strong>, in which the traveler’s friend, Fanny, has asked him to look up some of her friends and send them her regards, though with each encounter, he comes away with more favors he must do, and those favors become more favors, until the weight of doing so many unexpected tasks causes him to pick up his bag and leave town altogether and return to Fanny.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Weight<\/strong>
by Robbie Robertson \/ The Band<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
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[Verse 1]<\/strong>
I pulled in to Nazareth
Was feeling ’bout half past dead
I just need someplace
Where I can lay my head
“Hey, mister, can you tell me
Where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand
“No” was all he said<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

[Chorus]<\/strong>
Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (And, and)
You put the load right on me (You put the load right on me)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Verse 2]<\/strong>
I picked up my bag
I went looking for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil
Walking side-by-side
I said, “Hey Carmen
Come on, let’s go downtown”
She said, “I gotta go
But my friend can stick around”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Chorus]<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
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[Verse 3]<\/strong>
Go down, Miss Moses
There’s nothin’ you can say
It’s just ol’ Luke, and
Luke’s waitin’ on the Judgement Day
“Well, Luke, my friend
What about young Anna Lee?”
He said, “Do me a favor, son
Won’t ya stay and keep Anna Lee company?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Chorus]<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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[Verse 4]<\/strong>
Crazy Chester followed me
And he caught me in the fog
He said, “I will fix your rack
If you’ll take Jack, my dog”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester
You know I’m a peaceful man”
He said, “That’s okay, boy
Won’t you feed him when you can?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Chorus]<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
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[Verse 5]<\/strong>
Catch a cannonball, now
To take me down the line
My bag is sinkin’ low
And I do believe it’s time
To get back to Miss Fanny<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know she’s the only one
Who sent me here with her
Regards for everyone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Chorus]<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Playing For Change Version<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ringo claims the song is performed in the key of “F Demented.”