The Weight -- Jaime 'Robbie' Robertson

(Poem #1374) The Weight I pulled into Nazareth, I was feeling about half past dead; I just needed some place 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, and 'No' was all he said. 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. 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." Take a load off Fanny (etc.) Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothing you can say It's just ol' Luke, and Luke's waiting on the Judgement Day. "Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?" He said, "Do me a favor, son, won't you stay and keep Anna Lee company?" Take a load off Fanny (etc.) 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." Take a load off Fanny (etc.) Catch a cannonball now, to take me down the line My bag is sinking low and I do believe it's time. To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one. Who sent me here with her regards for everyone. Take a load off Fanny (etc.) -- Jaime 'Robbie' Robertson

 From the album "Music from Big Pink", by 'The Band', released in 1968.

 First, there's the music. The Band's music, while generally classed
under 'folk rock', was in reality a wonderfully diverse mix of styles.
The foundation was built on folk tunes and jug music, but these roots
were overlaid with rock flourishes, blues rhythms and gospel harmonies,
and tinged with soul, bluegrass and swing.

 Next, there are the arrangements. The Band started out as a tight-knit
rock and roll outfit, but under Dylan's influence they sprawled out into
a more 'relaxed' group, experimenting with different instrumental and
vocal lineups (the fact that each member was proficient on multiple
instruments, and that there were three excellent vocalists on the
roster, helped). As a result their music often sounded like a work in
progress, a group of musicians searching for a common goal. This
potentially untidy approach worked surprisingly well; at any rate it
proved perfect for the kind of music (eclectic, rough-hewn,
down-to-earth) they generally performed. (Their harmonies, especially,
are remarkable: they're distinctly non-traditional, and nowhere near as
'pretty' as Simon & Garfunkel's, but they have a power all their own).

 And finally, there are the lyrics. In keeping with the diversity of
musical styles and the multiplicity of instrumental approaches, the
Band's lyrics reflect various strains of a mythologized Americana. And
nowhere is this more evident than in the centrepiece of their first
album, 'The Weight'. The theme is not hard to grasp -- it's about the
burdens that come to weigh on a man who's simply trying to do "what's
right" -- but the handling is subtle. Allusions to religion (Nazareth,
the Devil, Judgement Day) mingle with references to American culture
('Go Down Moses' is the title of a short story by Faulkner; the 'Wabash
Cannonball' is a mythical train that has visited every small-town
station in America [1]) and The Band's personal history (Crazy Chester,
Anna Lee and Old Luke are all supposedly based on real people). The
whole is an intensely visual, almost Impressionistic tapestry, where
form, content and execution meet to lovely effect.

thomas.

[1] See [broken link] http://www.utahphillips.org/songbook/wabashcannonball.html, and
also http://ingeb.org/songs/wabashca.html, and also (especially) Robert
Bloch's excellent short story "That Hell-Bound Train".

PS. Here's a fairly detailed essay on today's song, somewhat rambling
and disorganized, but a good read nonetheless:
        http://theband.hiof.no/articles/the_weight_viney.html