The Weight

 
The Band played an interesting brand of music that was hard to classify. They saw themselves principally as a Rock n' Roll band but they drew inspiration from the rich heritage of American folk music. Being that, they also absorbed the underlying, essentially christian, moral tenets. Towards the end of the movie, "The Last Waltz", we see them teaming up with the Staple Singers for a rousing rendition of "The Weight". For want of a better term, we might classify the song as a 'spiritual'.

The first verse starts with Levon Helm probing:
"Pulled into Nazareth, I was feeling about half past dead. I needed to find a place where I could lay my head. Hey Mister, won't you tell me where a man might find a bed. He just shook my hand, No, was all he said."

The chorus: "Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny and and put the load right on me."

We ask. Who's Fanny? What's the load?

The second verse goes like this with Mavis Staple beaming:
"Picked up my bag, went looking for a place to hide. Then I saw Carmen and the devil walking side by side. I said, hey Carmen, let's go downtown. She said, I gotta go but my friend can stick around"

The chorus:
"Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny and and put the load right on me."

Why does Carmen leave me with the devil?
We still ask. Who's Fanny? What's the load?

The third verse has Pops Staple humming:
"Go down Miss Moses, there's nothing more you can say. It's just old Luke and Luke is waiting on judgment day. I said, Luke my friend, what about young Anna Lee? He said, do me a favor son. Won't you stay and keep Anna Lee company?"

The chorus:
"Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny and and put the load right on me."

Who is Miss Moses and go down where? Is she a Nurse? Is Luke dying? Luke tells me to look after Anna Lee since I am the one who asked.

The fourth verse kicks in with Rick Danko cajoling:
"Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in a fog. He said, I'll fix your rack if you take old 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 whenever you can."

The chorus:
"Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny and and put the load right on me."

Crazy Chester dumps his dog on me. What do I do now?

Everyone sings: "Catch a cannonball now and take me on 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. She sent me here, with her regards for everyone. Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny and and put the load right on me."

The infusion of the gospel style of the Staple Singers turns a plain parable into a fantastic piece of music.

There is a feeling that the song is about passing the buck. Obligations not taken get passed on and problems are just dumped but since problems don't go away, someone has to pick them up to be dealt with, one way or another. Even with this rationale, puzzles remain in the obscure wordings of the song.

Fanny appears to be an allegorical figure representing both justice and fortune. Taking the load off the former would indicate tilting the scale of Justice and Fortune is blindfolded so she can't see who is taking what.

In other ways, the song might be suggesting how people take every opportunity to shirk responsibility. This is the weight.

There's a lot of discussion in the world at the moment about what to do for the environment. Some don't quite believe that a problem exists, some have become very pessimistic while others are saying we need a miracle. We do but perhaps people have different ideas about what a miracle is.

 
Roma, 19 1 2008