i think it's the perfect song, maybe one of the the greatest songs ever written . RIP Robbie. I love the Band. RIP Levon, Rick, Richard. Greatest Band ever. They were our Beatles.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Love this idea. May do a video on it!

@jeffnnj

8 ай бұрын

100%

In my humble opinion, a song means whatever the listener perceives/wants it to mean, a truly great classic such as this one, resonates with different people in very different ways- Timeless

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Very much so agree!

I think this song is the musical equivalent of a Seinfeld episode. It is about nothing but could be about anything. Like a Seinfeld episode, various eclectic characters interact with little, if any, real depth or meaning. I really like this song and have since the late 1960's. At one point in my life I tried to think about the meaning behind the song. In later years, I think I "got the joke" that it really isn't about anything, just a story of interaction between random fictional characters.

@user-mg5ed3qk1b

10 ай бұрын

Yeah...the song is nothing...great song..but it doesn't make sense.

@mitchbradford

9 ай бұрын

Maybe that's how life is!

@user-mg5ed3qk1b

9 ай бұрын

@@mitchbradford or what seems to be nothing now in our own life is tied to a greater something in the grand scheme of all things!

@mitchbradford

9 ай бұрын

Nailed it. Brilliant! @@user-mg5ed3qk1b

people always look for a big hit - a song like The Weight takes time to simmer and then becomes a staple to the listener who appreciates its groove

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

Definitely. It gets better with age

" Easy Rider" was a perfect fit for this song IMO. A great song it IS.

Magnificent work.all their work.i love the shape im in, it drags me in

It’s simple. It’s complex. And everything in between. It’s just about as perfect as rock or poetry gets.

Everyone of these characters were Levon stories. Anna Lee was his friend from Arkansas, All these Band songs were Levon stories. Anyone who spent any time with him knows this

@hannejeppesen1809

9 ай бұрын

That is true for The Weight and The Night the Drove the old Dixie down. However, he wrote so many songs. Stage Freight is about his and Bob Dylan's experience with just that. Listen to "It makes no difference" it is about heartbreak, can fit anybody who have loved and lost. The Shape I'm in", is about Richard Manuel, and his struggle with alcohol and drugs.

@Pizzageek-jc4xp

8 ай бұрын

and I think I read that crazy chesrer was a guy they all knew in woodstock

@Alan-lo1qc

8 ай бұрын

Then why is he not listed as the songwriter

@salgaldenco

8 ай бұрын

@@Alan-lo1qc He didn't write it.

It’s about all of it, how you need to hear it at the time is what it’s about

I would just like to add that the Version on the last waltz with the Staples is great. I love Mavis and pops is so cool.

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

Definitely. Maybe we do a video on the Last Waltz!

Like you said; It just works,the meaning doesn’t matter! So many people try to read so many things into so many songs,(ie-Bob Dylan,The Beatles) and most of the time there is no “deep/hidden meaning”! Just enjoy the damn song and stop trying to read stuff into it people! Stop doing so many God damn drugs!

@mitchbradford

11 ай бұрын

Love this. Sometimes the song just works and meaning is secondary.

this is in the top 3 songs ever written!!!!

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Definitely agree. What are your other 2?

@user-vc2wd1mp5w

27 күн бұрын

Im on that wagon with you.i say top5 but whose countin.

@user-vc2wd1mp5w

27 күн бұрын

Maybe " who knows" - band of gypsys ,can you feel it" - johny winter.were clearly on a different level, so were just havin fun.

For a non musician such as myself The Weight offers me the chance to take my life on a self revealing journey. The road I take starts out in a simple straight line but before long twists, turns, delays, and forks in the road extend the trip and keep pushing the end I seek and need further and further away.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Love this. Life is a journey!

I read that the line "Take a load off Fanny" is Canadian slang for weed.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

Chester is my favorite verse.

@sartainja

8 ай бұрын

Based upon a real character that lived in Fayetteville Arkansas that would dress up like a cowboy and play sheriff of the town. Think he might have been “touched” as we say down South.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Mine too.

Love it Classic song

@mitchbradford

4 ай бұрын

What do you love about it?

Hi..66 yrs here. I think it's about travel with unsure destination...running across others needs who aren't free to travel. IN this Fanny is the only sure comforter he knows.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

I like it.

I was first introduced to the song, I think it was in Junior high. A friend of mine went by Luke and his name was in the song. I liked the earthly country feel to the the song. I still like it for the that reason and will play a long on my harmonica when I'm solo camping in the woods. (it helps keep the little critters away).

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

haha amazing!

Lets face it, we sll love the band.that says something important about us, and the band.

I always enjoyed this song

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

One of my favorites!

The last word of this song from the Last Waltz is very faint but describes the entire song. Turn it up and tell me if you can hear it. It's....

The version of this song, that I like best, is the Playing For Change version... The capper, is when the song is over, and Robbie looks at the camera... Kind of bashful, a little embarrassed, and very proud... It could easily be his Magnum Opus. His greatest work... He will be dearly missed...

It means what it makes you think or feel.

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

I dig it. What does it make you feel?

Their best song, and that’s saying something. Try to remember. There was a war on. “Carmen and the devil walking side by side. I’m going, my friend can stick around.” Doesn’t sound mysterious to me. Carmen’s friend is still sticking around. The Band could have sung “wake up, wake up, wake up”, but it would have been less catchy.

greatest song ever

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Definitely up there!

Liked ur explanation

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Gracias! Thank you!

Consider “The Weight” one of the greatest americano song of all time: perfect blend of many types of music.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Definitely. What else would you add?

@sartainja

8 ай бұрын

@@mitchbradford Nothing. Think it is perfect.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Rock on. Love it.@@sartainja

Why did he go to NAZARETH ? I understood he had writer's block until he looked into the sound hole on his MARTIN guitar and saw it was hand-made in Nazareth Pennsylvania. (may be a folk legend)

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Makes sense. Love Martin guitars, too!

@earllsimmins9373

7 ай бұрын

@@mitchbradford I was a friend of Maury Mulehiesen,Croce guitarist, Martin named a guitar in his honor.

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

@@earllsimmins9373love it. What’s the guitar? I will check it out

@earllsimmins9373

7 ай бұрын

@@mitchbradford Martin Guitar Maury Muehleisen Edition should be that easy to look up

‘68 was a time many great songs were out, and The Weight had some psychedelic elements, given the context/times. But yes, put the load right on me, is easily, reference to Jesus…the religious backdrop u mentioned w/ that film guy that had an influence on Robbie.

best song ever written

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Yeah. It's remarkable.

I have always been a Band fan, and not to discredit Robinson, because I have great respect for each of those guys, but me thinks their body of lyrics may be vague associations of events personal to them, and remain ambivalent to whether we "get" em or not. Especially since there isn't that much to "get". I gave up trying to read too deep, and just enjoy the music at face value. Semper Big Pink.

@mitchbradford

11 ай бұрын

Semper Big Pink. Love it.

@tonyb1063

8 ай бұрын

Definitely! Anna Lee was a girl Levon grew up with in Arkansas. Luke was ex-Hawk Jimmy Ray Paulman and Crazy Chester lived in Helena, AR!

ALL OF THE ABOVE

All of the above ☝️

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

Rock on. You nailed it Gregory!

Songs about Cathy smith

Isn't it about a man on a road trip, stops to rest in a small town, can't find a motel and keeps getting delayed by a bunch of odd characters who want something from him and he never reached his goal of getting a good rest..

Impressionist

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

It's an impressionist song? That's a good reading. I dig it.

3 minutes is a lot more like 180 seconds.

It is a good song.

@mitchbradford

8 ай бұрын

What's your favorite?

RS has it on one of their lists? normally that mean I probably don’t like it or should avoid it like the plague

@mitchbradford

9 ай бұрын

Rolling Stone used to make great lists!

Seen then 1986 okc zoo ametheter

@mitchbradford

7 ай бұрын

How was it?

Good vid about a great song but that was 224 seconds 🤣

@mitchbradford

11 ай бұрын

We are working on a new title! What should it be?

@freeblom

11 ай бұрын

@@mitchbradford "The Weight" by the Band - History of a Song in 224 Seconds

@mitchbradford

11 ай бұрын

😂😂😂@@freeblom

Sounds like a dad who's trafficking his kid now that I actually pay attention to the lyrics. Yeah, I guess that's "important".

@killgrlp0werhead31

Ай бұрын

Or some "young Anny Lee".

@killgrlp0werhead31

Ай бұрын

Who knows who's kid she was?

This is crap.