The Weight

"The Weight" is the title of a song by The Band. It was composed by Robbie Robertson c. 1968.

Related Topics:
The Band - Robbie Robertson - 1968

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The song takes the folk music motif of a traveler in a strange town arriving and encountering the residents of the town, Nazareth. These 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 Fanny," who has sent him on his journey, and "the weight" of the song is the burden of travel, of giving a message to the town, and/or sin. The chorus refers to taking a load off of Fanny and putting it on the singer. Because of the numerous Biblical allusions in the character names and incidents in the song, its theme may be allegorical and may refer to a purgatorial experience. On The Band's first album Music from Big Pink, The Weight is sung with one verse per primary singer in the group.

Related Topics:
Folk music - Satan - Apocalypse - Biblical - Music from Big Pink

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According to Robbie Robertson, the song 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."

Related Topics:
Luis Buñuel - Viridiana - Nazarín

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It was played in such movies as Hope Floats, Igby Goes Down, The Big Chill, Easy Rider, Girl, Interrupted, Patch Adams and Starsky & Hutch, and has been heard on a commercial by Cingular/AT&T Wireless, a telecommunications company.

Related Topics:
Hope Floats - Igby Goes Down - The Big Chill - Easy Rider - Girl, Interrupted - Patch Adams - Starsky & Hutch - Cingular - AT&T Wireless - Telecommunications

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"The Weight" has been covered by many other acts, including O.A.R., Spooky Tooth, Aretha Franklin, and a joint effort by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations.

Related Topics:
Cover - O.A.R. - Spooky Tooth - Aretha Franklin - Diana Ross & the Supremes - The Temptations

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There are two bands named for this song. The lead singer of the country band "The Weight" is Joseph Plunket, and the band's first full length album, Ten Mile Grace, was released in 2004. The Detroit-area rock heptet "the Weight" put out their first self-titled album in 2004.

Related Topics:
Joseph Plunket - 2004

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