# he's not heavy...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 15, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399 "2003-11-15T06:41:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/1 "2003-11-15T06:41:36Z")

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what is the origin of “he’s not heavy, he’s my brother” ?

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**Author:** ![Wheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@Wheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheel)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/2 "2003-11-15T06:52:45Z")

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It’s from a [song](http://www.stinalisa.com/Brother.html) by the Hollies.

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**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/3 "2003-11-15T06:55:15Z")

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It’s “he **ain’t** heavy…”

🙂 I love that song.

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**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/4 "2003-11-15T07:11:45Z")

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I believe that it has been the slogan of Father Flannagan’s Boystown since the 1930’s. It is a group home for boys and girls with branches all over. Their old logo used to show a guy giving a kid a ride on his back with the caption “He ain’t Heavy, he’s my brother.”

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**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/5 "2003-11-15T07:44:37Z")

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According to Nat Geographic Fr.Flanagan saw a picture on a magazine cover (sounds like Rockwell)with the caption "He ain’t heavy,Mr.he’s my brother"in 1941.  
He bought the rights and changed the slogan leaving off the Mr.but it always was a pic of a boy with a smaller boy riding piggy back,with,IIRC,a leg brace.

Another long ago remembrance is they mailed stamps with the pic and slogan for donations,like the easter seals back then (do they have those anymore?)

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/6 "2003-11-15T09:22:36Z")

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From the official Girls and Boys Town website:

[What is the story behind the two brothers statute?](http://www.girlsandboystown.org/aboutus/qa/history.asp#bros)

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-heavy/213399/7 "2003-11-15T09:23:39Z")

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Er, make that “statue”.