# "The Weight" by The Band: What is this song about?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 11, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447 "2003-05-11T04:19:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447/1 "2003-05-11T04:19:50Z")

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I’ve always liked the song _The weight_ by the Band, but I’ve never been able to figure out what the lyrics are supposed to mean. Does anyone know what this song is about, or is it just cryptic nonsense words?

[Lyrics to _The weight_](http://classicrock.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.olga.pl/main/b/band/the%5Fweight.crd)

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**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447/2 "2003-05-11T04:36:43Z")

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Wheredid you get the idea that the lyrics were nonsense?

They make perfect sense.

They tell a story.

Granted, there are a number of holes in the story, but the lyrics clearly tell a story.

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**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447/3 "2003-05-11T04:44:40Z")

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There’s sort of an explanation [here](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=12:4346lAM&sql=X3304169)

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447/4 "2003-05-11T04:52:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \*  
> \*\*There’s sort of an explanation [here](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=12:4346lAM&sql=X3304169) \*\*

Thanks for the link. Well that makes sense sort of. It’s just sort of an impressionistic lyrical collage then. I’ve always tried to make sense of the Biblical references, but maybe I was trying too hard to tie everything together.

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**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weight-by-the-band-what-is-this-song-about/174447/5 "2003-05-11T05:22:58Z")

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Try this link…it’s pretty informative.

[http://theband.hiof.no/articles/the\_weight\_viney.html](http://theband.hiof.no/articles/the_weight_viney.html)