"The Weight"

Factual Questions
1

What does The Band’s song “The Weight” mean? There must be some interesting theories out there. Any ideas?

For those not familiar with the tune, the lyrics are as follows:

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
“Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand, and “No!”, was all he said.

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.

I picked up my bag, I went lookin’ for a place to hide;
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin’ side by side.
I said, “Hey, Carmen, come on, let’s go downtown.”
She said, “I gotta go, but m’friend can stick around.”

(Chorus)

Go down, Miss Moses, there’s nothin’ you can say
It’s just ol’ Luke, and Luke’s waitin’ on the Judgement Day.
“Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?”
He said, “Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an’ keep Anna Lee company?”

(Chorus)

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, “I will fix your rack, if you’ll take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s okay, boy, won’t you feed him when you can.”

(Chorus)

Catch a cannon ball now, t’take me down the line
My bag is sinkin’ low and I do believe it’s time.
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she’s the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.

(Chorus)

2

According to Robbie Robertson, who wrote the song, “The Weight” is a sort of lyrical tale about the domino effect:

A guy goes to Nazareth, PA (home of the Martin guitar factory) and meets a series of people who are continually asking him to do just a little something for them as he goes on his way “Say, when you run into X, could you [say], [do], [accomplish] this little thing for me?”

He’s quoted about this song in “The Grateful Dead Dictionary,” (I think that’s the title, I have the book at home)the Dead covering this song beginning in the '80s.

3

I would say the song stems from the fact that Robertson and the other members of the Band were hanging out so much with Bob Dylan, up in Big Pink in Saugerties, NY, at the time “The Weight” was written.

Bobbo was turning out all the tunes that would end up on THE BASEMENT TAPES, some of his most bizarre lyrics: “Million Dollar Bash,” “Quinn the Eskimo,” “Tiny Montgomery”…must’ve had a tremendous influence on Robbie and Rick and Leon and Richard and Garth. That and all the Adirondacks skunk-weed they were smokin’.

But here’s something more concrete. From Oliver Trager; THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD: THE DEFINITIVE GRATEFUL DEAD ENCYCLOPEDIA. Fireside Books, 1997:

Arguably the Band’s most beloved and recognizable song, “The Weight” was inspired not only by the group’s association with Dylan but by Robbie Robertson’s fascination with cinema.

"I was just as much influenced by Luis Bunuel or John Ford or Akira Kurosawa…Bunuel did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood…there were these people trying to be good, and it’s impossible to be good. In ‘The Weight’ it was a very simple thing. Someone says, “Listen, would you do me this favor? When you get there would you say hello to somebody, or would you give somebody this, or would 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 get there.’ This is what it’s all about. 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 Bunuelish to me at the time.” – Robbie Robertson

4

Thanks, Ike, for that quote. My copy of Trager’s Encyclopedia is buried in a couple dozen boxes of books in storage (lost cutody of the book shelves in the recent unpleasantness)and that’s who I was thinking of.