The Weight

Atlas famously carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

It was never a top ten hit, but The Weight is a masterpiece for the ages. It's a song about responsibility. Almost every line, place and name in the song doubles Biblical and Southern allusions.

Nazareth is a famous biblical city, and an industrial town in Pa., and the home of the Martin guitar factory.

In the song there's messages hidden for musicians, the faithful, the sexual, the disillusioned and the political.

In each verse the singer is asked to be responsible for something... something unsolvable... for themselves and others. Through the chorus the song shares in the uplifting joy of taking on responsibility even when that burden, that load, carries with it a weight and pain of all sort... even when it's impossible.

We live in a world where "I am not responsible" is a rally cry and whole industries and books of law exist simply to support the notion that "I am not legally liable" is an end goal of most enterprise. There's a fiction that responsibility can be shared, like in government, but where more than one is responsible then no one is responsible. The unwillingness to accept or burden others with responsibility has resulted in a kind of polite paralysis. Guilt, if divided enough, gets broken down into small forgettable pieces.

But the song reminds us, even when we fail, when we misstep, when we get in beyond our capacities, the willingness to take on responsibility, the weight, is the greatest human trait and the single unique feature shared by all our most storied human family. It's the essential building block of character and self-knowledge connecting us to the spiritual, natural and human world around us. Without it we are untethered and alone. It's a concept as close to love as anything in the world. It's an undertaking that will lead to the most incredible journeys.

Next time you're drawn to someone, when you think wow, that person is amazing, ask yourself why. Deeply. I wouldn't be surprised if it's because that person willingly, maybe irresistibly, took on a responsibility. 

The song was written 50 years ago and will surely be sung by people around fires (camp or survival) 50 years from now. It's a song anyone can sing. It's designed with verses to be shared around and the chorus is a simple perfect lesson in musical harmony. The Band showed us how music was made... with friends, where they found it.

In stark contrast to much of pop music that's made catchy, but purposefully inaccessible, in the end this is what the song is for. It's meant to be shared. It's a doorway into music that's been left unlocked and open. It's for everyone to pass through. And in doing so the singer, the listener, the performer, can know a little of what it feels like - good and bad - to pass through that door... what it feels like to offer to be responsible.

Sing it and you'll see.

Lyrics

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

Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And you 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 my friend can stick around"

Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And you put the load right on me

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, won't you stay and keep Anna Lee company?"

Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And you put the load right on me

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"

Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And you put the load right on me

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

Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And you put the load right on me