Talk:The Weight

Detroit group
Removed the uncited reference to a Detroit band called "The Weight", probably nothing more than a garage band without any sources.

Dave Matthews Band?
When does DMB play "The Weight"... I am not sure this is a true statement

Silent Title Record
I'm not familiar with this term, and cannot find a reference anywhere to its use. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.234.143.133 (talk) 02:39, 13 April 2007 (UTC).

There used to be a "List of songs whose title does not appear in the lyrics" on Wikipedia, but it appears to have been deleted (for no good reason!)68.251.251.253 21:45, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Theweight.jpg
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BetacommandBot 02:33, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Theweight.jpg
Image:Theweight.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 03:22, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Personnel?
It's not the best word for that section title. Perhaps "Band Members" or "Song Credits" would be a more suitable heading - and more commonly used throughout Wikipedia in this context.

121.44.23.135 (talk) 06:26, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

why does this section exist??
hmmm. arguments over the interpretation and complete lack of citations shows what? Doyle doyle (talk) 19:24, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

Of course, the comments below are by someone who hasn't read the article carefully. The passage at the start of the Composition section is a direct quote from the composer. The text below it attempts to drive Robbie Robertson's words home. The interpretation is rather plain and doesn't require much analysis or speculation after one's takes a Southern viewpoint.

The lyrics are copyrighted so they shouldn't be reproduced in the article. As of this date, a copyrighted version of the lyrics is accessed via footnote #5 in the references. The lyrics on the link clears a lot of misinterpretations up. Fanny and Annie are two different people. Crazy Chester offers to fix a rack not rat. It's very clear that the traveler arrives in Nazareth in a car or truck and leaves by train. The vehicle is left behind. The last mention of it is with Crazy Chester. Crazy Chester offers to fix the traveler's rack if the traveler takes Jack, the dog. The traveler says he doesn't want Jack because he's a peaceful man, which mans the dog attacks people. That, apparently, is the price Chester sets for fixing the rack. In the end, the price is too high -- Chester just wants the traveler to feed Jack once in a while.

If anything that is not said in the current version, is that the traveler's experience at the end of each verse is a disappointment with someone he meets. He can't can get help finding a place to sleep. Carmen doesn't want to speak with the traveler. Luke would rather sit and pray rather than join Miss Moses in helping to "let her people go" (lyrics from "Go Down Moses"). The traveler can't get his vehicle fixed. So he leaves town on a train -- his bag sinking low. "Fanny, what did you get me into?"

INCORRECT BIBLE REFERENCE

I don't think the third and fourth lines are a reference to Mary and Joseph and the Christmas story. (The traveler meets a man, not a couple, and this is happening in Nazareth, not Bethlehem.) Rather, the reference is to Matthew 8:20 & Luke 9:58, thus giving the impression that he meets Jesus Himself. (Nazareth is Jesus' home town, and the verses I reference explain why Jesus doesn't know where to find a bed.) A more biblically literate generation would have understood the reference, but it's mostly lost on today's listeners.

GnatFriend (talk) 23:43, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

*
This wiki article must be one of the worst I have ever read, and yet I see no dissent. I base my comment on a few points:

1. No lyrics. Why would one have an article on a song w/o ACCURATE lyrics? 2. You do NOT have accurate lyrics, which will be explained below. 3. Your analysis is INCREDIBLY shallow and weak, I do not care WHO your source is...it simply does not follow from the lyrics.

A. Accurate lyrics: Crazy Chester most certainly does NOT offer to "fix his car" (or "rags" as others claim). If someone said "I'll fix your car", why would your response be "I'm a peaceful man."? Clearly that would be an absurd, irrational response. He offered to "fix your rat...". A rat is someone who reports you to authorities for a crime. He was offering to kill the "rat", which frightened the traveler.

B. Analysis: Makes no sense. It does not follow from the lyrics in any way.

C. A FAR more plausible (but not necessarily correct) analysis would be the traveler had been "ratted on" for a crime he committed. He was going somewhere he thought was safe...a small town where he knew the people and he thought they liked him. He felt "1/2 past dead" and needed a place to "lay his head" because he was tired and stressed from being on the run. He expressly says "I went looking for a place to hide.". He says "hey carmen!" who tells him "I don't want to be around you, go to the devil.". Luke is waiting for the judgement day, insinuating he is just. He also wants nothing to do with the traveler, but for some reason thinks anna lee would. Crazy Chester offers to FIX YOUR RAT (ie kill the person who ratted him out). Saying "wait a minute chester, you know I'm a peaceful man" now makes sense. Catching a cannonball would kill you...like "catching a bullet"...a common term for being shot. As in, "maybe it's better I'd be dead, as "my bag is sinking low (I'm SO tired)". Or cannonball could refer to a train (take him down the line...get out of nazareth, because this is not how I thought it would be. He may wish to get back to annie and try to fix the relationship.

I admit I do not understand the nature of annie. Perhaps she actually committed the crime and was the rat. Maybe they were lovers and she ratted him out on a crime because she was angry about something. Anyway you look at it, your analysis of "some guy went somewhere to say "Hi"", is absurd. "Sent by annie" must be a metaphor. Perhaps he killed annie, for which he was "ratted out"? By "catching a cannonball" (certain death) he could "move down the line" (out of this life) and be with annie again?

The ACCURATE lyrics to the song need to be in the article...it only makes sense. The analysis needs to be scrapped and needs to explain why no one wants anything to do with him, why carmen thinks he should "go with the devil", why crazy chester is following him and frightening him, why the "righteous man" doesn't want to be with him, etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kenfo 0 (talk • contribs) 21:50, 28 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I am pretty sure your "analysis" of "proper lyrics" has no credibility when you seem to think the long refers to an "Annie." It is clearly "Fanny" in the chorus and final verse (although there is an Anna Lee in one verse), and Robbie Robertson, his manager, and The Band's record label have all stated that it is Fanny. 108.28.100.84 (talk) 01:33, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

"fix a rack" / "fix your rack" use copyrighted lyrics for reference in this article
Rack is slang for bed. He's still trying to find a place to sleep. Chester will throw some bedding on a cot or pallet in exchange for dog care. No car in the story, or he would have slept in it. Pulled into town off the tracks, most likely, same way he left. Doyle doyle (talk) 02:22, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Yes, rack IS another word for bed, but that meaning is not consistent with the lyrics -- which is misquoted above. See the copyrighted version (Dwarf Music) http://theband.hiof.no/lyrics/the_weight.html or look at copyrighted sheet music. The lyrics (which Rick Danko always sang so greatly) are "I'll fix your rack, if you'll take Jack my dog." not "I'll fix you a rack, ...". Crazy Chester offers to repair something of the traveler's. The traveler is not carrying a bed, and a gun rack is mounted on a vehicle -- but the traveler leaves without a vehicle. Also, the "fix your rack" episode is the 4th verse, after "Go down, Miss Moses" chronologically goes way past immediately pulling into Nazareth. (Surely, Miss Moses or Luke could have pointed him to a place to sleep.) The very first line is, "I pulled into Nazareth..." -- he's driving himself (people don't use first person singular when someone else is driving). The traveler does have a choice to sleep in his vehicle or outside. You think most people might decide to sleep in their car if it's night (would a poor Southerner in the 1960s?) -- but it's not clear its night -- it's certainly light enough to see Carmen and the Devil walking by, so, maybe, he wanted to nap before resuming his search for a motel or hotel or somewhere else. BTW, it would be most helpful for article writers to reference copyrighted material -- there's a lot of stuff that is just wrong posted about the Internet, including incorrect lyrics. Putting "Annie" in the chorus instead of "Fannie" is just an example.

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2005 Remix with overdubs
In the Notable performances of "The Weight" by The Band section, it mentions that a 2005 remix of the song, with Manuel's Lowrey organ restored, was released on the iTunes Store version of A Musical History. In A Musical History, it looks like this remix is called "2005 remix with overdubs" and no one seemed to pick that up. Should there be any mention of it the remix being called "2005 remix with overdubs" in this article? In addition to Manuel's Lowrey organ being restored for 2005 remix, the article doesn't seem to mention why it was eliminated from the original studio version in the first place, with the Lowrey organ being prominent in other performances, such as Woodstock and The Last Waltz.--2601:153:900:43F0:3813:9EF8:FA5A:C703 (talk) 01:24, 12 August 2018 (UTC)

Playing for Change
The 2019 (or 2018, as allegedly celebrating the 50th birthday of the song?) Playing for Chage version deserves a mention - but are there other sources than the youtube video, ?--Nø (talk) 13:49, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Area where Levon Helm grew up?
The article includes the sentence

'After Helm's death in 2012, Robertson, who was raised in Canada, described how visits to the Memphis, Tennessee, area, around which Helm grew up, affected him and influenced his songwriting'

Which is odd because the wiki page for Levon Helm says he grew up in Arkansas. Does someone know this for certain?Dean1954 (talk) 12:56, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Take a look at the map. Memphis is the closest sizable city to Marvell AR. I'd change "around" to "near". --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 14:14, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations version
,, and others: Googlebook searches have turned up no reliable sources that discuss this version of the song, other than that it was a collaboration that reached the record charts. This is probably why in the 10+ years since it was added (including three years with a "needs additional citations for verification" tag), there are no refs other than for chart positions. There is nothing to indicate that this version is noteworthy enough to devote a separate section with an infobox and chart table: if there's nothing else to say about it beyond album, date, and charts, it should treated the same way as the other three versions, that is as line entry under "Versions by other artists". —Ojorojo (talk) 15:54, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree that there's nothing sufficiently notable about this version to warrant an infobox. (It's also pretty terrible...) WP:COVERSONG spells out what covers should be included in song articles, but is there a similar policy regarding which covers should have infoboxes? --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 17:21, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I haven't seen any, but I think it's time to address the issue, possibly as an addition to COVERSONG. Fans adding infoboxes for covers by their favorite artists regardless if they appropriate is nothing new. More recently, a group of dedicated editor(s) has also been adding chart tables (often with one or two entries) to many articles with absolutely no other info (O Holy Night, Silent Night). When combined with infoboxes, as was the case in this article, it puts even greater emphasis on unremarkable covers. Could the two issues be combined for a discussion at WT:SONGS or keep them separate? —Ojorojo (talk) 14:18, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

Who is Fanny??
Fanny is (currently) not cited in the article.

Take a load off Fanny

Take a load for free

Take a load off Fanny

And (and, and) you put the load right on me

Genius.com (links) say the most well resourced explanation of Fanny is Cathy Smith, a groupie, later a “socialite”. She dated Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson of The Band, Gordon Lightfoot, and… John Belushi. She, at 16 yrs old, got (some of) The Band off a drugs charge. []

But a better answer (also via genius.com) is;

Frances “Fanny” Steloff, who opened the legendary Gotham Book Mart on West 47th Street in Manhattan, New Year’s Day, 1920. She still ran it when Robertson haunted the film section in the late 1960s, studying Bergman’s and Bunuel’s film scripts. []

MBG02 (talk) 07:04, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

Nicky Hopkins
Page 319 of "And on Piano...Nicky Hopkins - the extraordinary life of rock's greatest session man", it states that it was Nicky playing piano on The Weight! Johnalexwood (talk) 13:22, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

The Weight
What about the version of this song, done by the Smiths, for the famous movie, Easy Rider? Why isn't that listed, under other versions of The Weight, by covering artists? How come Wikipedia doesn't mention that (most) important cover version, of the Band's song, The Weight? 2600:4041:452D:EC00:706E:7C66:A62F:1684 (talk) 23:48, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
 * The song within the movie is the original, but the Band did not license it for the Easy Rider (soundtrack) album, thus studio musicians covered it. Matthead (talk) 02:38, 18 May 2023 (UTC)

Characters from Helm's real life should be mentioned
If you read any of the biographies of Helm, they're packed with people like Anna Lee, who have the same quirky southern names as the characters in this song. Kevintimba (talk) 16:21, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

John Denver Version
People failed to mension a version. It's available on a bonus disc to the Definitive Collection. Titanic4151912 (talk) 07:52, 5 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Does it satisfy WP:COVERSONG? Wikipedia does not indiscriminately collect cover versions.  Tkbrett  (✉) 10:40, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Grateful Dead version
Sorry, I'm not versed at adding or editing here. But: The Weight was performed about 40 times by the Grateful Dead in the 1990's. It was subsequently performed by The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, Ratdog and Phil & Friends. Also performed by the New Riders Of The Purple Sage. 184.58.190.52 (talk) 21:17, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

conan o’brien
comedian conan o’brien did a cover of this song for his ‘legally prohibited from being funny on television’ tour and it is on the sound track for the film ‘conan o’brien can’t stop’. should it be added to the list of covers? Joopfoop (talk) 00:58, 27 February 2024 (UTC)