“The Weight” by Robbie Robertson is one of The Band’s best-known songs. It was released on their 1968 breakout album, Music from the Big Pink. It is ranked among the greatest rock songs of all time by Rolling Stone and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The song’s narrative is a commentary on the impossibility of doing good, emphasizing that morality and virtue require effort. Jake Grogan quotes Robertson philosophically explaining his song as the weight placed on one’s shoulders when fulfilling a favor: “The Weight was this very simple thing. Someone says, ‘Listen, would you do me this favor? When you get there, will you say hello to somebody, or will you give somebody this, or will you pick up one of these for me? … I’ve only come here to say ‘hello’ for somebody, and I’ve got myself in this incredible predicament.”
Trivia: The opening line of the song, “I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead,” refers to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where Martin Guitars manufactures their instruments.
Source: Origins of a Song by Jake Grogan, 2018. Graphic: The Weight video by Robbie Robertson and Ringo Star, 2018 Universal Music Publishing.
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