“The Weight” is likely the best song ever produced by The Band. The lyrics are laden with meaning, and the debate about just what meaning has raged ever since the song was first released. First, was it “Fanny” or “Annie?” “Carmen or Karma?” Robbie Robertson wrote the song while staying in Woodstock in 1967 and has remarked that the group didn’t know at the time just how massive and popular the song would become. One idea about the lyrics is that they’re a modern Biblical parable about expecting to receive things when asking for them (Matthew 7: 7-8). Unfortunately, the song’s narrator doesn’t receive those things when asking—instead, those he asks lump conditions onto him, such as “… take Jack my dog” or “… keeping Anna Lee company.” The other connotation of the lyrics is simply that the narrator has suffered some emotional disaster, often thought to be the loss of a love interest, and just wants someplace to lie down and think.

Finding the Song Everywhere

The song is ubiquitous. It has appeared in soundtracks of movies and television programs dozens of times. These range from “Easy Rider” to the reboot of “Hawaii Five-0.” It has also appeared in many commercials, backing tracks on radio promotions, and even as background on news programs. Perhaps its most famous appearance occurred in 2017 when, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the song, the collaborative organization called “Playing for Change” recorded it using about two dozen artists from around the world. It takes a full 18 months or so to record a song in such a manner because the people in Israel, Hawaii, Nepal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bahrain, Italy, the U.S., and other far-flung places have to make sure that all of them are in tune and in phase when the producers splice the clips together for the song.

Ringo Is the Rock of the Performance

Ringo Starr, at age 77, played the drums on the song. At the other end of the spectrum, Marcus King, who sings the first verse, was just 20 years old at the time of filming. The other performers range in age between those two “bookends.” Ringo’s line of, “What key is it in, Robbie? F-Demented,” shows his humor even as he approached his eighth decade on Earth at the time. The producers filmed in front of landmarks like Bob Marley’s house in Trenchtown, Jamaica. The “Playing for Change” powers that be labeled the song as having transcended time and space over the five decades between its composition and the video.

Lyrics

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, “no” was all he said

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

Go down, Miss Moses, there’s nothin’ you can say
It’s just old Luke and Luke’s waitin’ on the Judgment 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 (and, and) you put the load right on me
(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 take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s OK, boy, won’t you feed him when you can?”

Yeah, 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
(You put the load right on me)

Catch a cannon ball now to 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 (and, and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

Listeners of music from the 1960’s, might also appreciate the song whiter shade of pale by Procol Harum.