Chords for "The Weight" by the Band – History of a Song in 60 Seconds

_ I pulled into Nazareth, was feeling about [A] half past dead.
This is History of a Song.
Buckle up, as today we're driving
into the timeless classic, The Wait.
I'm Mitch Bradford, I'm a singer-songwriter
with over a [C#] million streams on [F#] Spotify,
and I love songwriting.
The band consisted of Robbie Robertson,
Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson.
And the interesting thing about the band
was it was the band's first release
under this moniker, The [C#] Band.
They had [G#] previously released [A] music
as the Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks.
Now it's 1968, [C#] The Wait releases on the band's
debut [A] album, Music from Big Pink.
The Wait wasn't a hit right when it came out.
It got considerable radio [D] play,
but it peaked at number [A] 63 in the [E] US.
It's not [D] that high.
It did fare better [A] internationally though.
It charted at number [D] 35 in Canada, number 21 in the UK.
All in all, its unique blend of Americana, folk, and rock
captured [F#] the hearts and minds of listeners worldwide,
and it became a staple of that [E] roots rock [D] sound
that the band became [G] known for.
Robbie Robertson, the [E] song's primary writer,
once [G#] explained the writing process.
He said,
When I [D] wrote The Wait, I wanted to write something
[A] that could have been a movie.
[Am] It was basically a day in the life
of a [C#] place that I came from.
In another interview, Robertson [E] also stated,
I think the song was about the impossibility of sainthood.
It's kind of a complex, oblique statement,
but it appears that Robbie Robertson
was very influenced by Bunuel, the filmmaker at the [C#m] time.
He said, quote,
Bunuel did [D] so many films on the [A] impossibility of sainthood.
People trying to be good in Verdiana, Nazarene.
[D] People trying to do their [F#] thing.
In The Wait, it's the same thing.
[D] People like Bunuel would make [A] films
that had these religious [D] connotations to them,
but it wasn't necessarily religious meaning.
In Bunuel, there were these people trying to be good,
and it's impossible to be good.
In The Wait, it was this [A] very simple thing.
Someone says, listen, would you do me [F#] this favor?
When [E] you get there, will you say [A] hello to somebody?
Will you give somebody this?
Will you pick up one of [G#] these for me?
Oh, you're going to Nazareth?
That's where the Martin [A] Guitar Factory is.
Do me a favor when you're there.
This is what it's all about.
I'm shortening it here,
but it seems Ravi's trying to get [E] at the difficulty
[D] of getting to your destination.
You [E] set off looking for something,
and on the way, you get turned off course.
You get mixed up with the devil or [A] crazy Chester,
and suddenly you're working towards their aims
rather than what you set out to do.
[C#m] This ambiguity is the engine of [D] The Wait,
and it adds to the song's [Am] enduring _ [A] fascination.
There's a really great Reddit thread
where this [D] commenter Hillsong
talks about the [F#] mysteriousness of The Wait.
He connects it to the themes
of Grail Marcus's old Weird America,
where you have these [D] songs
that are layered with multiple meanings.
Perhaps on the conscious level,
their meaning is [B] unclear, it's obscure,
but [E] unconsciously, the song is talking
about these [F#m] very deep [A] things like [D] sainthood
or life and death, the journey that we're all [B] on.
Levan Helm, the drummer and the singer of the band,
even [C#] confirmed the song's ambiguity, [D] saying,
"'If you take the song and [A] study it,
"'there aren't any answers there.'"
Despite its lack of an [C#] explicit, clear meaning,
[A] The Wait has been covered by a diverse array of artists,
from Aretha Franklin to Diana Ross.
Its [G#] universal questions transcend [D] genre, era, and culture,
[A] and even Weezer covered it in 2008.
Overall, The Wait is a [C#m] classic.
Its sound, its [D] lyrics, its meaning, it works, [A] it resonates.
And in 2004, The Wait was listed as [D] number 41
on Rolling Stone's 500 [G#] Greatest Songs of All [D] Time.
What's your take on The Wait [A] and this iconic song?
Is it about [D] the journey?
Is it about the destination?
Does the song just work
and the meaning doesn't really matter?
[F#] Leave me a note below.
Tell me what you think,
and like and follow for more songwriting history. _