It seems fitting on Independence Day to select an album that speaks to the American experience, so my nominee for today's #faf post, in all its sepia-toned glory, is The Band, the eponymous second album by The Band.
Released in 1969, The Band evokes a different time in America, but not the time you would expect. While other bands of their generation were addressing the tumult of the era, The Band put out an album of songs that seem as if they could have been composed in 1869. "You can feel the wood in this album," guitarist and primary songwriter Robbie Robertson has been quoted as saying. And it's true. The songs have an organic, homespun quality that goes beyond the music itself. In the immortal words of former Red Sox pitcher Oil Can Boyd, "it feels old-timey." And for a group that was made up mostly of Canadians, the album captures America in its beauty and its contradictions in a way that maybe only outsiders could. From the heights of the Rockies ("Across the Great Divide") to the shores of Lake Erie ("Lookout Cleveland") to the bayou ("Up on Cripple Creek") and to the front porch of a home in Virginia ("Rocking Chair"), The Band takes you on a journey across an America that feels real and yet mythic at the same time.
The most well-known track on the album is "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," a song told from the perspective of Virgil Kaine, a Tennessee farmer and Confederate soldier who's seen everything around him destroyed by the Civil War. It's a beautiful song, sung by drummer Levon Helm in a voice that's as old as the hills, highlighted by a lovely three part harmony on the chorus with pianist Richard Manuel and bass player Rick Danko. But it's also a difficult song that gives me pause every time I hear it, because it asks you to step in the shoes of a man fighting who's fought for the South and all it represents, even if it's not a fight he's asked for. Ultimately, songwriter Robbie Robertson doesn't seem to be asking you to sympathize with Virgil Kaine, or celebrate the South, but rather understand that the Civil War had many victims.
One of the things I've always enjoyed about revisiting favorite albums is that every time I do, I find something new to appreciate. Maybe it's a song I haven't previously paid attention to, a bass line I've never noticed, or the phrasing of a lyric. In listening to The Band over the last few days, I've discovered the song "Unfaithful Servant," a song about betrayal, dignity, and regret. What stands out to me now more than ever is the gorgeous vocal performance by Rick Danko, who sings the song in a plaintive, melancholy voice that makes you ache. Like Helms's vocals on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Danko's performance makes you feel the emotions of the narrator.
So whatever you're doing this Fourth of July, take some time to listen to this album and reflect on our shared history. Here's a cut to get you in a celebratory mood:
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