One of the greatest works of art about the stupidity and failure of the Southern cause. It's a great song in part because it sounds like a traditional folk song handed down for a few generations. Just top notch stuff from Robertson and Helm. RIP.
not sure it means what you think it means, and in any case, was written by a Canadian. but it is a great song.
This is sad news - leaves Garth Hudson as the only original member left. I appreciate and respect Robbie for his songwriting prowess but I never liked how he ran The Band.
A Canadian who went to the library and read some history before finishing the lyrics--and not just Americans can comment on America. I suppose you could hear it as Virgil being a hero instead of a defeated pawn who lost his brother in a war and is now a psychically wounded man condemned to scratching out a bare-bones living on a piece of dirt and I suppose you could hear it as Robert E. Lee is the "very best" instead of that phase relating to all those who died for the idea of slavery. Yes, I suppose some could hear it that way, just as some heard Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as an upbeat patriotic kind of song that could be played unironically at political rallies.
We're entering a history where nearly every day some cultural giant dies. Lots of people who got really famous since the 50s are going to start dropping and news of celebrity deaths will become dull.
or, it could be something else altogether. a song about one man's war, and the "very best" as Virgil's brother, rather than "all who died for the idea of slavery." Born in the USA has always sounded more Deer Hunter than anything else.
I don't know whether it's ironic, but it is certainly remarkable how so much of what we think of as "Americana" is produced by Canadians. listen to these guys, who were obviously influenced by The Band, among many others: Spoiler
here's a nice tribute from Tidal: https://tidal.com/magazine/article/...Q-pD5a1RV4-hgI6pjhcVy8TwAnZOxTji10rfx0nfc964o
