"Unfaithful Servant" as written by and Robbie Robertson....
Unfaithful servant, I hear you leaving soon in the morning
What did you do to the lady, that she's gonna have to send you away?
Unfaithful servant, you don't have to say you're sorry,
If you done it just for the spite, or did ya do it just for the glory?
Like a stranger you turned your back
Left your keys and gone to pack
Bear in mind who's to blame, and all the shame
She really cared, the time she spared and the home you shared.
Unfaithful servant, I can hear the whistle blowing
Yes, that train is a-coming and soon you'll be going
Let us not bow our heads for we won't be complaining
Life has been good to us all
Even when that sky is raining
To take it like a grain of salt
Is all I can do it's no one's fault
Makes no difference if we fade away
It's just as it was, it's much to cold for me to stay
Goodbye to that country home
So long to a lady I have known
Farewell to my other side
I'd best just take it in stride
Unfaithful Servant, you'll learn to find your place
I can see it in your smile
And, yes, I can see it in your face
The memories will linger on
But the good old days, they're all gone
Oh, lonesome servant, can't you see
That we're still one and the same, just you and me
What did you do to the lady, that she's gonna have to send you away?
Unfaithful servant, you don't have to say you're sorry,
If you done it just for the spite, or did ya do it just for the glory?
Like a stranger you turned your back
Left your keys and gone to pack
Bear in mind who's to blame, and all the shame
She really cared, the time she spared and the home you shared.
Unfaithful servant, I can hear the whistle blowing
Yes, that train is a-coming and soon you'll be going
Let us not bow our heads for we won't be complaining
Life has been good to us all
Even when that sky is raining
To take it like a grain of salt
Is all I can do it's no one's fault
Makes no difference if we fade away
It's just as it was, it's much to cold for me to stay
Goodbye to that country home
So long to a lady I have known
Farewell to my other side
I'd best just take it in stride
Unfaithful Servant, you'll learn to find your place
I can see it in your smile
And, yes, I can see it in your face
The memories will linger on
But the good old days, they're all gone
Oh, lonesome servant, can't you see
That we're still one and the same, just you and me
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Who is the narrator here? The line "farewell to my other side" makes it sound like is "the lady's" husband. We don't know what the servant did, and neither does the narrator, but for some reason both of them have to leave. The narrator finds his situation very similar to the servants though. I love the line, "It makes no difference if we fade away". The Band have a song with a similar title...
so long, lady I have known,
Farewell to my other side,
I'd best just take it in stride"
...Whose words are these? I thought the singer is a friend of the "unfaithful servant". But this part sounds as if the "unfaithful servant " is singing.
The song talks of how well the unfaithful servant has been treated by his wife/partner and implies that he has done something to betray that love and trust, and is thus being sent away, as in the parable.
I think the narrator is also the servant. The change in POV in the next-to-last stanza is a well-used literary trope, especially for a conflicted narrator. Robertson's running buddy Mr. Zimmerman was also fond of it (cf. "Tangled Up in Blue").