I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows when
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother...
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows when
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother...
Lyrics submitted by pablo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I Can't Go To Sleep
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Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Sunglasses at Night
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Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
Originally I thought like many this was a song about caring for a disabled or lost brother, but that doesn't make sense looking at the lyrics in context.
"While we're on our way to there, why not share" "his welfare is my concern."
Yes. <br /> <br /> "No man is an island,<br /> Entire of itself,<br /> Every man is a piece of the continent,<br /> A part of the main.<br /> If a clod be washed away by the sea,<br /> Europe is the less.<br /> As well as if a promontory were.<br /> As well as if a manor of thy friend's<br /> Or of thine own were:<br /> Any man's death diminishes me,<br /> Because I am involved in mankind,<br /> And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; <br /> It tolls for thee."
@Rannug This makes more sense too given the year the song came out. Peace and love was spreading like wild fire, caring for our fellow person and mother earth.
I heard this song many times over the years and always thought it was about close friendship or family, until today I heard it in a whole different way while watching a great documentary about the band. First of all, it was released after Graham Nash left the group and he was worried how they would get on without him. Then they brought out this, their first number 1 single.
I think the song is about the way we treat each other and is offering the idea of 'brotherly love' as an alternative. The brother is you, me, everyone. The key is the third verse . If the whole song is viewed through that lens it works.
If that's the correct interpretation, what a great song of universal love. It should be an anthem for peace.
Whereever the title came from,i think that they're referring to the "brother" in a metaphorical sense.Its a song about friendship, about helping a friend in need, and doing it for love of that person rather than obligation i dont think it is neccessarily about a brother. Terrific song
not knowing squat about the hollies, I'm still fairly sure this great song is about carrying eachother in a more universal sense
it's a call to everyone to care more for eachother, help eachother and offer our strength to those who lack theirs
can't remember exactly but i think this song was inspired by a quote from a soldier (possilbe written on a war memorial) where one man was carrying a wounded comrade, the quote obviously being
"He ain't heavy, he's my brother "
It's a fantastic song.
this song and "bridge over troubled water" are two of the best songs ever written about friendship. they both perfectly capture what it is to be as selfless as humanly possible towards someone you deeply care for.
I get goosebumps when I hear this song. I cant imagine anyone not liking it, the music and lyrics are perfect and universal.
Since first time I heard this song (by that country group Osmond Brothers) I think it's about carrying a brother's coffin.
All nice ideas, they sound good, but sorry to say they are wrong, want proof?
The title came from the motto for Boys Town, a community formed in 1917 by a Catholic priest named Father Edward Flanagan. Located in Omaha, Nebraska, it was a place where troubled or homeless boys could come for help. In 1941, Father Flanagan was looking at a magazine called The Messenger when he came across a drawing of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, with the caption, "He ain't heavy Mr., he's my brother." Father Flanagan thought the image and phrase captured the spirit of Boys Town, so he got permission and commissioned a statue of the drawing with the inscription, "He ain't heavy Father, he's my brother." The statue and phrase became the logo for Boys Town.
Don't beleive me? Well you could go on the net and look it up I promise you'll find this, or you could just trust a 61 year old who happened to be alive when this stuff was going on.
goes further back than that mate. It goes back to a peasent glaswegian girl carrying her brother in victorian Scotland.
Actually, it's older than that. Rather than paraphrase, I'll post the Wikipedia history:<br /> <br /> "In 1884, James Wells, Moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland, in his book The Parables of Jesus tells the story of a little girl carrying a big baby boy. Seeing her struggling, someone asked if she wasn't tired. With surprise she replied, "No, he's not heavy; he's my brother."<br /> <br /> In an 1918 publication by Ralph Waldo Trine titled The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit, he relates the following anecdote: "Do you know that incident in connection with the little Scottish girl? She was trudging along, carrying as best she could a boy younger, but it seemed almost as big as she herself, when one remarked to her how heavy he must be for her to carry, when instantly came the reply: 'He's na heavy. He's mi brither.'"<br /> <br /> The first editor of Kiwanis magazine, Roe Fulkerson, published a column in September 1924 carrying the title "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", the first use of the phrase exactly as it is rendered in the song title.<br /> <br /> In the 1940s, the words, adapted as "He ain't heavy, Father, he's my brother", were taken as a slogan for Boys Town children's home by founder Father Edward Flanagan.<br /> <br /> That said, the more general interpretations above are the most cogent -- speaking to the ethic John Donne evoked with his magnificent "No man is an island" poem. We all have a stake in the care of each other -- despite this age (in America) in which so many believe each should do only for themselves, having no responsibility for others.