(good) friday on my mind

It's been a quiet but very good Good Friday. A little yard work, a little blogcommenting and a little sleep. And as offspring no 2 observes, we gave Jesus a wash to help celebrate.

A few weeks or so ago, I wrote about the sublime Crosby Stills and Nash, having just watched a DVD of them from 1992. Today it was another of my all time favourites - Martin Scorsese's film of The Band's last concert, The Last Waltz. There's a few rather dated, hokey bits - the interviews with the band members extremely stoned, for example - but some of the songs in this concert are near musical perfection.

One thing I find extremely appealing about the concert is the fact that everybody's having obvious fun. The Band were big names when they decided to call it a day, but the guests - Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan among many - are a testament to how big they were. And these superstars, which is what they were, are just having a ball.

Ronnie Hawkins, who I'd never heard of before seeing the Last Waltz, just has a ball, ad-libbing acknowledgement to the band members and leetting out quite untuneful whoops all the time. Young is quite, quite whacked when he saunters up to do Helpless but after a heartfelt tribute to the Band, he blows a few notes on the harmonica and strums a chord or two. Robbie Robertson looks over at Rick Danko and Garth Hudson and mouths something - maybe "has he got the right key?" Then a big slow grin spreads over Young's face and he drawls, "I got it now Robbie" and away they go. Can you imagine today's crop of oh-so-serious rockers doing that?

The version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. They have a horn section in, which does some fills in the chorus. Robertson obviously doesn't like it and he frowns furiously. The second chorus, he attacks the guitar with a vengeance, trying to play over them. By the third chorus, it doesn't seem to bother him as the crowd goes berserk. Levon Helm takes vocals and really lets rip (in fact they all do right throughout the concert - they open their mouths wide and give it all they've got). The only version of this I recall from the time was a cover by some no-names and I never liked it. Never knew what I was missing.

But of all the songs which includes their big ones, my absolute favourite is It Makes No Difference. The late Rick Danko takes lead vocals, it has a simple chorus that rips at your guts, and the words are searing, but this song is one of those that, paradoxically, always lifts me up. Here it is:

It makes no diff’rence where I turn
I can’t get over you and the flame still burns
It makes no diff’rence, night or day
The shadow never seems to fade away

And the sun don’t shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Now there’s no love
As true as the love
That dies untold
But the clouds never hung so low before

It makes no diff’rence how far I go
Like a scar the hurt will always show
It makes no diff’rence who I meet
They’re just a face in the crowd
On a dead-end street

And the sun don’t shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

These old love letters
Well, I just can’t keep
’cause like the gambler says
Read ’em and weep
And the dawn don’t rescue me no more

Without your love I’m nothing at all
Like an empty hall it’s a lonely fall
Since you’ve gone it’s a losing battle
Stampeding cattle
They rattle the walls

And the sun don’t shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Well, I love you so much
It’s all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before