The Band essays - Track 4 Side 1 - When You Awake

This idea sprang from here.

Track 1 Side 1 - Across the Great Divide is here.
Track 2 Side 1 - Rag Mama Rag is here.
Track 3 Side 1 - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is here.

Snow's gonna come and the frost gonna bite
My old car froze up last night
Ain't no reason to hang my head
I could wake up in the mornin' dead

--When You Awake

Rick Danko sings these lines at the end of this song. The advice he received while sitting on his grandfather's knee as a child has sunk in. It's a mean old world, and hearing "you might be right and you might be wrong" is as close to comfort as he's gonna get.

There's something lovely about When You Awake though. The way the music bounces and then glides like a backyard stream, and the artless simplicity of the story. We all reach that fork in the road eventually, and we all have to decide if we're gonna go glass half-full or half-empty. "Use your days and save your nights" is such a great line, and the way the Band's three voices instantly find their slots in the chorus is always thrilling to hear. Even when you know it's coming you hold your breath because it's more fun that way.