"Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is a song written by

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

that was first released by The Band on their 1970 album ''

Stage Fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

''. It has been covered by such artists as

Barrence Whitfield Barrence Whitfield (born Barry White, June 13, 1955) is an American soul and R&B vocalist, best known as the frontman for Barrence Whitfield & the Savages. White was born in Jacksonville, Florida. When he was a child, his family moved to East ...

Themes

As with several songs on ''Stage Fright'', such as the title track, "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" reflects the difficulties the Band was going through at the time of the album's development. The theme of "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is "a loss of integrity." The lyrics tell a story similar to the

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

myth. They also have antecedents in the story of

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

. They tell of a man who acquires a famous harp, but loses his soul to get it. Robertson has claimed that the inspiration for the song came from his early days as a guitarist, when he was "stealing" techniques from earlier guitarists such as

Fred Carter, Jr. Fred F. Carter Jr. (December 31, 1933 – July 17, 2010) was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer. Early career Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, Un ...

Roy Buchanan Leroy "Roy" Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as a sideman and as a solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career and two lat ...

and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

. Robertson has also described the song is about "greed in the context of Christian mythology." ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' used the song as an example of the religious themed songs that were becoming popular at the time. He has also noted that he was into

Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tune ...

style singing, which was in the back of his mind when he wrote the song. Beyond just the loss of a musician's soul, music critic Nick DeRiso hears in the song a theme of loss of innocence, which would have been particularly meaningful to the 1960s generation as they moved into the 1970s. He also hears the song reflecting the fate of most famous bands, who pay for their fame through the effects of bad choices, bad management decisions and other problems. Band drummer and vocalist

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

acknowledges that the theme of the song is "selling your soul for music." According to author Neil Minturn, "Daniel and the Sacred Harp," earlier band songs "

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian-American roots rock group the Band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. Levon Helm provided the lead vocals. T ...

" and "

King Harvest (Has Surely Come) "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" is a song by The Band, which originally appeared as the final track on their second album, '' The Band''. The song is credited solely to guitarist Robbie Robertson, although drummer/singer Levon Helm claimed that ...

" and another song from ''Stage Fright'', "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," all recount episodes of American history."

Lyrics and music

The song has an unusual structure, in that the first lines appear to be a refrain, but these lines appear only at the beginning and at the very end of the song, as a framing device: :''Daniel, Daniel and the sacred harp '' :''Dancing through the clover'' :''Daniel, Daniel would you mind? '' :''If I look it over.'' A narrator, who is a contemporary of Daniel opens up the story and sings that only a few people are permitted to play the sacred harp and he didn't think Daniel was one of them, so he asks Daniel if he is "one of the chosen few" and how he received the harp. Daniel then sings his story about how he saved up silver to be able to purchase the harp, even though he wasn't one of the few permitted to own it. After three years, the seller returns with the harp from the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...

. He then sings that although he did not make the deal out "of personal greed" he paid a heavy price, and his father tells him that he won the harp but is now "lost in sin." He sings that he has lost his shadow, which the music makes clear is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for losing his soul, before the opening lines return. DeRiso describes the music as "a kind of

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

n lament."

Richard Manuel Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and ...

sings the part of Daniel, while

sings the narrator's part. Although Helm was normally the Band's drummer and Manuel the pianist, this is one of several songs on which Manuel plays drums and Helm plays guitar.

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

plays

pump organ The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

and

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

plays

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

and

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

. Robertson plays an

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

Reception

Band biographer Peter Viney regards "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" as "one of The Band’s greatest songs". '' Q'' critic

John Bauldie John Bauldie (23 August 1949 – 22 October 1996) was a British journalist, noted as one of the foremost experts on the work of Bob Dylan. He was editor of the Dylan fanzine ''The Telegraph'', and was also on the launch staff of '' Q'' magazine. ...

praised the song for displaying "the best of The Band's trademark interactive vocals." ''

Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' critic Paul Evans regards the song as "Robertson at his most haunting." ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' critic Mark Kemp regards it as a "highlight" of ''Stage Fright'' which reveals "a growing sense of anxiety and cynicism. Bob Budler of

Copley News Service Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois, but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

also rated it one of the best songs on ''Stage Fright'' ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' critic

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

criticized for lacking the unity of the songs on the Band's first two albums; however, he did praise Danko's bass and fiddle playing. Author Jason Schneider describes the song as "overwrought." "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" has been released on several of The Band's compilation albums. It was included on the 1978 album ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''. It was later included on the 1989 album '' To Kingdom Come: The Definitive Collection''. It was also included on the box sets '' Across the Great Divide'' and ''

A Musical History ''A Musical History'' is the second box set to anthologize Canadian-American rock group the Band. Released by Capitol Records on September 27, 2005, it features 111 tracks spread over five compact discs and one DVD. Roughly spanning the group's ...

''. The Band never played "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" live.

Performers

- 1st lead vocal, 12 string acoustic guitar *

- 2nd lead vocal,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

Other versions

An alternate take of "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" was included on the 2000 rerelease of ''Stage Fright''. Marcus described this version as "an intimate drama" in which Helm hums the music that Danko plays on the fiddle on the official version. Marcus states that in this version "you can hear people reaching out to each other, but you can hear their estrangement before and after you hear them reaching out." Barrence Whitfield and

Tom Russell Thomas George Russell (born 1947/1948) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many ...

covered "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" on the 1993 album '' Cowboy Mambo''.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Jeff Burger describes the choice to include the song part of what gives the album an "inspired program of tunes." ''

'' regards it as a highlight of the album and says that the performance "positively pump with heartfelt emotion."

References

{{authority control 1970 songs The Band songs Songs written by Robbie Robertson Music based on the Faust legend Songs about music Songs about musicians Songs about musical instruments Fictional musicians Sacred Harp