"Ophelia" is a song written by Robbie Robertson that was first released by The Band on their 1975 album '' Northern Lights – Southern Cross''. It was the lead single from the album. It has also appeared on several of the group's live and compilation albums, and has been covered by such artists as

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

and

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ...

Lyrics and music

The lyrics tell of the singer's attempt to find the heroine Ophelia. The relationship between the singer and Ophelia is never made explicit. Author Craig Harris refers to her as the singer's old friend, while music critic Nick DeRiso considers her his lover. But he finds out that Ophelia has left town, apparently in a hurry. According to Band biographer

Barney Hoskyns Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages. Biography Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a first class degree in English. He began writing about mus ...

, the name Ophelia for the song did not come from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' but rather from

Minnie Pearl Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (1940–1991) and on the television ...

's real name. But Shakespeare scholar Stephen M. Buhler sees some Shakespearean echoes in "Ophelia," particularly related to '' Othello''. In particular, Buhler sees hints that perhaps Ophelia is a black woman in a Southern town who was forced to flee because of Southern attitudes at the time towards interracial relationships with the white singer. Lyrics Buhler uses to support this view include the following, suggesting that the relationship between Ophelia and the singer was illegal: :''Honey, you know we broke the rule :''Was somebody up against the law?'' Lines such as the singer asking Ophelia to "please darken my door," suggest to Buhler that the issue may be the color of Ophelia's skin. But according to Harris' interpretation, nostalgia is the key theme to the song. "Ophelia" is an uptempo song with similarities to earlier Band songs "

The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" is a song written by Robbie Robertson that was first released on the Band's 1970 album ''Stage Fright''. It was also frequently performed in the group's live sets and appeared on several of their live albums. Ba ...

" from ''

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 ...

'' and " Life is a Carnival" from '' Cahoots''. The song has a

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

flavor. DeRiso hears a combination of rustic and modern elements in the music. Levon Helm sings the lead vocal. According to Hoskyns, the song has "the same good-humoured regret with which

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

infused " Up on Cripple Creek."

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 multiple instruments, including synthesizer and multiple

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

and

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

instruments, which contributes significantly to the Dixieland flavor. As a result of the success of Hudson's playing, DeRiso regards "Ophelia" as "Hudson’s triumph, his musical testament, his masterpiece." Robertson plays a more prominent guitar part than he had typically played on earlier Band songs. According to Robertson, “The chord progression on ‘Ophelia' was something that could have come out of the 1930s. The storytelling was ancient and modern in the same breath. The full-on modernism in the sound, in the arrangement, was paramount in Garth’s experimentation. It is unquestionably one of his greatest feats, in my opinion, on any Band song.”

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''

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 ...

''. *

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 ...

– bass guitar * Levon Helm – lead vocals, drums *

–

Lowrey organ The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ named for its developer, Frederick C. Lowrey (1871–1955), a Chicago-based industrialist and entrepreneur. Lowrey's first commercially successful full-sized electronic organ, the Model S Spinet or '' ...

, synthesizer, brass, woodwinds *

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 ...

– Hammond organ, backing vocals * Robbie Robertson – electric guitar

Reception

According to ''

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, "Ophelia" is one of three songs on ''Northern Lights – Southern Cross'', along with "

Acadian Driftwood "Acadian Driftwood" is a song by the Band. It was the fourth track on their sixth studio album '' Northern Lights – Southern Cross'' (1975), written by member Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko trade off lead vocals a ...

" and "

It Makes No Difference "It Makes No Difference" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and sung by Rick Danko that was first released by The Band on their 1975 album '' Northern Lights – Southern Cross''. It has also appeared on live and compilation albums, inclu ...

," on which "Robertson reclaims his reputation as one of rock's great songwriters." '' Cash Box'' called it a "funky shuffle in The Band's best found-and-lost woman tradition," and said " Levon Helm's floppy drums kick the piece along, and his vocal is impeccably mournful" and that "Robbie Robertson plays an absolutely steaming guitar solo." '' Record World'' called it "a festive sounding tune chock full of Bayou funk."

Other appearances

"Ophelia" appeared on many Band live and compilation albums. It appeared on the compilations albums ''

The Best of The Band ''The Best of the Band'' is the first greatest hits package by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Featuring ten tracks taken from six of their first seven albums (not counting 1974's '' Before the Flood'' or 1975's ''The Basement Tapes'', bo ...

'' (1976), '' To Kingdom Come: The Definitive Collection'' (1989) and ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' (2000). It was also included on the box sets '' Across the Great Divide'' (1994) and ''

'' (2005). A live version was included in the film and album versions of ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

'' Another live version was included on ''Live in Tokyo 1983''.

covered "Ophelia" on the 2013 tribute album ''

Love for Levon Love for Levon: Benefit To Save The Barn was a benefit concert held on October 3, 2012 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The concert was a tribute to the life of The Band's co-lead vocalist and drummer Levon Helm, who died of ...

''.

covered the song on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the 1994 film ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

''. ALO also recorded a version for the bonus disc to the 2007 tribute album '' Endless Highway: The Music of The Band''. "Ophelia" was one of the songs performed during the first (and so far only) live performance by Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem at the

Outside Lands Festival Outside Lands (formerly known as the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival) is a music, food and art festival held annually in at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The festival is produced by Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Presents, a ...

in 2016. "Ophelia" was also recorded by Texas singer/songwriter Randy Brown and released on his 2007 album Hard Face to Face. "Ophelia" is featured on The Gibson Brothers (bluegrass duo)’ 2006 album Long Way Back Home.

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

covers the song regularly.

References

{{Authority control 1975 singles 1975 songs Songs written by Robbie Robertson The Band songs My Morning Jacket songs Vince Gill songs Capitol Records singles