It's late in the evening on a relatively warm, Deep South November Sunday. That, and the Facebook posting of a dear friend, put me in mind of this song.
This demo is from the 2005 Band box set A Musical History. Curated and produced by Robbie Robertson, it includes many rare and unreleased tracks such as this one. With no disrespect intended towards the other members of The Band - I love them all equally and subscribe to no feuds, for it was together that they created this timeless, elegant music - I find this version more haunting and full of meaning than the one originally released on the 1975 compilation The Best of The Band. The image that this recording conjures up - of Robertson hunched over his piano, alone, quietly breathing the words to this song - is eerily fitting and impossible to get out of my head as I listen.
Over by the wildwood
Hot summer night
We lay in the tall grass
'Til the morning light
If I had my way I'd never
Get the urge to roam
A young man serves his country
And an old man guards the home
Don't send me no sweet salutations
Or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
'Cause twilight is the loneliest time of day
I never gave it a second thought
It never crossed my mind
What's right and what's not
I ain't the judgin' kind
I can take the darkest, oh
Storms in the sky
We've all got certain trials
Burnin' up inside
Don't put me in a frame upon the mantle
For memories grow dusty, old, and gray
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
'Cause twilight is the loneliest time of day
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
'Cause twilight is the loneliest time of day
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