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Daniel and the Sacred Harp

"Daniel and the Sacred Harp"
Song by The Band from the album Stage Fright
Released August 17, 1970
Genre Rock
Length 4:06
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Robbie Robertson
Producer(s) The Band
Stage Fright track listing
"The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show"
(7)
"Daniel and the Sacred Harp"
(8)
"Stage Fright"
(9)

"Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is a song written by Robbie Robertson that was first released by The Band on their 1970 album Stage Fright. It has been covered by such artists as Barrence Whitfield.

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 myth. They also have antecedents in the story of Faust. 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., Roy Buchanan and Howlin' Wolf. Robertson has also described the song is about "greed in the context of Christian mythology."Billboard Magazine 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 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 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" and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and another song from Stage Fright, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," all recount episodes of American history."


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