No. 045 - The Band’s “It Makes No Difference” changed my life
The vivid, aching love song (and performance) that Eric Reichbaum keeps coming back to 25 years later
This Song Changed My Life is an independent music publication featuring essays from people all around the world about the songs that mean the most to them. Created by Grace Lilly, supported by readers.
• 4 min read •
The song that changed my life has to be the saddest love song ever written.
I was probably 15 or 16 when I heard it for the first time, too young to know what true love was — or heartbreak — but old enough to know I had never heard such intense emotion from a singer before. “It Makes No Difference” by The Band is so seemingly personal, and so intensely evocative, that 25 years later I still don’t think I’ve heard anything that even comes close.
Before hearing this song, I knew that lyrics could tell stories, but after hearing it, I knew songs could move me, and that’s a big change in my musical life. Around the same time, I loved the realness of Dylan’s “Hurricane” and the sadness in Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle,” but they couldn’t hold a candle to the power of “It Makes no Difference.”
When the song came out in 1975, its lyricist Robbie Robertson said: “I thought about the song in terms of saying that time heals all wounds, except in some cases, and this was one of those cases.”
Before jumping into the song itself, I need to say that I don’t normally get joy from listening to the suffering of others (even if this song is fictional). I’m lucky to have found true love with my wife Beth, and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced heartbreak. I don’t think I could bear listening to this song if I had.
I first heard it on The Best of The Band, one of my earliest CDs, but the version that knocked me on my ass was the live version from the documentary The Last Waltz. The studio recording is great, but there’s something about the intensity of this being their last concert that intensifies everything, especially if you watch the clip from the film.
The song starts with a wailing guitar intro by Robbie Robertson before Rick Danko begins singing, starting with the word “and” as if he’s already mid-story:
And it makes no difference where I turn
I can’t get over you and the flame still burns
What an opening line. The despair, the desperation, and the longing.
The song has a quick, two-line chorus that showcases the three lead singers in The Band, Rick, Richard Manuel, and Levon Helm. They blend together powerfully and sing:
And the sun don’t shine anymore
And the rain falls down on my door
The scene is set, and although this is a figurative description, you can’t help but picture a literal scene of darkness with raindrops gliding down a door’s window.
Next comes my favorite line in the song. In the video, Danko looks right at the camera as he says:
Well, these old love letters, well I just can’t keep
‘Cause like the gambler says, read em’ and weep
I’ve pictured this scene a hundred times in my mind as I listen to the song: a man carrying an old shoebox full of love letters over to the trash can, tears rolling down his face. Heartbreaking.
And the dawn don't rescue me no more
Halfway through the song, and the singer alludes to darkness again. Not even the morning sun can snap him out of his gloom.
Robertson flexes his songwriting muscles in this song like he had never done before. Up until this point, the closest he got to a love song was probably “Ophelia,” with lines like “Honey, you know I'd die for you.” Not quite as deep.
Without your love I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall, it's a lonely fall
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Stampeding cattle, they rattle the walls
At this point, it’s clear that this song is not going to have a happy ending. I can only assume that the cattle are a metaphor for some intense mental anguish.
One more chorus, and then the last verse:
Well, I love you so much
And it's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before
The song could end there, and it would be perfect, but that wouldn’t be in the style of The Band.
Just as Rick, Richard, and Levon finish singing, Robbie steps forward for a quick guitar solo that could easily be mistaken for a man’s wailing cry. Then, seemingly out of nowhere steps Garth Hudson (now the only living member of The Band) with one of the most beautiful sax solos I’ve ever heard. One more guitar solo from Robbie, a final sax outro, and the song just ends.
There’s no resolution for our lovesick singer, and so we’re left wondering what happens to him.
That’s part of what makes this song so great, and part of the reason I keep coming back to it after all these years. ◆
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About Eric
Eric Reichbaum is a husband, dad, photographer, and sometimes musician. He’s from Pittsburgh and New York City, but currently lives in London. His boys are Levon and Mason.
Instagram @reichbaum and @ridleyroadreichbaum
Website ericreichbaum.com
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