For My Sunday Song #171, we are going to discuss the song “Heavy” off the band’s 1999 album ‘Dosage’. The song was the second single and the band’s last #1 song on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks as well as the last to make the Billboard Hot 100 where it only reached #73.

The song was the last song written for the record and actually was written after the record was complete.  The band liked it so much they made sure to get it on the album before it went out to production.  Ed Roland wrote the song and was inspired by all the crap that went on with their former manager.  The weight of everything was riding heavy on Ed’s shoulders and as a result we got this great song.  An interesting to note, the song title of “Heavy” it is no where in the song.  The weight of the lyrics and the heavy guitar sound are where the title comes from as the word summed up the vibe.

The song opens with a heavy guitar riff and is at such a break neck speed it is over before you know it at under 3 minutes in length.  The guitar solo by Ross Childress actually includes six types of wah effects according to songfacts.com.  It includes two standard pedals, three Auto Wah pedals, and a digital Wah via Pro Tools.  It brings a really cool sound to the solo like none they had ever done before.  The whole album saw the band exploring different sounds and this was one of their most creative for me.

Lyrically, the song is only 2 very small verses of 2 lines each and the chorus repeated numerous times. There isn’t much there, but you feel the heaviness of them and sometimes less is more.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy and I hope you have a Happy Sunday and that the day isn’t too heavy for you.

“Heavy”