What “Chest Fever” means

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Here's the honest answer to “what does ‘Chest Fever’ mean?” — almost nothing, and that's rather the point. After “The Weight,” it's the Big Pink track that's turned up on the most live albums and compilations, and it endures not for its words but for one of the most jaw-dropping organ performances in rock.

The lyrics nobody finished

The words — loosely, a man laid low, lovesick and feverish, after a woman spurns him — were essentially improvised. Levon Helm recalled that he and Richard Manuel made up lines on the spot while the instrumental tracks were cut. Robertson has been even blunter: “I'm not sure that I know the words to ‘Chest Fever’; I'm not even so sure there are words to ‘Chest Fever’.” Don't go hunting for hidden meaning; there isn't much.

Garth Hudson's cathedral

What everyone remembers is the opening: a vast, swirling solo organ overture by Garth Hudson, built on the bones of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Live, it grew into a sprawling improvisation several minutes long and was eventually billed as its own piece, “The Genetic Method,” credited to Hudson. It became the band's great on-stage showpiece.

It's also Exhibit A in the band's credits argument. When Helm protested how the royalties were divided, this was his go-to example — pointing out that Hudson's contribution was wildly under-credited. As Helm put it: what do you remember about “Chest Fever” — the lyrics, or the organ part?