“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”

Greetings all!  I’d heard and played the song a thousand times over the years (even had a 45 of it) but had never known “the story behind the song.” So, after hearing it again for that thousandth time last weekend, I decided to ask resident expert John Hill if he knew what the song was about.   He said that it was based on a story about one child literally carrying another (and here I thought that word “Heavy” was just some 60s metaphor!). Next, I went to the internet to learn more.  Here’s what I found:

In his 1884 book The Parables of Jesus, James Wells, Moderator of the United Church of Scotland, tells the story of a little girl carrying a big baby boy.  Seeing her struggling, someone asked if she wasn’t tired.  With surprise she replied: “No, he’s not heavy; he’s my brother.”

In the 1940s, the words, adapted as “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother,” were taken as a slogan for Boys Town children’s home by founder Father Edward Flanagan.  According to the Boys Town website, the phrase as used by Boys Town was said to Fr. Flanagan in 1918 by one of the residents while carrying another up a set of stairs.  The boy being carried is said to have had polio and worn leg braces.  

Here’s the last verse of the song:

“It’s a long, long road, from which there is no return

While we’re on the way to there, why not share?

And the load doesn’t weigh me down at all,

He ain’t Heavy, He’s my brother.”

What a great song!  And a great way to live our lives as believers.  During this holiest of seasons why not make it a priority not just to give up something, but to “Carry” a brother or sister who could use your help.  Isn’t that a big part of what being “Christlike” is all about? After all, didn’t He carry us All to the Cross?

Grace and Peace,

Dennis