The Last Waltz Quotes

[Speaking about Ronnie Hawkins]

Himself: He called me up, and I said, "Sure I'd like a job. What does it mean? What do I do?" And he said, "Well, son, you won't make much money, but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra."

Neil Young: [walking on stage] Hey, Rob, thanks for letting me do this.

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: Shit! Are you kidding?

[singing]

Eric Clapton: Further on up the road / Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me / Further on up the road / Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me / Further on up the road / Baby, just you wait and see.

[while performing his guitar solo, his guitar strap comes undone]

Eric Clapton: Hold on.

Richard Manuel - Piano: [describing how The Band got its name] Well, we were The Hawks.

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: And everything was fine, we were sailing along, and all of a sudden, one day The Hawks meant something else altogether.

Richard Manuel - Piano: And it was right in the middle of that whole psychedelia. Chocolate Subway, Marshmallow Overcoat. Those kind of names, you know?

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: When we were working with Bob Dylan and we moved to Woodstock, everybody referred to us as the band. He called us the band, our friends called us the band, our neighbors called us the band.

Richard Manuel - Piano: We started out with The Crackers. We tried to call ourselves The Honkies. Everybody kind of backed off from that. It was too straight. So we decided just to call ourselves The Band.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: [First lines] Okay, Rick, what's the game?

Rick Danko - Bass: [At at pool table] Cut throat.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: What's the object?

Rick Danko - Bass: Object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off.

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: We wanted it to be more than just a concert. We wanted it to be a celebration.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: A celebration of a beginning or an end?

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: Beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning.

Neil Young: I got it now, Robbie.

[singing]

Neil Young: There is a town in North Ontario, With dream comfort memory to spare, In my mind I still need a place to go, All my changes were there...

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: Listen, when you guys first started playing as The Band, you kind of shied away from publicity a lot. Talk about that, a little?

Garth Hudson - Organ: That was just part of a life style that we got to love at Woodstock. You know, we got to like it, you know, just being, eh, being able to chop wood or hit your thumb with a hammer. We'd be concerned with fixin' a tape recorder and fixin' a screen door, you know, and stuff like that and getting the songs together.

Rick Danko - Bass: We always seemed to get a whole lot more done when we didn't have a lot of company around, you know, just, eh, we were more productive. And as soon as company came, of course, you know, we'd start having fun. And you know what happens when you have too much fun.

Levon Helm - Drums: [Talking about the region around Memphis, Tennessee where Levon grew up] That's kind of the middle of the country, you know. back there. So, when bluegrass or country music, you know, if it comes down to that area and if it mixes there with rhythm and dances, then you've got a combination of all those different kinds of music. Country. Bluegrass. Blues music.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: The melting pot.

Levon Helm - Drums: Show music.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: What's it called then?

Levon Helm - Drums: Rock-n-Roll.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: Rock-n-Roll, yes, for sure, exactly.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: Now that The Last Waltz is over, what are you doing now, Rick?

Rick Danko - Bass: Eh, making records. Just makin' music, you know. Trying to stay busy.

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: [Last lines] The road was our school. At the end it was our sense of survival. It taught us all we know. There's not much left that we can really take from the road. We've had our share of, or, maybe it's just superstitious.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: Superstitious in what way?

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: No. You can press your luck. The road has taken a lot of great ones. Hank Williams. Buddy Holly. Otis Redding. Janis. Jimi Hendrix. Elvis. Its a goddamn impossible way of life.

Martin Scorsese - Interviewer: It is, isn't it.

Robbie Robertson - Guitar: No question about it.