ok thats a grand run around what the song is literally about..but do you want to hear my theory abot what the song is reeeeeally about? weeeeeelll here goes. robbie robertson(Canadian) was deeply jealous of levon helm, who coud not only sing in tune (robbie couldnt) but was a good old southern boy. and robbie like everyone else around then deeply worshipped at the altar of southern-ness(blues singers, guitar pickers, moonshine likker,back porches squirrel rifles blah blah blah)...though he had no time for the slavery stuff. so that's the song, robbie getting out what hethinks about the south/levon helm. maybe he didnt consciously write it about him, but as someone has already pointed out in this thread, songwriters dont necessarily know what they are writing about. levon helm, incidentally, has made it abundantly clear since that he thought robbie r was a pillock . ive no idea if robbie has ever publicly said what he thinks of levon.