In music, the burden is the drone or base in some musical instruments, and the pipe or part that plays it, such as a bagpipe or pedal point in an organ. Hence, the burden of song is that part repeated at the end of each stanza, i.e. the chorus or refrain. crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. ... In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. ... A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ...

The term comes from the French bourdon, a staff; or a pipe made in the form of a staff, imitating the gross murmurs of bees or drones.

This is what was anciently called proslambanomenos.

This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain. Table of Trigonometry, 1728 Cyclopaedia Cyclopaedia, or, A Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (folio, 2 vols. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...