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I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar


weslgarlic

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I love the song Dancing Days , It contains the line

I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar

Is it a surreal metaphor for the a female's vagina & clitoris ?

:wtf:

If that really is what he meant, he's got the proportions all wrong...which would be very unusual, coming from such a seasoned swordsman.

Either way, I'll never hear that song the same way again. Thanks a bunch.

Little_Man_In_The_Canoe_by_cajunattack.j

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:wtf:

If that really is what he meant, he's got the proportions all wrong...which would be very unusual, coming from such a seasoned swordsman.

Either way, I'll never hear that song the same way again. Thanks a bunch.

Little_Man_In_The_Canoe_by_cajunattack.j

Call me crazy or whatnot, but I think that this just might be jahfin resurrected for the third time?

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I love the song Dancing Days , It contains the line

I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar

Is it a surreal metaphor for the a female's vagina & clitoris ?

HAVE YOU TRIED PLAYING IT BACKWARDS?

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I assumed it was a reference to hallucinations inspired by psychedelic drugs. It might relate to something in Robert Plant's unconscious. The lion standing alone...Plant certainly had a mane...as for the tadpole in a jar, I think a few months of psychoanalytic therapy would be needed to figure that one out. Don't think it is a clitoris.

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This patient, we will call him, Shorty, for purposes of confidentiality, came into my office one day several years ago concerned about this very subject. He was a perplexed young man with very low confidence issues and on the fifth date night with his then current girlfriend decided to play Led Zeppelin IV as once suggested by a ticket scalper known as Mike Damone in hopes of "getting lucky".
Since he didn't have Physical Graffiti, which he assumed to be IV, his roommate loaned him Houses Of The Holy at the last minute as he was walking out the door with flowers in hand.
As the evening grew the heat began to rise passionately and Shorty found the willing young woman, full of desire driven by the riffs and wailings of good time promises reverberating throughout Shorty's parental station wagon, began unzipping his trousers at the precise moment this very verse was sung into her growing earworm of lusty endeavors which, unfortunately for Shorty, turned into raucous laughter once unveiled.
Does anybody remember laughter?
Shorty certainly does. To this day he falls physically ill at sight or mention of the words, 'tadpole' and 'jar'.
I see him again next Thursday.
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:goodpost::hysterical: That was pure genius!

This patient, we will call him, Shorty, for purposes of confidentiality, came into my office one day several years ago concerned about this very subject. He was a perplexed young man with very low confidence issues and on the fifth date night with his then current girlfriend decided to play Led Zeppelin IV as once suggested by a ticket scalper known as Mike Damone in hopes of "getting lucky".
Since he didn't have Physical Graffiti, which he assumed to be IV, his roommate loaned him Houses Of The Holy at the last minute as he was walking out the door with flowers in hand.
As the evening grew the heat began to rise passionately and Shorty found the willing young woman, full of desire driven by the riffs and wailings of good time promises reverberating throughout Shorty's parental station wagon, began unzipping his trousers at the precise moment this very verse was sung into her growing earworm of lusty endeavors which, unfortunately for Shorty, turned into raucous laughter once unveiled.
Does anybody remember laughter?
Shorty certainly does. To this day he falls physically ill at sight or mention of the words, 'tadpole' and 'jar'.
I see him again next Thursday.
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This patient, we will call him, Shorty, for purposes of confidentiality, came into my office one day several years ago concerned about this very subject. He was a perplexed young man with very low confidence issues and on the fifth date night with his then current girlfriend decided to play Led Zeppelin IV as once suggested by a ticket scalper known as Mike Damone in hopes of "getting lucky".
Since he didn't have Physical Graffiti, which he assumed to be IV, his roommate loaned him Houses Of The Holy at the last minute as he was walking out the door with flowers in hand.
As the evening grew the heat began to rise passionately and Shorty found the willing young woman, full of desire driven by the riffs and wailings of good time promises reverberating throughout Shorty's parental station wagon, began unzipping his trousers at the precise moment this very verse was sung into her growing earworm of lusty endeavors which, unfortunately for Shorty, turned into raucous laughter once unveiled.
Does anybody remember laughter?
Shorty certainly does. To this day he falls physically ill at sight or mention of the words, 'tadpole' and 'jar'.
I see him again next Thursday.

LOL! Clearly more psychedelics were needed. My sympathies to Shorty.

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I love the song Dancing Days , It contains the line

I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar

Is it a surreal metaphor for the a female's vagina & clitoris ?

I love the song Dancing Days , It contains the line

I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar

Is it a surreal metaphor for the a female's vagina & clitoris ?

I Never thought of it that way,and I doubt if plant did either!
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  • 2 weeks later...

LOL! what a thread.

Plant and Page both claimed they were fond of inside jokes and also claimed most of the public missed out on all their humor. I read somewhere that often lines of lyrics would be lifted from something funny someone said that day, totally unrelated to the lyric content of the song they were working on... just something they themselves found hilarious.

the origins of this particular line about the lion and the tadpole in a jar, I've never heard any band member comment on; who knows what it really meant. But there were other examples of random things that found their way into Zeppelin lyrics and titles.

"Black Dog" got its name from a stray black dog that kept wandering into headley grange while they were recording. "Dyer Maker" is the punchline to an ancient Brit joke with nothing to do with the lyrics; and the lines about the confounded bridge in "the Crunge", is a straight up lift from Sex Machine by James Brown. "Over the Hills and Far Away" is a title that has appeared in various ways in English literature; an old song from the 1600s, a poem, and a collection of short stories. "The Ocean" is a reference to the crowds at their concerts, and "Houses of the Holy" is a reference to the gigantic sports arenas they played in.

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the origins of this particular line about the lion and the tadpole in a jar, I've never heard any band member comment on; who knows what it really meant. But there were other examples of random things that found their way into Zeppelin lyrics and titles.

Robert once explained to an American journalist the lyric was inspired by a sight he saw while walking about town one day...someone had literally placed a tadpole in a jar in between the paws of a stone lion outside of a library or town hall or something. I always took those interview comments at face value but there are some who insist the lyric is derived from an English metaphor of sexual connotation. If that is true then Robert was obviously putting the journalist on.

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This is quite the topic! I guess I never really thought about what it could mean. Sometimes, I try not to think too hard about it because I feel that quite often there isn't really any hidden meaning. Sometimes artists will write something and not even know, or remember, why. I haven't really ever heard anything about this one partcular line. Personally, I am just fine with never knowing what it "really means."

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I always thought it a metaphor for a religious resurgence. Ok, work with me on this one: The Lion, Christ is frequently represented as a lion as symbol. The tadpole represents youth, that is the current generation of the 70's was godless and more about self-gratification than spiritual awakenings however the tadpole represents a future generation which will turn away from the worldly and once again embrace god, hence a third great awakening.

So, what do you all think??? Bullshit right? Well, I tried. I personally will go with Steve's interpretation above, after all Occam's Razor ya know.

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Maybe it's one of those stone lion's you see outside public buildings and in parks , and some kid had left a tadpole in a jar beside it after playing in the park pond ,,,,,right time right place Planty saw it and went bingo

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wes, my friend... let me expound upon your thread, which essentially, is a cutting edge song about 'safe sex'.

First, we must examine a previous verse or two...

"I got my flower, I got my power, I got a woman who knows."

Translated: I have my weed, my virility, and a woman who "knows", in the biblical sense.

"You told your mamma I'd get you home, but you didn't tell her I had no car."

Translated: Getting "her home" was bringing her to the Big O, probably on the family sofa downstairs while her parent were asleep upstairs.

"I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar.

Translated: Upon completion of coitus, the lion/male removes his condom and equates the "little swimmers" to a tadpole in a jar.

The female, at this point sneaks back upstairs to her bedroom, while the lion is standing butt naked in the living room with a rubber in his hand.He said "it's all right, you know it's all right, it's all in my heart." So all is well and he slips out the back door.

Hope this has been of help to you, wes.

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wes, my friend... let me expound upon your thread, which essentially, is a cutting edge song about 'safe sex'.

First, we must examine a previous verse or two...

"I got my flower, I got my power, I got a woman who knows."

Translated: I have my weed, my virility, and a woman who "knows", in the biblical sense.

"You told your mamma I'd get you home, but you didn't tell her I had no car."

Translated: Getting "her home" was bringing her to the Big O, probably on the family sofa downstairs while her parent were asleep upstairs.

"I saw a lion he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar.

Translated: Upon completion of coitus, the lion/male removes his condom and equates the "little swimmers" to a tadpole in a jar.

The female, at this point sneaks back upstairs to her bedroom, while the lion is standing butt naked in the living room with a rubber in his hand.He said "it's all right, you know it's all right, it's all in my heart." So all is well and he slips out the back door.

Hope this has been of help to you, wes.

Nice story - i would if he was influenced by Yeats

Those Dancing Days Are Gone by William Butler Yeats

Come, let me sing into your ear;

Those dancing days are gone,

All that silk and satin gear;

Crouch upon a stone,

Wrapping that foul body up

In as foul a rag:

I carry the sun in a golden cup.

The moon in a silver bag.

Curse as you may I sing it through;

What matter if the knave

That the most could pleasure you,

The children that he gave,

Are somewhere sleeping like a top

Under a marble flag?

I carry the sun in a golden cup.

The moon in a silver bag.

I thought it out this very day.

Noon upon the clock,

A man may put pretence away

Who leans upon a stick,

May sing, and sing until he drop,

Whether to maid or hag:

I carry the sun in a golden cup,

The moon in a silver bag.

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