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Tea For One


Xolo1974

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If there’s a topic on this already, I can’t find it! 

Anyway. I know this is a song that polarises opinion. I was just listening to it on my Saturday morning bike ride. 

I nearly skipped it. But I just couldn’t. The reason? It’s a terrific song. I think the one word I would use to describe it is “Hypnotic”. 

Are there people that really hate this song? Why? I think it’s a great close to a terrific album

 

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Hi. I don’t know anyone that hates Tea For One. Some think it’s too similar to Since I’ve Been Loving You. It is similiar, but to me that doesn’t matter too much. It’s a great Blues... A great emotion packed song.

  Joe Bonamassa did an excellent cover of Tea For One.  He shreds,  but it’s very respectful of Page and the original version. 

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I love it. It's a perfect snapshot of Robert's emotional state-of-mind at that time, post-accident and separated from his family. Jimmy supplies a suitably melancholic moody solo with beautiful touch and tone.

I wish they had played this on the 1977 tour (and '79 and '80) instead of "Since I've Been Loving You". At the very least, alternate "SIBLY" and "Tea for One" on the multi-date runs in Chicago, Landover, New York, and Los Angeles.

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Love it.

Don't know why it is compared to SIBLY as they are very different compositions. SIBLY is more upbeat (for a blues tune that is) and goes through much more aggressively than TFO. TFO is without a doubt hypnotic which in no way is SIBLY. SIBLY is a scream into the face of an unfaithful love. TFO is pure pain and longing, the questioning of ones own purpose in the scheme of things.

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I love Tea For One. I might be the only one to say I never compared it to SIBLY. Never! They are completely coming from 2 different places. Tea for One is Roberts pain and anguish. The guitar emotion and tension is from  the master himself. Both men coming to terms of personal anguish and addiction. The band leadership was possibly shifting and changes were coming. 

Its a wonderful tension filled song. SIBLY has more blues ,yearning and lust. It's not as personal. Crtitcs only listen to the timing and beat where the similarities are evident. One must dig deep. 

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Tea For One is a wonderful song. Have to say, I've never seen it as a divisive song - I know some people say it's too long and others compare it to Since I've Been Loving You,
but I think it's perfect as it is and I actually prefer it to SIBLY.
Tea For One resonates with me more. Robert sounds like he means it - like it's personal and he's inhabiting the lyric, not just singing it.  
Given the circumstances, you believe him. Jimmy's guitar matches the mood and sentiment perfectly, too. Wonderful stuff. 

 

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On 9/8/2018 at 1:53 PM, paul carruthers said:

that intro is so damn killer, you have to love it sooner or later

Yes.  I always loved that intro - it is not fast,  but it has an "odd rush" to it as a critic once said about Misty Mountain Hop.  Great feel and lyrics, amazing guitar solo.   The whole mood and sound is perfect.  For me it is always associated with the hot and humid summer of 1976, back in the days when none of the cars me and my friends drove had air conditioning.  Summer days and nights spent outside at parties.  Everyone had Presence on 8 track.  

One more thing - the "shimmering" sound of the guitar overdubs at the end.  Perfection.

 

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1 hour ago, Blaize86 said:

I love Tea For One. I might be the only one to say I never compared it to SIBLY. Never! They are completely coming from 2 different places. Tea for One is Roberts pain and anguish. The guitar emotion and tension is from  the master himself. Both men coming to terms of personal anguish and addiction. The band leadership was possibly shifting and changes were coming. 

Its a wonderful tension filled song. SIBLY has more blues ,yearning and lust. It's not as personal. Crtitcs only listen to the timing and beat where the similarities are evident. One must dig deep. 

 

55 minutes ago, Brigante said:

Tea For One is a wonderful song. Have to say, I've never seen it as a divisive song - I know some people say it's too long and others compare it to Since I've Been Loving You,
but I think it's perfect as it is and I actually prefer it to SIBLY.
Tea For One resonates with me more. Robert sounds like he means it - like it's personal and he's inhabiting the lyric, not just singing it.  
Given the circumstances, you believe him. Jimmy's guitar matches the mood and sentiment perfectly, too. Wonderful stuff. 

 

Absolutely agree. I think the song is a masterpiece of emotional storytelling, and that guitar solo that Jimmy conjured up is one of his most lyrical and emotive solos ever recorded. It's also one of plants most heartfelt lyrics, and if you've ever had to be apart from someone you care about deeply that song should strike a nerve for you.

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On 9/11/2018 at 8:29 AM, John M said:

.  For me it is always associated with the hot and humid summer of 1976, back in the days when none of the cars me and my friends drove had air conditioning.  Summer days and nights spent outside at parties.  Everyone had Presence on 8 track.  

 

 

Damn. Spot on mood setting.

I've never liked it and it's probably the song I've listened to least. I'm gonna crank it on the way to work and see if I'm missing something.

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22 minutes ago, gibsonfan159 said:

Damn. Spot on mood setting.

I've never liked it and it's probably the song I've listened to least. I'm gonna crank it on the way to work and see if I'm missing something.

Nope, still bores me to death. There's no denying that desperate, heartbroken mood that underlines the song, but it just draaaags and doesn't have enough melodic appeal. I'm personally not a fan of the heavy reverb and mix, which is what I think hurts some other songs on this album. The guitar tone is extremely lackluster and subdued. The song fails to make the impact it's supposed to because of the mixing. I think what makes Achilles and NFBM stand out more on this album are the drier mixes. I swear these two tracks must've been recorded at a different studio.

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One minute seems like a lifetime ...baby,...when I feel this way...I feel this way....

Love it! It IS heavy....but I can identify with the vibes in this song. I think Jimmy's playing is superb on it.  I first bought Presence in the Summer of 1981...same time frame my friends and I all got our driver's licenses and were  driving all over partying. My first car came to me with an 8-track player and Zeppelin II and III "pre-installed" as it were...it was a very Zeppelin Summer with all kinds of "firsts" and Presence was the backdrop because for a couple of months we were obsessed with it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Presence is my favorite Zep album and Tea for One is blues perfection IMO. Of course it is no coincidence as to the why. Presence was my first Zep album purchased just one year after release. !976 I was in third grade and the times that they were kids grew up very quickly. Though I was only 8 years old I had a very diverse group of people I considered friends, from those my age to my beautiful Sue who was 16 and took me everywhere on the back of her Yamaha, to the 20 something couple who lived two apartment buildings down, and the 30 year old childless free lance photographer another building down who would jet around the world photographing the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and then off to LA to document Bowie at the Coliseum. It was this photographer who truly introduced me to Zeppelin in December 1976 with the Presence album. She was amazing. I would frequently hang out at her apartment, just the two of us, listening to music and her teaching me of the world. Today her ass would be locked up as innuendo and accusations would fly, though in 76' this was the norm and just to be clear, this amazing woman was a matronly yet very hip figure in my life. There was nothing inappropriate outside of a childless woman wanting to impart some wisdom and enjoy some proxy semblance of motherhood, while giving me the most amazing kindness, the gift of curiosity and music. 

By 76' I was already a huge Bowie & Elton John fan through my cousins and a passing Zeppelin & Floyd fan via my older brother. It was this woman however who truly opened the door to Zeppelin and music in general for me. Presence was a watershed moment for me akin to Madman Across the Water but in a different vein. The musical dynamics of Zeppelin was something new as I was used to most albums simply being variances of similar themes and melodies. Ziggy Stardust sounded like Ziggy Stardust from beginning to end, as did the Doobies, the Eagles, even Little Feat but Zeppelin varied their sound with each track. Presence was without a doubt their most straightforward album which says volumes as Zeppelin's most direct was more diverse than most bands most eclectic works.

Which brings me to Tea for One. Though direct, this album is without a doubt a musical journey. From the constant movement and urgency of ALS to the contemplation and danger of FYL to the humor and playfulness of RO. Then off to metal regret and rebirth with NFBM, psycho-billy machismo of CSR, to the brilliant and perfect sarcasm, self-doubt, and warning (in a very funky-jazzy-and subtle complex) HOFN. Then to end it all with one of the most emotive and heart wrenching blues in TFO ever put on record. When TFO would play, all the doubt and regret would become evident in Cindy's eyes. I have no clue as to her past or what she was thinking as I was only 8 and she would never burden a child with such revelations but looking back I now understand. That song, and that album represent a perfect time in my life, but a time of discovery, friendship, and constant change as well.

Presence is my album, and Tea for One is my portal back  to a woman who gave me the greatest gift any child could ask for. The gift of unconditional kindness and friendship.

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18 minutes ago, IpMan said:

Presence is my favorite Zep album and Tea for One is blues perfection IMO. Of course it is no coincidence as to the why. Presence was my first Zep album purchased just one year after release. !976 I was in third grade and the times that they were kids grew up very quickly. Though I was only 8 years old I had a very diverse group of people I considered friends, from those my age to my beautiful Sue who was 16 and took me everywhere on the back of her Yamaha, to the 20 something couple who lived two apartment buildings down, and the 30 year old childless free lance photographer another building down who would jet around the world photographing the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and then off to LA to document Bowie at the Coliseum. It was this photographer who truly introduced me to Zeppelin in December 1976 with the Presence album. She was amazing. I would frequently hang out at her apartment, just the two of us, listening to music and her teaching me of the world. Today her ass would be locked up as innuendo and accusations would fly, though in 76' this was the norm and just to be clear, this amazing woman was a matronly yet very hip figure in my life. There was nothing inappropriate outside of a childless woman wanting to impart some wisdom and enjoy some proxy semblance of motherhood, while giving me the most amazing kindness, the gift of curiosity and music. 

By 76' I was already a huge Bowie & Elton John fan through my cousins and a passing Zeppelin & Floyd fan via my older brother. It was this woman however who truly opened the door to Zeppelin and music in general for me. Presence was a watershed moment for me akin to Madman Across the Water but in a different vein. The musical dynamics of Zeppelin was something new as I was used to most albums simply being variances of similar themes and melodies. Ziggy Stardust sounded like Ziggy Stardust from beginning to end, as did the Doobies, the Eagles, even Little Feat but Zeppelin varied their sound with each track. Presence was without a doubt their most straightforward album which says volumes as Zeppelin's most direct was more diverse than most bands most eclectic works.

Which brings me to Tea for One. Though direct, this album is without a doubt a musical journey. From the constant movement and urgency of ALS to the contemplation and danger of FYL to the humor and playfulness of RO. Then off to metal regret and rebirth with NFBM, psycho-billy machismo of CSR, to the brilliant and perfect sarcasm, self-doubt, and warning (in a very funky-jazzy-and subtle complex) HOFN. Then to end it all with one of the most emotive and heart wrenching blues in TFO ever put on record. When TFO would play, all the doubt and regret would become evident in Cindy's eyes. I have no clue as to her past or what she was thinking as I was only 8 and she would never burden a child with such revelations but looking back I now understand. That song, and that album represent a perfect time in my life, but a time of discovery, friendship, and constant change as well.

Presence is my album, and Tea for One is my portal back  to a woman who gave me the greatest gift any child could ask for. The gift of unconditional kindness and friendship.

Fuck mate, you should look her up and surprise her. Tell her of the impact she had. Let her know it was not only deeply felt but immensly important and appreciated. I'd say worth the effort to be able to do that.

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