Song Titles

[ScarletMacaw]

I know there's a book with these stories somewhere, but I don't recall what it's called and don't feel like buying it either...I have always wondered about some of the song titles that don't seem to quite match the songs (e.g. "Black Dog") and those that seem to sort of match the song but are fanciful (e.g. "The Rover," "Achilles Last Stand," "Trampled Underfoot," "Moby Dick," "Sick Again" and those that seem to relate to a place ("Royal Orleans" and "Black Mountain Side"). Am wondering how these titles came to be..

[Glyn]

I have a book called Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song. It's an ok book, I mainly bought it for the pictures. Here's what I understand about some of the song titles.

The Royal Orleans is a hotel in the French quarter of New Orleans that the band had stayed at. The song is about a certain members encounter with a drag queen.

"Black Dog" is simply named so because there was a black lab (according to Plant's plantations during concerts) hanging around while they were rehearsing/recording it.

"Achilles Last Stand" could be related to Plant's ankle injury he was recovering from at the time of that recording. Achilles is the hero in Homer's Iliad, his weakness was his heel.

"Black Mountain Side" is most likely a nod to the Bert Jansch song "Black Water Side", which is quite similar - the inspiration for Black Mountain Side.

[scylla]

There definitely was a black labrador hanging around the studio (there's a few seconds of footage somewhere of Jimmy on the lawn, playing an acoustic guitar and sort of dancing around it). But black dogs are also quite a big thing in British folklore, associated with the devil, portents of death etc - always malevolent. They also crop up sometimes in all those American this-blues-musician-sold-his-soul-to-the-devil-at-the-crossroads type stories. They are also sometimes a metaphor for depression. Check out the entry for "Black dog (ghost)" on Wikipedia. I think the band claimed it was just about the labrador. . . but I'm a little sceptical.

Trampled Under Foot is a Crowley reference I think. Though why it was thought to go with a song constructed entirely from car / sex metaphors, no idea.

I always thought Sick Again was quite straightforward - Plant becoming disgusted by the LA scene with the extremely underage groupies (and also sort of disgusted with himself for sometimes having been seduced by it).

[ScarletMacaw]

Thanks for the info; I think that was the book I was thinking of. I think I may have walked by the Royal Orleans hotel...I was fantasizing that maybe they had stayed at the hotel I stayed at, the Bourbon Orleans, which is near the corner of Royal and Orleans streets...that's interesting about Achilles Last Stand, as if Robert was wondering if he would perform/record again...

I have a book called Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song. It's an ok book, I mainly bought it for the pictures. Here's what I understand about some of the song titles.

The Royal Orleans is a hotel in the French quarter of New Orleans that the band had stayed at. The song is about a certain members encounter with a drag queen.

"Black Dog" is simply named so because there was a black lab (according to Plant's plantations during concerts) hanging around while they were rehearsing/recording it.

"Achilles Last Stand" could be related to Plant's ankle injury he was recovering from at the time of that recording. Achilles is the hero in Homer's Iliad, his weakness was his heel.

"Black Mountain Side" is most likely a nod to the Bert Jansch song "Black Water Side", which is quite similar - the inspiration for Black Mountain Side.

Interesting; here in the US it's black cats that are associated with bad luck/black magic. I wonder how "Trampled Underfoot" came from Crowley? I pictured something similar but slightly different for "Sick Again," relating to the underage groupies...

There definitely was a black labrador hanging around the studio (there's a few seconds of footage somewhere of Jimmy on the lawn, playing an acoustic guitar and sort of dancing around it). But black dogs are also quite a big thing in British folklore, associated with the devil, portents of death etc - always malevolent. They also crop up sometimes in all those American this-blues-musician-sold-his-soul-to-the-devil-at-the-crossroads type stories. They are also sometimes a metaphor for depression. Check out the entry for "Black dog (ghost)" on Wikipedia. I think the band claimed it was just about the labrador. . . but I'm a little sceptical.

Trampled Under Foot is a Crowley reference I think. Though why it was thought to go with a song constructed entirely from car / sex metaphors, no idea.

I always thought Sick Again was quite straightforward - Plant becoming disgusted by the LA scene with the extremely underage groupies (and also sort of disgusted with himself for sometimes having been seduced by it).

[justawoman]

I think I may have walked by the Royal Orleans hotel...I was fantasizing that maybe they had stayed at the hotel I stayed at, the Bourbon Orleans, which is near the corner of Royal and Orleans streets...

Scarlet, if you ever get back to N.O., the Royal Orleans is now the Omni Royal Orleans. You should stay there, it's right in the heart of the French Quarter and probably equivalent (price wise, accommodations) to the Bourbon Orleans. I called once to see if they had any 'Led Zeppelin rooms', but the younger woman with whom I spoke had no idea what I was talking about so I had to give her a little history (left out the drag queen part), but alas, no.

[Ross62]

I know there's a book with these stories somewhere, but I don't recall what it's called and don't feel like buying it either...I have always wondered about some of the song titles that don't seem to quite match the songs (e.g. "Black Dog") and those that seem to sort of match the song but are fanciful (e.g. "The Rover," "Achilles Last Stand," "Trampled Underfoot," "Moby Dick," "Sick Again" and those that seem to relate to a place ("Royal Orleans" and "Black Mountain Side"). Am wondering how these titles came to be..

Trampled Underfoot,by Robert's own admission,is a nod to Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" where the car's various parts are linked via sexual innuendo to a woman's body.

"Greasy slicked down body/Groovy leather trim/I like the way ya hold the road/Mama, it ain't no sin/Talkin' 'bout love/I'm talkin' about love/I'm talkin' 'bout/Ooh, trouble-free transmission/Helps your oil's flow/Mama, let me pump your gas/Mama, let me do it all."

"Trampled Underfoot" played on the Clavinet keyboard by Jonesy has also been roughly linked to the first half of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" which was also played on a Clavinet keyboard.