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lord of the rings and led zeppelin


hippylove

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Robert Plant has claimed that no songs are actually about LoTR, and judging by lyrics, he used them more metaphorically.

I nkow Robert has claimed none of the songs are about LOTRs but I think he should sit down and listen to The Battle Of Evermore. That's about as LOTRs as you can get.

I dont know if he ever said it but if Robert has ever said that The Battle of Evermore is not about LOTR you should pretty much take his word for it and accept that Led Zeppelin is using LOTR as allusion.

Using allusion allows for a personal language, where one can talk about something intimately without revealing details. The song is about conflict, no doubt. It could be about Vietnam, a lovers quarrel, a family fight.

More likely I think, Led Zeppelin uses allusion to create an emotional space. In this case it was about palcing the listener in a world of fantasy. A world where you are comfortable contemplating mother nature, elves, magic, fair maidens, valiant warriors and foreboding evil. I've always thought of this use of fantasy as a way of sharing and expressing pride in the Anglo Saxon heritage.

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Ringwraith is a term that Tolkien basically made up for his stories. And that is in BOE. That song is a LOTR reference. The queen of light is also the elf queen. I can't remember her name right now. She was referred to that in the book.

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I was just watching a bit of TSRTS last night thinking about the Tolkien thing and caught something I never realized before. The very first scene in the Peter Grant merchandising argument has a couple of fans looking at band pics from one of the illegitimate vendors. I never noticed before but these two guys were wearing full medieval garb; fur lined capes and all. Talk about being in the moment! :D

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  • 8 months later...
I don't know why Robert is always ashamed that he used LOTR reference, maybe he just doesn't like it as much anymore or something. But Misty Mountain Hop is pretty obvious since it's title is the Misty Mountains referred to in Tolkien's books. And MMH is a retelling of the Hobbit as well as a kid's LSD trip.

Battle of Evermore and Ramble On not only has direct quotes from the LOTRs books but they also use terms only in Tolkien's works. It's pretty obvious Plant did use some of those works in his songs.

Actually there were two more songs by Led Zeppelin about lord of the rings

1. Over the Hills and Far Away

2. Misty Mountain Hop

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Has anybody tried to sync up Led Zeppelin IV to one of those LOTR movies? It worked for Dark side of the moon and Wizard of Oz.

Yeh-I can totally see Viggo Mortensen singing Black Dog at Liv :lol::hysterical:

I was just watching a bit of TSRTS last night thinking about the Tolkien thing and caught something I never realized before. The very first scene in the Peter Grant merchandising argument has a couple of fans looking at band pics from one of the illegitimate vendors. I never noticed before but these two guys were wearing full medieval garb; fur lined capes and all. Talk about being in the moment! :D

Robert's fantasy scene is complete proof- He Lives In Middle-Earth Duh! He's singing about his homeland! He even ate mushrooms like the hobbits :D

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I know they've said that Stairway isn't about LOTR, but I don't remember hearing that NONE of their songs are about LOTR or The Hobbit.

What do you guys think about OTHAFA? I'd say Ramble On, BOE, and MMH are clearly and irrefutably (woo, big word) Tolkien-inspired, but I'm not so sure about OTHAFA. The "pocketful of gold" line does kinda remind me of Bilbo with the Ring in his pocket, but that's kind of stretching it if you ask me. Same with connecting the "guessing" in the last verse to the riddle game. Plus, the song sounds pretty positive about seeing what life has in store for you, whereas Bilbo is constantly wishing he was back in his hobbit-hole in the Shire.

Hmm...on the other hand, if it weren't for the title of MMH and the one line referencing the Misty Mountains, I don't think I would have ever gotten the Hobbit connection there, so maybe I'm not looking deep enough at OTHAFA. But I don't know, maybe Robert didn't put anything specifically Tolkien-related phrases in OTHAFA because it isn't supposed to be Tolkien-related, whereas MMH is and therefore he clued us in with the title. Beats me!

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Seems to me there are Tolkien references in a number of songs, while no song seems to be entirely ABOUT LOTR or The Hobbit. In other words, some lines use Tolkien imagery, whereas the rest of the song focuses on something else altogether.

So everybody's right. :D

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Seems to me there are Tolkien references in a number of songs, while no song seems to be entirely ABOUT LOTR or The Hobbit. In other words, some lines use Tolkien imagery, whereas the rest of the song focuses on something else altogether.

So everybody's right. :D

I think they just stuck in LOTR refrences whenever they felt like it & (for some songs) didn't really care of it told a perfect little story

Just my thoughts...

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I think they just stuck in LOTR refrences whenever they felt like it & (for some songs) didn't really care of it told a perfect little story

Just my thoughts...

I dunno - I think Robert was probably pretty deliberate about the Tolkien references he used in relation to the rest of the lyrics of the song.

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I guess what I was trying to say was that no song is entirely about one of Tolkien's works although many contain Tolkien-inspired imagery. So while the rest of the song isn't about, say, LOTR, the imagery still supports the main point of the song in subtle ways. I agree it's not just stuck in there at random.

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I dunno - I think Robert was probably pretty deliberate about the Tolkien references he used in relation to the rest of the lyrics of the song.

!!!Not trying to start an argument!!!

But Misty Mountain Hop doesn't really spell out a undeniable Tolkien theme like Battle of Evermore. And in Ramble On, if the girl so fair is The Ring, Frodo (or Bilbo) Certainly didn't meet her in Mordor.

It just doesn't all fit exactly...

I do agree that the lyrics make sense in the context of the song, even if they don't match the books

Ex: What I get outta the last few lines of MMH is that Robert has pretty given up on this world ("folk down there really don't care...") and is pretty much saying "Forget this! I'm going to the Misty Mountains!"

Once again-my opinions...

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!!!Not trying to start an argument!!!

But Misty Mountain Hop doesn't really spell out a undeniable Tolkien theme like Battle of Evermore. And in Ramble On, if the girl so fair is The Ring, Frodo (or Bilbo) Certainly didn't meet her in Mordor.

It just doesn't all fit exactly...

Once again-my opinions...

Oh no worries - didn't think you were! Just offering my opinion as well - it's all good :D What I meant was I think the placement of the references was deliberate within each song and it wasn't necessarily connected to each subsequent song that had LOTR references. It also could be the LOTR references weren't supposed to be exactly the same as they were meant in the story.

Edited to add - there's a link posted somewhere here (I'll see if I can find it) where Robert does talk a bit about the LOTR references.

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Some things came into my mind when I read the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven the first time.

"Theres a feeling I get

When I look to the west,

And my spirit is crying for leaving."

I immdiately thought of the elves, who will leave at the end of their days in the Middle earth and sail to the west, whose spirits can't be drawn away from leaving once they see the sea.

And the lines about the trees, "Rings of smoke through the trees," "And the forests will echo with laughter", always remind me of the Hourns in the Fangorn Forest and make me smile.

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Some things came into my mind when I read the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven the first time.

"Theres a feeling I get

When I look to the west,

And my spirit is crying for leaving."

I immdiately thought of the elves, who will leave at the end of their days in the Middle earth and sail to the west, whose spirits can't be drawn away from leaving once they see the sea.

And the lines about the trees, "Rings of smoke through the trees," "And the forests will echo with laughter", always remind me of the Hourns in the Fangorn Forest and make me smile.

That scene at the end of the movie (and book) is really moving. Interesting you pointed those connections out - I've read and listened to the words endless times and I've not thought of it that way - some good food for thought :D

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That scene at the end of the movie (and book) is really moving. Interesting you pointed those connections out - I've read and listened to the words endless times and I've not thought of it that way - some good food for thought :D

Yo, I've always dreamed if I could meet Robert one day we would have a good talk, since we get the same interests for mythologies and sagas. :D

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Some things came into my mind when I read the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven the first time.

"Theres a feeling I get

When I look to the west,

And my spirit is crying for leaving."

I immdiately thought of the elves, who will leave at the end of their days in the Middle earth and sail to the west, whose spirits can't be drawn away from leaving once they see the sea.

"Rings of smoke through the trees," "And the forests will echo with laughter", always remind me of the Hourns in the Fangorn Forest and make me smile."

Hi 'glicine'

Now these lines make me think of the Elves of The Greenwood, the Silvan Elves ruled by Thranduil, father of Legolas.

Regards, Danny

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^^Yup, still works.

I understand, I'm the same blood type. ;)

My People have come back for me!! :D

I went through the entire Stairway lyrics from a LOTR perspective and came up with some pretty good stuff, but I don't really think that Robert wrote the whole song about LOTR. (You can make any sond be about LOTR if you try hard enough)

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  • 4 months later...
Thanks, Reggie, that was interesting.

It did remind me, though, that for me the score was the most disappointing aspect of the movies (though they were great otherwise).

Yeah if you can find Ringers: The Lord Of The Fans DVD it's well worth a look.

There are resonable bits of Zep, where they talk about VI and the various songs (soundbites), that were direct references to LOTR.

They mention Jimmy Page and superimposed a photograph (or is that video?) of a pointy wizard's hat from one of his many guitar poses.

I always wondered why they never used something from Zep.

Maybe the boys were approached and not interested.

The main theme is ok and the music for the Edoras, Rohan and Helm's deep scenes was excellent.

May It Be form TFOTR and Into The West TROTK are good but Gollum's Song from TTT, well, the jury's out on that one.

It could have been better but lacked that "X" Factor.

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Yeah if you can find Ringers: The Lord Of The Fans DVD it's well worth a look.

There are resonable bits of Zep, where they talk about VI and the various songs (soundbites), that were direct references to LOTR.

They mention Jimmy Page and superimposed a photograph (or is that video?) of a pointy wizard's hat from one of his many guitar poses.

I always wondered why they never used something from Zep.

Maybe the boys were approached and not interested.

The main theme is ok and the music for the Edoras, Rohan and Helm's deep scenes was excellent.

May It Be form TFOTR and Into The West TROTK are good but Gollum's Song from TTT, well, the jury's out on that one.

It could have been better but lacked that "X" Factor.

Thanks for posting Reggie. It was interesting to hear the cast mates talk about music influenced by LOTR. I've not heard of Ringers though but it sounds interesting.

To be honest, I can't remember the music from the movie :slapface:

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