Led Zeppelin's Lyrical Content Highly Under Rated

[Katuschka]

I think a lot of the bashing is based on a just a few songs, such as "Ramble On" and "Immigrant Song," both of which have lyrics that don't show what Plant was really about.

I must disagree. First, it's really not that hard to get an idea, and second, that doesn't necessarily make them bad.

[Laughter]

Friends is also a good song lyrically.

[GetTheLedOut]

He was being sarcastic and did not want to answer the question, he is tired of people asking what the song means so he just puts the question off, one reason he does not like the song as much anymore.

There are a few songs

• Ramble On
  Battle Of Evermore
  Immigrant Song
  No Quarter
  

Tell me if I missed any

I wouldn't put Immigrant Song in there, there's nothing LOTR related in it. But either way, my point is that 85% of the time when someone tries to deride Zep lyrics, they choose a LOTR lyric. I just think that's unfair, both because it's done with a little tongue in cheek and because it's such a small percentage of the songs.

[GetTheLedOut]

I must disagree. First, it's really not that hard to get an idea, and second, that doesn't necessarily make them bad.

I'm confused what you meant by that.

Also, I don't think the lyrics on the "LOTR" songs are anything too particularly special when taken seriously, which is why they give the wrong impressions of the band. I like lyrics like those to Achilles Last Stand which have double meanings like the more literally "lore" meaning and as an autobiography of the band (quite clever how he does it), and I like lyrics like Ten Years Gone and Going to California even more.

[NickZepp]

Yes, that refers back to Celtic Mythology which is what Tolkien also based her books on, so they are sort of similar and Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp is more just about his Dog, except for his name which is based off LOTR, but the album version has no connection since he only says "Strider" in the Live Versions.

But the song is about his dog which was named Strider. Other than that I agree the song has nothing to do with LOTR.

[Blue_Soul]

This is one area where Led Zeppelin is not bashed too much, but I have read a few posts about this, and crtitics used to do their fare share of shoot-downs in regards to the lyrical content of LZ. I recall Rolling Stone's review of Physical Graffiti saying you wouldn't find much in the way of lyrical content in that album. So it occured to me, especially in that instance, that songs like "Kashmir", "Ten Years Gone", and "The Rover" (Just to name a few) were just over the heads of critics and bashers alike. Listen to the first verse of Kashmir...

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream

I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been

To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen

They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed

This is the kind of stuff that I say is too advanced for people who bash it. Yet bands like Pink Floyd (not bashing them, just using an example) are praised for lyrics like "We don't need no education.". Its an unfair double standard.

I sometimes even hear people bash Stairway To Heaven. Its been like the holy grail of Zep trivia to figure out exactly what it means. I've heard members talk about how happy they are that so many people interpret it in their own way, that is not the same as meaning...fill the meaning of the song with anything. A song of that caliber is easily shot down because many people are not qualified to interpret stuff that deep, they rather dismiss it as "filler content that ryhmes" and then try to shoot down people who defend the quality of the content as "looking for something that isn't there". Well people who think like that are not worthy of LZ's music. Neither are the high school rejects who rock the "Zeppelin 77 tour" T-Shirts yet couldn't name all four members or any songs beyond Stairway.

I just wish that critics and fans alike would gain a better and more accurate appreciation for the music.

Well said. As I already said in the Stairway To Heaven lovers thread, some people don't like the song because they think you can't be a real Led Zeppelin fan if you like it or list it as your favorite song, so perhaps for them it's the same about admiring the lyrics?! I don't know, and I actually don't want to either. I love their lyrics, some of them may be deeper than others but generally I don't believe in meaningless lyrics in all LZ songs.

[infidel]

because I don't believe Stairway has any deep meaning I am unworthy of Zeppelin's music. Do you hear yourself? I've never heard anything so utterly ridiculous.

For the record, I do like the song. I think it's a masterpiece of structure. I like the lyrics well enough. I just don't think it has a super deep meaning, at least as intended by Robert Plant, that can be figured out. Personal interpretation is quite a different matter and open to anyone.

[ZoSo88]

because I don't believe Stairway has any deep meaning I am unworthy of Zeppelin's music. Do you hear yourself? I've never heard anything so utterly ridiculous.

For the record, I do like the song. I think it's a masterpiece of structure. I like the lyrics well enough. I just don't think it has a super deep meaning, at least as intended by Robert Plant, that can be figured out. Personal interpretation is quite a different matter and open to anyone.

Fair enough...I guess then of course your worthy. There are also those sterotypical 77 tour t-shirt wearing high-school drop out's who love LZ (not saying your one of them) and they'll rock out to whole lotta love Although Stairway escapes them...its rather deep for most people. So i can understand your take on it.

[SteveAJones]

Now that I think about it, does it have seven identifiable levels in the structure?

[GetTheLedOut]

Now that I think about it, does it have seven identifiable levels in the structure?

[Michelle of Los Angeles CA]

LEMON SONG

It is a said song (although RP refers to it now endearingly). While you guys feel what he is saying. I feel for the other person, on the other end of the song. It must be difficult for women to have a boyfriend/husband who is on the road all the time 80% away from home.

It's also tough for the members of the band too. I mean dealing with the groupies and all.

If they'd let one girl in, they're expected to let the other girls in too.

Then at the end of the day, they're still alone, far from home.

(Whew. This is meant for this thread. Thanks)

[SteveAJones]

LEMON SONG

It is a sad song (although RP refers to it now endearingly). While you guys feel what he is saying. I feel for the other person, on the other end of the song. It must be difficult for women to have a boyfriend/husband who is on the road all the time 80% away from home.

Oh sure, it must have been brutal for them. Sleep in til 4pm, wake up next to Lori Lightning, play the Forum, meet Bebe Buell backstage, hang out at the Rainbow

till dawn. Return to Lori. Get said lemon squeezed.

[eternal light]

LEMON SONG

It is a said song (although RP refers to it now endearingly). While you guys feel what he is saying. I feel for the other person, on the other end of the song. It must be difficult for women to have a boyfriend/husband who is on the road all the time 80% away from home.

It's also tough for the members of the band too. I mean dealing with the groupies and all.

If they'd let one girl in, they're expected to let the other girls in too.

Then at the end of the day, they're still alone, far from home.

(Whew. This is meant for this thread. Thanks)

[hodgo]

I've been a Zep fan for 28 years, I love their albums & they are one of my favourite bands, but I've never thought Plant was one of the greatest lyric writers & I still don't, much of their music & lyrics were taken directly from other great songs, as the Lyrics quoted from the "Hunter" written by Steve Cropper & Donald "Duck" Dunn only goes to show, but I see & hear the whole of what Zep do & the sounds they create & it's just a marvelous stew that really works.

Just because Zep are one of the greatest bands of all time, it doesn't mean they have to be the greatest in every area, it's the sum of the different parts that works so well together & makes them what they are, and the fact that Plant doesn't have the genius of The Great Bob Dylan as song writer doesn't really matter, it's what they do as a whole & the influences that they have used that make the great sound, I just wish they'd have credited the original sources more than what they did.

Graham

[DreamyKnight]

This is one area where Led Zeppelin is not bashed too much, but I have read a few posts about this, and crtitics used to do their fare share of shoot-downs in regards to the lyrical content of LZ. I recall Rolling Stone's review of Physical Graffiti saying you wouldn't find much in the way of lyrical content in that album. So it occured to me, especially in that instance, that songs like "Kashmir", "Ten Years Gone", and "The Rover" (Just to name a few) were just over the heads of critics and bashers alike. Listen to the first verse of Kashmir...

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream

I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been

To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen

They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed

This is the kind of stuff that I say is too advanced for people who bash it. Yet bands like Pink Floyd (not bashing them, just using an example) are praised for lyrics like "We don't need no education.". Its an unfair double standard.

I sometimes even hear people bash Stairway To Heaven. Its been like the holy grail of Zep trivia to figure out exactly what it means. I've heard members talk about how happy they are that so many people interpret it in their own way, that is not the same as meaning...fill the meaning of the song with anything. A song of that caliber is easily shot down because many people are not qualified to interpret stuff that deep, they rather dismiss it as "filler content that ryhmes" and then try to shoot down people who defend the quality of the content as "looking for something that isn't there". Well people who think like that are not worthy of LZ's music. Neither are the high school rejects who rock the "Zeppelin 77 tour" T-Shirts yet couldn't name all four members or any songs beyond Stairway.

I just wish that critics and fans alike would gain a better and more accurate appreciation for the music.

"He's the one that likes our pretty songs, likes to sing along, likes to shoot his gun, But he doesnt know what it means, doesnt know what it means" - Nirvana

You couldnt be given any more hints, that there is so much more to this music than meets the eye!

People are just lazy!

[ZoSo88]

I've been a Zep fan for 28 years, I love their albums & they are one of my favourite bands, but I've never thought Plant was one of the greatest lyric writers & I still don't, much of their music & lyrics were taken directly from other great songs, as the Lyrics quoted from the "Hunter" written by Steve Cropper & Donald "Duck" Dunn only goes to show, but I see & hear the whole of what Zep do & the sounds they create & it's just a marvelous stew that really works.

Just because Zep are one of the greatest bands of all time, it doesn't mean they have to be the greatest in every area, it's the sum of the different parts that works so well together & makes them what they are, and the fact that Plant doesn't have the genius of The Great Bob Dylan as song writer doesn't really matter, it's what they do as a whole & the influences that they have used that make the great sound, I just wish they'd have credited the original sources more than what they did.

Graham

No offense to Bob Dylan, but Plant IS a better song writer. Not to unrate what Dylan has done, he's never touched anything of the caliber of Stairway.

[SteveAJones]

No offense to Bob Dylan, but Plant IS a better song writer.

Oh, c'mon now.

[dazedcat]

"No offense to Bob Dylan, but Plant IS a better song writer. Not to unrate what Dylan has done, he's never touched anything of the caliber of Stairway."

Lordy. This post has to win some kind of ultimate fan reward. You're really serious??

[BlackandGold]

Sometimes lyrics are simply a vehicle for the voice as an instrument. There is no reason for them to be deep or particularly meaningful. This is typical in blues songs where the general theme is either about a man/woman that the singer is lusting after or about a man/woman who done the singer wrong. Come to think of it, that is the general theme in most country songs and probably at least 75% of rock songs. The purpose of the lyrics is to help express the general emotion of the song and to move the song along.

There are a lot of songs with great lyrics that are not profound, but nifty wordplay. "Trampled Under Foot" is a good example so is "Walk this Way".

Some songs benefit from lack of any lyrics allowing us to appreciate the voice purely as an instrument. "Great Gig in the Sky" is a perfect example and there is a long history of scat singing in jazz.

In my opinion, lyrics were not RP's greatest strength, at least in the beginning. His voice with such expressiveness and emotion is his strength. As time went on, his lyrics got better and some of them are great -"Kashmir" and yes " Stairway to Heaven". I'm not sure I would rank him up there with Dylan though.

[SteveAJones]

I'm not sure I would rank him up there with Dylan though.

Certainly not ABOVE Dylan!

All Along The Watchtower vs. Stairway to Heaven

Mr Tambourine Man vs. anything Plant wrote 1968-1975

Like A Rolling Stone vs. anything Plant wrote 1976-2006

[NickZepp]

Certainly not ABOVE Dylan!

All Along The Watchtower vs. Stairway to Heaven

Mr Tambourine Man vs. anything Plant wrote 1968-1975

Like A Rolling Stone vs. anything Plant wrote 1976-2006

Those are probably Dylan's most popular songs but his best written songs were Time's they are a Changin', Blowin' in the Wind, Subterranean Homesick Blues, and Tangled up in Blue IMO.

[GetTheLedOut]

Certainly not ABOVE Dylan!

All Along The Watchtower vs. Stairway to Heaven

Mr Tambourine Man vs. anything Plant wrote 1968-1975

Like A Rolling Stone vs. anything Plant wrote 1976-2006

While I do like many of Robert's lyrics, don't compare him to Dylan.

I've said this many times when talking about Plant's lyrics in comparison to someone like Dylan:

On the whole Plant's lyrics are very clever, but Dylan's lyrics are deep. There in lies the difference. That's not so say Plant is a bad lyricist, he became a very good lyricist after just a couple of albums (just look at the jump from "Ramble On" to "That's The Way"), but Dylan is a league better than then some.

[SteveAJones]

While I do like many of Robert's lyrics, don't compare him to Dylan.

I've said this many times when talking about Plant's lyrics in comparison to someone like Dylan:

On the whole Plant's lyrics are very clever, but Dylan's lyrics are deep. There in lies the difference. That's not so say Plant is a bad lyricist, he became a very good lyricist after just a couple of albums (just look at the jump from "Ramble On" to "That's The Way"), but Dylan is a league better than then some.

Agreed. I became more familiar with Dylan's work when JPJ collaborated with Julie Felix

for 'Starry Eyed And Laughing', a cd of her covering Dylan songs. Brilliant stuff.

[Nathan]

My favorite lyricist is Jim Morrison of the Doors. Next would Bob Dylan, followed by David Gilmore (and I'm willing to bet I'm alone in that one... but please note... it was Waters who wrote The Wall, not Gilmore), followed by Robert Plant.

I could never pin down a fifth one. For a long time it was Kurt Cobain (when I identified with the angst). At one point it was Geoff Tate (Queensryche). At another time it was Roger Waters (I know... a lot of his lyrics are rather childish, but amongst the childish ones he has some serious gems). Then for a while it was Ronnie Van Zant. Most recently it was Jimmy Page. Right now, though, I'm considering Syd Barrett, though I'm not sure (not so much for the deepness of his lyrics but for the broken genious of them... they are so childish unless you actually think about them... Syd was a genious, IMO... a broken one, yes, but a genious nonetheless)

But for me, at least, RP has always been #4.

[*eviljane*]

I love every line of Kashmir. I know that they didn't get anything from other artists with this one. Its by far my favorite song of theirs. Speaking of Bob Dylan I didn't really appreciate him until I watched a special about him on tv last week. What a Genius! It was unbelievable to see all his fans booing him for playing an electric guitar on stage. That shows how attached they were to his acoustic pieces. My favorite of his is Subterranean Homesick Blues.