Zeppelin inspired by Tolkien

[Derin_Rockanvil]

Just thought some of you guy may be interested in checking out Led Zeppelin. A few of there songs were greatly inspired by LoTR. Jimmy Page and Robert plant were huge fans of the books - below i've posted some lyrics for you to check out.... it's not all Tolkien references, the were very interested in Celtic Mythology and magic etc.

I went to see Robert Plant in concert in Glasgow last year around the time of the Two Towers Movie and Plant introduced 'Ramble On' as "the soundtrack from the film..."

Ramble On (influenced by the fellowship leaving the shire, the last verse has reference to Gollum)

Leaves are falling all around,
It’s time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I’m much obliged
For such a pleasant stay.

But now it’s time for me to go,
The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain,
And with it pain,
And it’s headed my way.
Ah, sometimes I grow so tired,

But I know I’ve got one thing I got to do,
Ramble on,
And now’s the time, the time is now
To sing my song.
I’m goin’ ’round the world,
I got to find my girl, on my way.
I’ve been this way ten years to the day, ramble on,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Got no time to for spreadin’ roots,
The time has come to be gone.
And to our health we drank a thousand times,
It’s time to ramble on.

Ramble on,
And now’s the time, the time is now
To sing my song.
I’m goin’ ’round the world,
I got to find my girl, on my way.
I’ve been this way ten years to the day, ramble on,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Mine’s a tale that can’t be told,
My freedom I hold dear;
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air,
T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair,
But Gollum, and the Evil One crept up
And slipped away with her.
Her, her....yea.



BATTLE of EVERMORE (the ring wraiths get a mention in this one)

Queen of light took her bow
And then she turned to go,
The prince of peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone.
Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morn - ing light.
The dark lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all.
Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all.
I hear the horses’ thunder
Down in the valley blow,
I’m waiting for the angels of avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.
The apples of the valley hold,
The seas of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care,
Repay, do not forget, no, no.
Oh,-------dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.
The apples turn to brown and black, the tyrant’s face is red.
Oh the war is common cry, pick up you swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.
Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.
The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ring wraiths ride in black, ride on.
Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.
Oh dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the mornin’ light.
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back, bring it back.
At last the sun is shining, the clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes.

Theres a few others that have some reference to mr Tolkien, Like Misty Mountain Hop... if you haven't hear of Zeppelin...go out and buy an album - they totally rock!!

any another Zep heads about?

[Falagar]

There are a lot of people who claim that "Stairway to Heaven" is influenced by Tolkien. Although, if my memory serves me well, there were also some people who claimed that thy (the Zeppelins) had denied it...

[Derin_Rockanvil]

yeah, Zeppelin totally denied... i personally don't see any reference to JRRT. the only real mention is "...There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
and my spirit is crying for leaving, in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees..."

and maybe "And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
with a word she can get what she came for" could be seen as the gates of moria...speak friend and enter?

it's mythology on a whole...not just Tolkien.

[IronParrot]

"Misty Mountain Hop" is a far more overt Tolkien reference on the part of Led Zeppelin.

[Alqualaure]

WOW...

You know, as a kid I liked Zeppelin, though I was never really maniacal about them. But I always loved "Ramble On" - haven't heard it in years - and I never could figure out the last verse! Of course, that was before I became sucked into Middle-Earth... now it makes a lot more sense!

Thanks Derin!!!
Alqua

[Insidious Rex]

Hmm I suddenly no longer feel unique here...

But its good to find a brother in arms. Yes Zeppelin loved Tolkiens world and writings but both Page and Plant were very much influenced by celtic mytholgy in general as well. I believe Page dabbled in the "occult" which was just getting popular at that time in england. he even purchased Aleister Crowley's old mansion didnt he?

But that being said remember that Zeppelin at heart and from the beginning was always a blues based rock band. their music and the incredible strutting libido behind their sound was rooted in the deepest recesses of the Blues.

[Falagar]

yeah, Zeppelin totally denied... i personally don't see any reference to JRRT. the only real mention is "...There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
and my spirit is crying for leaving, in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees..."

There's also:

And a new day will dawn
for those who stand long
and the forests will echo in laughter

[Lanelf]

Hmm, I've never heard any Led Zeppelin. Must get a cd...
I've heard somewhere before that they were influenced by JRRT, but of course I'm no expert on that.
Lanelf.

[Comic Book Guy]

The disscussion of meaning behind the lyrics of Stairway is like the Balrog Wing debate of Zeppelinism. I personally don't see it and Robert Plant has has often implied that it doesn't mean anything other than the intention is truly positive.

I personally believe the whole Tolkien - Zeppelin thing is overstated. Only three songs have direct references out of 9 albums worth of material (10 if you include the second side of Physical Graffiti) and even they seem to be irelevant to the meanings of the songs, Misty Mountain Hop is not metaphorical according to Plant. Battle of Evermore is obvious though.

Jimmy Page owned Crowley's cottage and various artifacts such as Capes, Tarot Cards etc. Interestingly he purchased them during his time as England's best session guitarist, which tells that he was alreadly pretty wealthy by the time he joined the Yardbirds. As far as I know he still keeps some of the artifacts. Page says that Crowley influenced his contribution to Led Zeppelin.

The only other song that hasn't been mentioned here is Over The Hills and Far away, which again I have my doubts about. You can also forget No Quarter, Kashmir, The Rain Song and Achillies Last Stand in considering alussions to Tolkien.

Interestingly in the recent DVD Plant screams out "Strider" after singing Bron-Yr-Aur stomp. His dog at the time was named Strider, the topic of Bron-Yr-Aur Stomps lyrics.

[Lizra]

I'm sorry, but this is such old news! At the time when these albums came out, everyone was blown out of their gourds on drugs ... anything meant everything. I agree with CBG...blown way out of proportion. But heavy anyway man! Far out!

[Elfhelm]

Well... Their lyrics were not drug-addled, in my opinion. They just wrote about love and life like everyone else. I think it's easy to understand lyrics such as "buying the stairway to heaven". And if you don't know what it means, I think it's good to find out before somebody rips you off.

If you're a Tolkien fan and you don't like someone, maybe you might call him Gollum.

The Beatles were also Tolkien fans. Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett was also into JRRT. Check out the Gnome Song.

Then there's Leonard Nimoy's song... um... I think I better quit while I'm ahead.

[nazgul prince]

Another big tolkien influlenced is Yes.

[The Gaffer]

But we try not to hold that against him.

[Lanelf]

Originally posted by Elfhelm
Then there's Leonard Nimoy's song... um... I think I better quit while I'm ahead.

*shudders in recollection* Yes. Please do.
Lanelf.

[Cirdan]

I think they capitalized on the popualrity, not only of Tolkien, but on the rush of popularity in fantasy and mythology. They attempted to create a mythology of their own as evidenced in the imagery in the movie "The Song Remains the Same". They followed Tolkien and others into some of the old legends and added bits to the repetoire.

We did this thread once before....Led Zeppelin

[Sween]

I think a few of Iron Maidens songs have very similar themes to Tolkien. Goast of the Navigator and the Nomad allways make me think of Earededil and Gandalf respectivly

[Wayfarer]

Led Zeppelin... Who? ]:-)

[Comic Book Guy]

I think they capitalized on the popualrity, not only of Tolkien, but on the rush of popularity in fantasy and mythology. They attempted to create a mythology of their own as evidenced in the imagery in the movie "The Song Remains the Same". They followed Tolkien and others into some of the old legends and added bits to the repetoire.

Zeppelin did not capitalize on Tolkien or certainly didn't intend to at least. The first album was a success and it contains zero references to fantasy, and like I said before future songs contained little references to fantasy.

The rather silly fantasy sequences in The Song the remains the same were hardly any attempt to create any sort of mythology. They were all made independant of eachother, they were just meant to expose the band members as personalities. I don't see much resemblance to Tolkien to John Paul Jones and Bonham's sequences. Plant's I can see somewhat, but it looks like more of an Arthurian thing and obviously Page had ideas of Tolkien with the whole wizard stuff.

Interestingly, Zeppelin shot some apparent comedy sketches during Knebworth in 1979 but were never released.

[Cirdan]

Yes, swords and wizards.... probably just a coincidence.

I don't think the interest was disingenuous, but it did become part of the band's persona as they moved away from the strictly blues type of jams.

Have you checked out the new DVD set released recently? Nice concert footage. I rented the set but I think I may buy it. The sound (indulgent jams, etc) is a bit dated but the energy of the performances is timeless. White Summer is a nice addition. I actually had a bootleg with that concert on it but it was of horrible audio quality.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Cirdan
I don't think the interest was disingenuous, but it did become part of the band's persona as they moved away from the strictly blues type of jams.

I think it was a limited part. Kind of like the whole Indian thing was a part of the beatles persona. probably more a phase then anything else. they happened to be into that at the time (at least Page and Plant. Im thinking Jones could care less and Bonham was happy if there was voldka involved and stuff to smash). But as their later work showed they went in lots of directions and all their influences only added to the over all sound and artisitc approach. I mean they even dabbled in reggae and country. why the hell not.