Thread: Led Zeppelin and Tolkien

Just hanging at work and had the radio playing, and they played Ramble On by Led Zeppelin. I've heard the song a thousand times but this time some of the lyrics rung a small bell in my head so I went on-line to look them up. Seems that LZ had read a bit of Tolkien themselves! Thought I'd post it for you crazy Tolkien types. Enjoy!

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....yeah.
Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ledze.../rambleon.html

And of course there are the lyrics from the Battle of Evermore

The apples turn to brown and black, The tyrant's face is red.

Oh war is the common cry, Pick up your 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.

I always imagined that the tyran with the red face is a reference to Sauron's red eye. And the sky being filled with good and bad is a reference to the eagles and nazghul. The eastern glow is, very Tolkien also. He's always equating light with the power of the Valar.

Cool stuff. Zepp had quite a few LOTR lyrical references. Two more examples:

The drums will shake the castle wall, the ring wraiths ride in black, Ride on.
So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains where the spirits go now

A lot of the references are more veiled and subject to interpretation, but those two are obvious.

Rush also paid tribute to Tolkien with Rivendell, The Necromancer and The Trees all reference his work.

Interesting topic. I don't know where i red it, but Stairway to Heaven has a lot of references to LotR as wel. Galadriel has a big role in the song.

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving

The first line would be about Galadriel in the Golden Forest. She seeks the power of the One Ring. If she would have obtained the ring, she would have had a 'stairway to heaven'. In that case there would be a Queen in place of the Dark Lord.. Not dark, but beautiful and terrible as the morning and the night! (etc., Fellowship of the Rings).

The tree by the brook could relate to the Golden Forest and its streams. The last two lines display Galadriels longing to the West. She wants to go with her kin to the West, but she cant.
Only when she 'passed the test' with Frodo, where he offers her the ring and she does not take it, she can go to the west.

'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.' (Fellowship of the Rings).

Im not sure how to interpret the last verse of the song, but i think its about Galadriel leaving for the West with her kin and in this way getting a stairway to heaven. Another heaven and another way to get there. 'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings

Misty Mountain Hop by LD, nuff said.

My minnie's song book is named misty mountain hop!

Originally Posted by Ironcrown

Rush also paid tribute to Tolkien with Rivendell, The Necromancer and The Trees all reference his work.

Actually, I believe The Trees was supposed to be a metaphor for the bolshevik uprising. Though supposedly Neil Peart said it had no meaning, he just got it from a comic strip he saw that had trees arguing like people.

Can't recall which song now, but "Children of the Sun" is mentioned in one song too ( which is one name the Elves use for Men)

Dang, I learned a lot from this thread.

Originally Posted by Galadh

Can't recall which song now, but "Children of the Sun" is mentioned in one song too ( which is one name the Elves use for Men)

This line is from "Going to California:"

The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake,
the Children of the Sun begin to awake


and so on.

FWIW, Tolkien's stuff was heavily embraced by the hippie culture of the 60s and 70s.

There was a band called Marillion... you get 3 guesses where they got their name from, and the first two guesses don't count...

With the recent fondness for milking copyright for cash as seen by SZC I'd not be surprised if they'd started sending letters led zeps direction demanding payment for word use. Then again LZ can probably afford better lawyers than a pub or cafe.