This song opens up as soon as it starts. The May Queen also arrives at the halfway point in the song.
It’s almost as if this song is telling a folklore. The wind is blowing and plays like a whisper, until it absolutely doesn’t.
Around two minutes in I begin to wonder. Just as the lyrics say.
Stairway to Heaven is poetic. Musically and Lyrically.
It’s a new song every time you hear it. I believe I’ve heard Stairway to Heaven hundreds of times. I’d say an easy base of 500. At approximately 8 minutes in duration, representing over 4,000 minutes of my life that this song is part of the experience, contributing to the tens of millions of minutes globally.
Released on November 8, 1971, the fourth Led Zeppelin album was again untitled, known by those who know as Led Zeppelin IV. The following albums were given names such as Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, Presence, In Through the Out Door, and the final release of Coda in 1982.
Led Zeppelin consisted of Jimmy Page (lead guitar and founder), Robert Plant (lead vocals), John Paul Jones (bass and keyboards), and John Bonham (drums). They were active from 1968 to 1980, when the band disbanded following the death of Bonham.
Every second of Stairway to Heaven is whatever you think it should be. At the time of writing, it’s captivating.
Majority of the time the song plays, I really begin to tune in when Plant sings “Ooh, it makes me wonder.” I always want to start the song over and understand what’s happening in this story. However, I respect the art, continue to listen until the end, play again but get lost in thought when Jones plays the recorder. So I continue to listen, then play again.
Suddenly, another 24 minutes was added.
First impressions from an insider: “Bloody hell, this is earth-shattering”
There’s an interview that perfectly details hearing Stairway to Heaven for the first time. Glenn Hughes played in a band called Trapeze and had been friends with Bonham for years. In autumn 1971, Trapeze was playing at Mother’s in Birmingham and Bonham was in the crowd, jumped on stage, and started playing with the band.
After the show, the party continued at Bonham’s house. Hughes stated, “It’s about three or four in the morning… and he says: ‘I want to play you something. It hasn’t been released yet – it’s an acetate of the fourth Led Zeppelin album, it hasn’t been mastered yet.’ “He plays me the entire record and it comes to Stairway to Heaven, and of course I’m only 19 years old, and I’m thinking: ‘Bloody hell, this is earth-shattering.’”
As for the lyrics, Page wanted to create an epic song for the fourth album. In April 1970, 18-months before its release, Page was interviewed by NME, stating “It sounds corny, but we’ve got something we want to try out but I don’t want to tell you about it in case it doesn’t come off. It’s an idea for a really long track on the next album…well, we want to try something new with the organ and acoustic guitar building up and building up to the electric thing. It will be probably a 15 minute track and I’m really looking forward to doing it. I can’t really tell you more about it in case it doesn’t work out. But I think it will.”
Led Zeppelin recorded their fourth album in late 1970 and early 1971, with the majority of it being recorded at Headley Grange in Hampshire.
Was the Piper holding the pen?
Page stated the band was working on the instrumentals, “We’re running through it, and it’s taking a lot of concentration, but we’re getting the movement in and the sections are really starting to gel, and it’s all working and becoming cohesive. I remember vividly Robert was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, writing, while this was going on. We had another couple of run-throughs and then he walks over and he starts singing along. From my recollection he had a good 90% of it then.”
“As we were doing all that, Robert was writing down the lyrics. They just came to him really quickly,” said Page. “He said it was like someone was guiding his hand.”
Plant recalls that “I was holding a pencil and paper, and for some reason I was in a very bad mood. Then all of a sudden my hand was writing out the words, ‘There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold/And she’s buying a stairway to heaven …’ I just sat there and looked at the words and then I almost leapt out of my seat.”
Plant said the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven drew some inspiration from the book The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain by Lewis Spence.
“My contribution was to write lyrics and to sing a song about fate and something very British, almost abstract,” said Plant in an August 2023 interview.
The first live performance of Stairway to Heaven happened Friday, March 5, 1971 at Ulster Hall in Belfast. The audience were clapping and cheering. This was also the first public performance of Black Dog, Going to California, and Rock and Roll.
Lyrically: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin
The opening verse is magical, mystical in a way. Transportive and quickly takes you toward a journey to the one place people really want to experience – Heaven, and whatever and wherever that is to you.
There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to Heaven
When she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to Heaven
Whoever this lady is, she’s has confidence and power, along with the ability to get whatever she wants, with only saying one word, even if the stores are closed. In this case, the glittery facade of happiness that materialism brings.
In December 1998, Plant stated in Total Guitar magazine that “[It] was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration.”
There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
It’s interesting the early emotional change the character is given. For someone who can get it all, doubt sets in along the way with a sign on a wall. I makes me wonder what is written on that sign? This is followed up by words from of a sage, noting that sometimes, not all the time, words do have two meanings and a choice must be made to continue onward.
In this story, and for us human beings, the lyrics “Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven” rings true. We do at times question our beliefs or decisions, feeling uncertain about an outcome that may never happen. This is the role of tension within Stairway to Heaven. It keeps you questioning.
Then, just before you get too deep, an image of hope during uncertainty comes in with a songbird in a tree by the brook. A feeling that something is with you guiding you along the way.
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, makes me wonder
There’s a feeling I get when I look to the West
And my spirit is crying for leaving
My attention turns to the narrator telling this story. The lyrics “Looking to the West” and “And my spirit is crying for leaving”are possibly about wanting something more from life. Looking to the West has often been interpreted as pondering the beginning of something new and the end of the current journey. This spirit that is crying to leave, almost desperately reveals a deep, emotional pull towards the new destination.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
The rings of smoke might represent something that is starting or fading away. An intensity. Reminds me of the quote, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
A ring of smoke is typically seen at the beginning of a fire, when the fire is starting to burn and release smoke. However, it can also be seen near the end of a fire when it’s starting to die down, and the smoke becomes lighter and less intense.
The imagery of a “ring of smoke” and the ability to see “through the trees” in the lyrics suggest something is happening — perhaps the start of wherever the journey is being pulled towards — with those voices of those looking, possibly waiting for him to join them.
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, really makes me wonder
Another perfect place to drop tension and curiosity. I’m still wondering myself and Plant is apparently also, stating in an interview “Depending on what day it is, I still interpret the song a different way – and I wrote it.”
And it’s whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
This could very well be when the awakening occurs, and a remix of the proverb “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” The piper, possibly represented as a mythological or spiritual figure — or the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin — will lead you to reason. This happens to only those who call the tune, which in this context is understanding that the pursuit of material items does not lead to true happiness.
The tune is for all to come together and agree.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
These lyrics imply that this journey requires patience and discipline (“who stand long”). The reward for this perseverance is a new start (“a new day will dawn”) with true happiness echoing in the forest, possibly after the smoke clears from the trees.
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now
It’s just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on
Alright. I learned a hedgerow is common in England, and also commonly called a hedge. The definition says a hedgerow is “a row of shrubs or trees enclosing or separating fields.”
In this situation, it’s as though the “bustle in your hedgerow” could represent the connection between the old and new life and where you are within it. “Don’t be alarmed now,” just continue to call the tune.
“It’s just a spring clean for the May queen,” points to a renewal or that a fresh start is coming. The May Queen is a personification of Spring and appears on the May Day holiday on May 1st in many countries, particularly in Europe.
May 1st is roughly the halfway point between spring and summer, symbolizing the time when nature is in full bloom. Coincidently, the inclusion of the May queen comes at the halfway point in the song. Mind-blowing artistry from Led Zeppelin, especially when Bonham comes in with the drums.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on
The long run. A game of dicipline and patience. So, regardless of the results of your decisions, you can make another choice and change the path you’re on.
During an interview with Q magazine in 1988, Plant stated, “If you absolutely hated Stairway to Heaven, nobody can blame you for that because it was so… pompous.”
Your head is humming, and it won’t go, in case you don’t know
The piper’s calling you to join him
The line “Your head is humming, and it won’t go“ means there’s a reoccurring thought in your mind about something important and continues to capture your attention.
With “in case you don’t know, the piper’s calling you to join him,” serves as a reminder—a gentle nudge, if you will—that when you forget what you’re doing or doubt sets in, the guidance will lead you in a direction based on reason.”
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow? And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?
This paints a picture of a letter being written, a check-in and reminder to the lady to listen for the tune. The wind is where it’s at. However, all desired outcomes will not come to you with a howling, chaotic wind, but only with a whispering, encouraging wind.
The wind is a metaphor for your behaviour.
The crescendo
The music and Plant’s vocals elevate, almost drilling the message into you, with this art:
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one, and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
As you go down the road, which are all the combined decisions and outcomes, the lyrics “Our shadows taller than our soul” could be how our past experiences can cast a long, often heavy influence over us. Shadows are usually symbols of the past, something that lingers and lurks around and pulls you back, even when trying to move forward.
All of a sudden, the familiar lady appears, glowing with white light from everything materialistic she accumulated along the way, showing off to anyone she passes.
Then, another reminder, at last, that the tune will come to you when we come together, “When all are one, and one is all.” And to stand strong together, side by side, not rolling ahead for self interest. “To be a rock and not to roll.”
In a surprise 1985 reunion for Live Aid, which saw the band play with Phil Collins on drums, Plant adds another line of lyrics singing “not to roll. Please don’t baby roll.”
The final lyrics state “And she’s buying a stairway to Heaven,” revealing she is still on the same path, always looking for the next golden thing.
For now, the lady is on repeat.
The whispering winds…
Plant said, “‘Stairway… was something that had been really crafted. The lyrics were fantastic. The wonderful thing is that, even with the lyrics in front of you — you know how you listen to something, and you might not quite get what the words are but you get your own impression? With this, the lyrics were there but you still got your own impression of what the song was about. And that was really important.”
Plant also said, “It’s like an orgasm at the end. It’s whatever you want it to be.”
Plant also stated that Stairway to Heaven is something he is still understanding himself, noting, “I struggle with some of the lyrics from particular periods of time. Maybe I was still trying to work out what I was talking about. Every other f***er is,” from Celebration Day, 2012.
Plant went on, saying, “Lyrically, now, I can’t relate to it, because it was so long ago. I would have no intention ever to write along those abstract lines anymore. I look at it and I tip my hat to it, and I think there are parts of it that are incredible. The way that Jimmy [Page] took the music through, and the way that the drums reached almost climaxed and then continued… It’s a very beautiful piece. But lyrically, now, and even vocally, I go, ‘I’m not sure about that’.”
Jimmy Page on Stairway to Heaven, “This one plays with you more… It plays with your emotions, entices you in. Stairway’s almost seductive.”
The lyrics to Stairway to Heaven became the first ever to be reprinted on a Led Zeppelin album sleeve. “so that people could really concentrate on it.”
Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and Stairway to Heaven was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.
At the O2 Arena in London on December 10, 2007, Page, Plant, Jones, along with John Bonham’s son, Jason, played a benefit concert held in memory of Ahmet Ertegun, who was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records, the label that backed and believed in the band.
At the end of the song, the audience was in awe, grateful for the experience. Another 8 minutes. As Plant looked up and out of the arena, parted words with whoever heard, declaring, “Hey Ahmet, we did it!”
It makes me wonder, what is this ‘it?’
