Arguably, being in a rock and roll band is one of the most testing forms of love and friendship there is. This applies to people who are both in and out of the band. It applies to those in one because the elongated periods spent together and creative disagreements often lead to tremendous friction. It applies to those who aren’t because absences spent on the road or in the studio can test any relationship. In this instance, Robert Plant felt the strain on both fronts.
Led Zeppelin were no stranger to achieving great heights throughout their career. Their playing style and individual talent, mixed with complete cohesion, made it extremely easy for people to connect with the band. It meant they were a commercial success in record sales, and their live performance was even more sought after as they played to some of the biggest crowds in history.
The band released Physical Graffiti in 1975. It was a triumph in every way imaginable, as it featured some of their most experimental songs, was praised by fans and critics and garnered record sales. The band wanted to keep the same energy when heading in to record their subsequent album Presence, but that’s where tension started to arise.
Before starting the recording process, Robert Plant was in a serious car accident with his wife and kids when on holiday in Rhodes. His kids were injured, but not as much as Plant and his wife. Plant was in such a bad way that doctors weren’t sure he would walk again, and for the majority of recording for Presence, he used a wheelchair.
It wasn’t the best time for Plant to be recording an album as he was going through rehabilitation; plus, he was taken away from his family to do the recording, as the tax implications of making the album in England would be too high. As such, Led Zepplin was shipped out to California to record Presence, something the vocalist was very frustrated about.
Page had always been one for raw emotion when it came to lyricism. He isn’t one for beating around the bush. As such, it didn’t take a genius to work out who he was referring to when it came to vocalising his disdain towards fellow bandmate Jimmy Page and their manager Peter Grant.
Even though the song, ‘Hots on for Nowhere’, might sound quite bouncy and fun, behind the lyrics is a hurt and angry Robert Plant, who misses his family. He sings, “I was burned in the heat of the moment / No, it coulda been the heat of the day / When I learned how my time has been wasted / Dear fellows I turned away.”
In this instance, the heat of the moment refers to the car crash, and the heat of the day refers to the hot weather in Rhodes. The time being wasted was, in Plant’s mind at the time, the amount of work he had put into Led Zeppelin and contributing towards making them the success they were. He goes even more on the nose in the chorus when he proclaims, “Now I’ve got friends who will give me their shoulder / When I should happen to fall / I’ve got friends who will give me fuck all.”
While being a rock star might look like the perfect life, it comes with an underlying plight that isn’t often discussed. A lot of the time, when you see musicians on stage or in a recording booth, the place they actually want to be is at home with those who love them most. Plant felt this way when recording Presence and so channelled anger in the only way he knew how, and ironically, it led to a song that only went on to make the band more popular.