E.B. White once said, “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better, but the frog dies in the process.” In essence, if you look too much into something, you might understand it more, but the magic that initially got your attention dissolves. You could argue the same about Led Zeppelin, a rock band with an undeniable hold on music. If we look too much into the band and what makes them great, we run the risk of ruining the magic, but let’s try anyway.
When they formed, Led Zeppelin released three albums in two years. Throughout that period, they demonstrated their undeniable quality as individual musicians and as a collective. The first three are all considered classics in their own right, but the fourth record, Led Zeppelin IV, cemented the band as more than just a passing phase.
The album seemed to send a message before it was even played, with an incredibly abstract appearance, devoid of the band name or a tracklist; it was as if Led Zeppelin were telling people that the music on the album was more important than how they marketed it. Then, as soon as the needle was dropped and the banging songs ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Rock and Roll’ chimed through, it was evident to everyone listening that the band weren’t messing around.
The most noteworthy song on that record, though, has to be ‘Stairway to Heaven’. With the intricate guitar work, patient but inspiring drums, exciting vocals and enticing rhythm, the song was an instant classic and remains the holy grail of rock and roll. It has such a unique quality to it, Odyssey-like in its composition, with a narrative of hope weaved throughout that is as beautiful as it is cinematic. It has become so popular amongst musicians that guitar shops have put up signs banning the riff from being played, and it’s not just those in guitar shops who are fed up with it, either.
Notoriously, Robert Plant grew to detest the song. He had a difficult life as his family were involved in a severe car accident just before Plant had to leave for California to record Presence. Plant’s son also passed away shortly after. The result is that Plant hears the optimistic lyrics he was once responsible for and winces at them. He has called them naïve in the past and still refuses to remotely utter the track.
Contrast that with Jimmy Page, who understands why fans are so drawn to ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and describes the song as having an “everlasting” quality to it. “It was really an inspired period of time,” he said. “It sort of shows the everlasting quality of this music over all these years is the fact that everyone is playing so honestly and with such conviction. It really shows.”
If anything, the divided opinions of that song represent the emotional connection that listeners can make with it. Whether they want to lean into that connection or not is another matter; however, there is no denying that the song has an impact, given how strongly those for and those against it feel. That is the mark of good songwriters and a testament towards the power of Led Zeppelin.