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Stairway to Heaven

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This article is about the Led Zeppelin song. For other uses, see Stairway to Heaven (disambiguation).
"Stairway to Heaven"
Song

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's fourth studio album, Led Zeppelin IV. It was voted #3 in 2000 by VH1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs.[2] It is the most requested[3][4] and most played[5] song on FM radio stations in the United States, despite never having been released as a single there. In November 2007, through download sales promoting Led Zeppelin's recent Mothership release, the song hit #37 on the UK Singles Chart [6].

Song construction and release

The recording of "Stairway to Heaven" started in December 1970 at Island Records' new Basing Street Studios in London.[7] The song was completed by the addition of lyrics by Plant during the sessions for Led Zeppelin IV at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in 1971.[8] Page then returned to Island Studios to record his guitar solo.[4]

The song's instrumentals were written by Page "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night".[9] Page always kept a cassette recorder around, and the idea for "Stairway" came together from bits of taped music.[10] In an interview he gave in 1977, Page explained:

I do have the original tape that was running at the time we ran down "Stairway To Heaven" completely with the band. I'd worked it all out already the night before with John Paul Jones, written down the changes and things. All this time we were all living in a house and keeping pretty regular hours together, so the next day we started running it down. There was only one place where there was a slight rerun. For some unknown reason Bonzo couldn't get the timing right on the twelve-string part before the solo. Other than that it flowed very quickly.[7]

The song's main guitar line is similar to a guitar line from an instrumental track called "Taurus" by the band Spirit, with whom Led Zeppelin were acquainted in their opening days.[9][11]

The first attempts at lyrics, written by Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then".[10] Jimmy Page was strumming the chords and Robert Plant had a pencil and paper. Plant later said that suddenly,

"My hand was writing out the words, 'There's a lady is sure [sic], all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven'. I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat." Plant's own explanation of the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration. The first line begins with that cynical sweep of the hand ... and it softened up after that."[12]

The lyrics of the song reflected Plant's current reading. The singer had been poring through the works of the British antiquarian Lewis Spence, and later cited Spence's Magic Arts in Celtic Britain as one of the sources for the lyrics to the song.[8]

In November 1970, Page dropped a hint of the new song's existence to a music journalist in London:

It's an idea for a really long track.... You know how "Dazed and Confused" and songs like that were broken into sections? Well, we want to try something new with the organ and acoustic guitar building up and building up, and then the electric part starts.... It might be a fifteen-minute track.[8]

The complete studio recording was released on Led Zeppelin IV in November 1971. The band's recording label, Atlantic Records was keen to issue this track as a single, but the band's manager Peter Grant refused requests to do so in both 1972 and 1973. The upshot of that decision was that record buyers began to invest in the fourth album as if it were a single.[4] A handful of rare original seven inch promos were pressed at the time, accompanied by a humorous in-house memo (Atlantic LZ3), which are now extremely sought-after collectors items.[4]

Music

The song consists of several distinct sections, beginning with a quiet introduction on finger-picked acoustic guitar and three recorders[13] (ending at 2:15) and gradually moving into a slow electric middle section (2:16-5:33), before the faster hard rock final section (5:34 to the end). Page stated that the song "speeds up like an adrenaline flow".[3]

Written in the key of A minor and mainly in common time, the song opens with an arpeggiated, hybrid-picked guitar chord progression with a chromatic descending bassline A-G#-G-F#-F. John Paul Jones contributed overdubbed wooden bass recorders in the opening section (he used a Mellotron and, later, a Yamaha CP70B Grand Piano and Yamaha GX1 to synthesize this arrangement in live performances)[12] and a Hohner Electra-Piano electric piano in the middle section.

The sections build with more guitar layers, each complementary to the intro, with the drums entering at 4:18. The extended Jimmy Page guitar solo in the song's final section was played for the recording on a 1958 Fender Telecaster (an instrument he used extensively with the Yardbirds)[12] plugged into a Supro amplifier,[14] although in an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine, Page also claimed, "It could have been a Marshall, but I can't remember".[10] Three different solos were recorded, with Page agonizing about deciding which to keep. The other guitar parts were played using a Harmony acoustic guitar and Fender Electric XII (12-string); these can be heard on the left and right recording channels respectively. For live versions, Page switched to a Heritage Cherry Gibson EDS-1275 6/12 Doubleneck guitar. The final progression is a i-VII-VI (natural minor) progression (Am-G-F), a mainstay of rock music.

Sound engineer Andy Johns recalls the circumstances surrounding the recording of Page's famous solo:

I remember Jimmy had a little bit of trouble with the solo on "Stairway to Heaven"... [H]e hadn't completely figured it out. Nowadays you sometimes spend a whole day doing one thing. Back then, we never did that. We never spent a very long time recording anything. I remember sitting in the control room with Jimmy, he's standing there next to me and he'd done quite a few passes and it wasn't going anywhere. I could see he was getting a bit paranoid and so I was getting paranoid. I turned around and said "You're making me paranoid!" And he said, "No, you're making me paranoid!" It was a silly circle of paranoia. Then bang! On the next take or two he ripped it out.[15]

According to Page, "Stairway to Heaven"

...crystallized the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best... as a band, as a unit. Not talking about solos or anything, it had everything there. We were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up for a long time and I guess we did it with "Stairway". [Pete] Townshend probably thought that he got it with Tommy. I don't know whether I have the ability to come up with more. I have to do a lot of hard work before I can get anywhere near those stages of consistent, total brilliance.[16]

Personnel

  • Jimmy Page - Harmony acoustic guitar, Fender Electric XII (12-string), 1958 Fender Telecaster
  • Robert Plant - lead vocals
  • John Paul Jones - wooden bass recorders, Hohner Electra-Piano, bass guitar
  • John Bonham - drums

Live performances

The inaugural public performance of the song took place at Belfast's Ulster Hall on March 5, 1971.[12] Bassist John Paul Jones recalls that the crowd was unimpressed: "They were all bored to tears waiting to hear something they knew".[3] However, Page stated about an early performance at the LA Forum that:

I'm not saying the whole audience gave us a standing ovation - but there was this sizable standing ovation there. And I thought, 'This is incredible because no one's heard this number yet. This is the first time hearing it!' It obviously touched them, so I knew there was something with that one.[17]

"Stairway to Heaven" was performed at almost every subsequent Led Zeppelin concert, only omitting the number on rare occasions when shows were cut short for curfews or technical issues. The band's final performance of the song was in Berlin on July 7, 1980, which was also their last concert for 27 years; the version was also one of the longest, lasting almost fifteen minutes.

When playing the song live, the band would often extend it to over ten minutes in length, with Page playing a lengthy guitar solo and Plant adding a number of lyrical ad-libs, such as "Does anybody remember laughter?", "wait a minute!" and "I hope so". For performing this song live, Page used a Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar so he would not have to pause when switching from a six to a twelve string guitar (although, as mentioned above, the studio version had been recorded on a Fender Telecaster). Notably, during recorded versions of live performances, visual effects were used during Page's solo, whereby the screen was split to mirror the double-necks of the Gibson EDS-1275. This effect was employed for the film The Song Remains the Same, and once again used during the filming of the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert in the O2 Arena in 2007.

By 1975, the song had a regular place as the finale of every Led Zeppelin concert. However, after their concert tour of the United States in 1977, Plant began to tire of "Stairway To Heaven":

There's only so many times you can sing it and mean it ... It just became sanctimonious.[18]

The song was played again by the surviving members of Led Zeppelin at the Live Aid concert in 1985;[12] at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party in 1988, with Jason Bonham on drums;[19] and by Jimmy Page as an instrumental version on his solo tours. Teasingly, the first few bars were played alone during Page and Plant tours, in lieu of the final notes of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You." However, in November 1994 Page and Plant performed an acoustic version of the song at a Tokyo news station for Japanese television.

"Stairway to Heaven" was performed at Led Zeppelin's reunion show at the O2 Arena, London on December 10, 2007.

Plant cites the most unusual performance of the song ever as being that performed at Live Aid,

...with two drummers while Duran Duran cried at the side of the stage - there was something quite surreal about that.[12]

Footage of the song being played live is preserved on the band's concert film The Song Remains the Same, featuring a performance from Madison Square Garden in 1973, and on the Led Zeppelin DVD, featuring a performance from Earls Court Arena in 1975. Official audio versions are also available on The Song Remains the Same's accompanying soundtrack, on Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions (a performance from London's Paris Theatre in 1971) and on How the West Was Won (a performance from the Long Beach Arena in 1972). There are also hundreds of audio versions which can be found on unofficial Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.

Success and influence

According to Stephen Davis, although the song was released in 1971, it took until 1973 before the song's popularity ascended to truly anthemic status.[20]

"Stairway to Heaven" continues to top radio lists of the greatest rock songs, as well as topping a recent Guitar World poll.[5] On the 20th anniversary of the original release of the song, it was announced via U.S. radio sources that the song had logged up an estimated 2,874,000 radio plays - back to back, that would run for 44 years solid.[4] As of 2000, the song had been broadcast on radio over three million times.[21] It is also the biggest-selling single piece of sheet music clocking up an average of 15,000 copies yearly.[12] In total, over one million copies have been sold.[21]

The song's length precluded its release in full form as a single. Despite pressure from Atlantic Records the band would not authorize the editing of the song for single release, making "Stairway to Heaven" one of the most well-known and popular rock songs never to have been released as a single. It did, however, appear as a promotional disc in the United States, pressed as a 7:55 track on each side; on an Australian acoustic EP, and in the 1990s as a 20th anniversary promo book.

The group's recording of this song also appeared as the sole Led Zeppelin track in the 1977 Atlantic Records 2-LP promotional sampler album, "We've Got Your Music", marking the very first time that Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" made its official debut appearance in an American-released various artists compilation collection.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine put it at #31 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song has been covered a number of times. Notable is Rolf Harris's didgeridoo-and-wobble board interpretation, which reached number 7 in the UK charts in 1993.[22] Rolf Harris's version was one of 25 different versions of the song that were performed live by guest stars on the early 1990s Australian chat show The Money or the Gun - each being a unique version of the song in the usually idiosyncratic style of performance of each guest star. Dolly Parton released a stripped down acoustic cover of the song in 2002; Plant spoke highly of Parton's version, noting that he was pleasently suprised with how her version turned out. [23]

Taurus

It has been suggested that the song's introduction bears a close resemblance to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit.[9][24][25] In the liner notes to the 1996 reissue of Spirit's debut album, songwriter Randy California writes:

People always ask me why "Stairway to Heaven" sounds exactly like "Taurus", which was released two years earlier. I know Led Zeppelin also played "Fresh Garbage" in their live set. They opened up for us on their first American tour.[26][27][28]

Backmasking controversy

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Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged[29] that a backmasked message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:

Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

— Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards[29]

The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages.[30] This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills[31], Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses asserting the existence of hidden meanings within both the "backwards" and actual lyrics. In 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backmasking in popular music, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backwards.[32] William Yarroll, a self-identified neuroscientist, also claimed that "Stairway to Heaven" contained a message when played backwards.[5] Various versions of the alleged message exist.[33]

The band itself has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Led Zeppelin audio engineer Eddie Kramer confirmed this, calling the allegations "totally and utterly ridiculous. Why would they want to spend so much studio time doing something so dumb?"[34] Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."[35]

An informal experiment by scientist Simon Singh suggested that listeners only hear the message after prompting.[36] Others have pointed out that, if the backwards audio is analyzed, the contraction "there's", which Led Zeppelin uses to begin many sentences in the song, directly maps to the word "Satan". Since the band uses this to begin many sentences, this explains why it is at the end of sentences when played backward.[37]

References

  1. ^ According to the CD Remasters re-releaseLed Zeppelin IV (Media notes). {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "VH1 100 Greatest Rock Songs 1-50". rockonnet.com. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  3. ^ a b c "Sold on Song, Stairway to Heaven". Retrieved 2006-02-09. {{cite web}}: Text "BBC radio 2" ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
  5. ^ a b c "" Stairway to Heaven: Is This the Greatest Song of All Time?"". Retrieved 2006-06-07.
  6. ^ UK Music Charts | The Official UK Top 75 Singles: Week of Mon 24 Mar - Yahoo! Music UK
  7. ^ a b Dave Schulps, Interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977.
  8. ^ a b c Davis, Stephen (July 4, 1985). "Power, Mystery And The Hammer Of The Gods: The Rise and Fall of Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone (451). Retrieved 2008-01-15. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c Sutcliffe, Phil (April 2000). "Bustle in the Hedgerow". MOJO, p.62
  10. ^ a b c Tolinski, Brad and di Benedetto, Greg (January 1998). "Light and Shade: A Historic Look at the Entire Led Zeppelin Catalogue Through the Eyes of Guitarist/Producer/Mastermind Jimmy Page". Guitar World, p. 100-104.
  11. ^ Guitar World Magazine, April 1997: "California's most enduring legacy may well be the fingerpicked acoustic theme of the song "Taurus," which Jimmy Page lifted virtually note for note for the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven."
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Llewellyn, Sian (December, 1998). "Stairway to Heaven". Total Guitar, p.61-62
  13. ^ Rolling Stone. "Stairway to Heaven". Retrieved 2006-06-07.
  14. ^ Steven Rosen, 1977 Jimmy Page Interview, Modern Guitars, May 25, 2007 (originally published in the July 1977, issue of Guitar Player magazine).
  15. ^ "Their Time is Gonna Come", Classic Rock Magazine, December 2007
  16. ^ "Cameron Crowe interview Led Zeppelin". 1975-03-18. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Songfacts: Stairway to Heaven
  18. ^ Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 58.
  19. ^ Welch, Chris (2002). Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin. Omnibus Press. p. 231. ISBN 0711991952.
  20. ^ Stephen Davis, The Hammer of the Gods, William Morrow and Company Inc., New York, 1985, p. 150.
  21. ^ a b Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Triple J Music Specials - Led Zeppelin (first broadcast 2000-07-12)
  22. ^ Template:UKChartHits
  23. ^ Robert Plant on Yahoo! Music
  24. ^ Guitar World Magazine, April 1997: "California's most enduring legacy may well be the fingerpicked acoustic theme of the song "Taurus," which Jimmy Page lifted virtually note for note for the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven."
  25. ^ Allmusic
  26. ^ Sleeve notes, booklet included with CD EPC 485175
  27. ^ The London Independent, January 17, 1997
  28. ^ 1968 Setlist
  29. ^ a b Milner, Jeff. "Jeff Milner's Backmasking Site". Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  30. ^ Oates, David John. "Reverse Speech - Stairway to Where?". Retrieved 2006-06-21.
  31. ^ "365 Days Project (Michael Mills - Hidden & Satanic Messages In Rock Music)". Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  32. ^ Denisoff, R. Serge (1988). Inside MTV. Transaction. p. 290. ISBN 0887388647.
  33. ^ Blecha, Peter (2004). Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs. Backbeat Books. p. 51. ISBN 0879307297. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  34. ^ Stephen Davis, The Hammer of the Gods, William Morrow and Company Inc., New York, 1985, p. 335. Cited in David Oates, Reverse Speech: Voices From The Unconscious
  35. ^ Considine, J.D. "Interviews". Retrieved 2006-06-07.
  36. ^ Tucker, William (2005-03-31). "Big Bang: Simon Singh Takes on the Cosmos". New York Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ Redford, Chris (2008-07-26). "Stairway to Heaven Backwards". Retrieved 2008-07-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Sources

  • Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
  • The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9

Template:Led Zeppelin IV

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