Great to see you, Olivia! I love this song. The story is a man about to be hung hoping to bribe the hangman to let him go. His friends are too poor, his brother brings silver and gold, and his sister tries trading sex for the hangman's mercy only to be told afterward by the hangman that he thanks them but "now I laugh and pull so hard to see you swinging from the gallows pole" while the song begins swirling as the instruments speed up. You can hear the other three all laughing as they sing "Ah ha ha ha". It's a bit of a macabre song but I like that sort of thing lol. As J Mar said, Jimmy picked up a banjo and sussed out the part that was added. The banjo was John Paul Jones' (Jones is a multi-instrumentalist) and Jimmy even traded Jonesy a guitar for it. Several years later they would trade back to mutual relief. This is an example of British folk and if you think it might sound a little southern, Bluegrass-like, that's because settlers from the UK came to the American south and brought their music with. If you've never heard Bluegrass, maybe give it a try; it often employs mandolin and banjo, as you heard here and it's often quite bouncy while still retaining a hint of ancient Celtic mystery (in my opinion).
Page played banjo, six and 12 string acoustic guitar and electric guitar. Jones played mandolin and bass, and Plant wrote the lyrics. Page said in an interview that he had never played a banjo before stating, "I just picked it up and started moving my fingers around until the chords sounded right, which is the same way I work on compositions when the guitar's in different tunings", and the arrangement of the song emerged from that. The song was inspired by an old English folk tune called, "The Maid Freed From The Gallows". Page also said it's his favorite song on the album. It really is wonderful and I'm glad you two liked it. And it's great to see Olivia again! :) Edit: So happy you're enjoying album 3. Wasn't sure you would. ;)
Great reaction!, your girlfriend's adorable!. 🙂 Keep in the order your going, that way your experiencing Led Zeppelin the way many of us grew with them, back in the day. Like I said before, it only gets better!. Thanks! Peace! ☮
Gallow's Pole is based around an old English folk song from the 1700s. Before Zeppelin recorded it, I can remember learning it in music class. I always wondered if Page learnt it at school (we are almost contemporaries) (I'm an old git). Back in the 40s this was also recorded by Leadbelly (Huddy Leadbetter) under a slightly different title, "Gallis Pole". This was due to the recording engineer mishearing the title. I believe he in turn learnt it from Woody Guthrie.
“Hi Olivia!” Here’s the thing with Zepplin… you never know what kind of sound you’re going to get with each song. That’s the beautiful thing called diversity.
Diversity is not the appropiate word, it refers to difference....... Multi faceted.....In the groove is more like it...and highly skilled musicians with a plethera of styles and techniques........
This song does speed up as it goes. Just like another song on their next album, Stairway to Heaven. Even the drums come in down the line in both songs. They were really at their creative zenith during this time. It's a great tune. And this is based off a song that goes back hundreds of years I believe.
Zeppelin practically invented - certainly perfected - the “light and shade” texturing and composing in rock. Building layers of guitars and instruments, juxtaposing heavy but crisp Bonham drums, explosive and surprising moments building momentum to a climax, playing with tempo, Plant’s vocal range all add up to a song that sounds timeless. The way Bonham comes in is sublime - did anyone ever strike a snare drum with so much power and precision? Definitely a precursor to Stairway. My favorite band of all time, and Page is my favorite musician (not just guitarist). Good job, guys!
It's hard to pick a favorite Zep song, but this is on my top ten list. Love the way Plant let's it rip on the vocals. And it's not one of their tunes that has been played to death. Glad to see young folks enjoying this amazing band.
I saw Page/ Plant 2x in 1996 and 1997 in Colorado USA and they Absolutely Shredded it both times. This song kinda Epitomizes their shows. Great Musicians 🎸🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
I watch quite a few reaction channels and I just wanted to say that I get really good vibes from you guys. You really seem to listen and enjoy the music and I appreciate that.
My favorite song from the 1970 album. . .when I was 20. (Still have the vinyl album.) Been enjoying your Zeppelin trip for a while now. Good fun for me to watch!
The band likely knew this song from the version called "The Gallis Pole" recorded by legendary singer Lead Belly in 1939, though I expect other versions were often performed by folk artists, or people busking on the street, that they might have heard.
I love folk and rock. This song is a beautiful combination of the two. And it was written in early 20th century when the states hung their condemned prisoners. So it's another Zeppelin song with lyrics of bygone days
You two are a great match ❤️ Alivia needs to start pursuing the reactions herself.... as she has some serious insight into what's goin' on. Don't lose her, brother. She's the bomb. ❤️
Olivia again very good perception with the nostalgic feel that you mentioned!! If I'm not mistaken this is a led Zeppelin cover of a very old tune from the early 1900s I believe or maybe even the 1800s!!
"O" Great to have you back. When I look at you, I think you would have fit right in back in the 60's - 70's. Robert shows his voice off on this song. They ALL are masters of their craft. There is an acoustic version of this you all would love. It even has a hurdy gurdy in it. Keep in mind that Robert and Jimmy have much time in the studio and working with a mixing board. They have taken many traditional songs and converted them to rock.
It’s a pretty dark song really. He asks his friends for silver and gold and they are too poor. His brother brings them both and then his sister shows to save him from hanging and the hangman ends up laughing and hanging her at the end.
It is hard to say what my fav song is on Lz3 because it is my fav go to album when I am in the mood for the mix it has .Side 2 is very mesmerizing in a large way ,if I can pick just 1 word for that ,,yea that is it.. and I could see that from 1st listeners
I hope you really listened to the lyrics, the story is about a man facing death by hanging,.he asked his friends to pay the hangman to spare his life, but they didn't come through so he asked his brother and he gave the hangman gold and silver but it wasn't enough so he asked his sister to do the hangman,and she did ,but even with all that it wasn't enough and hangman said now I won't have to pull so hard to see you swinging from the gallows pole, and that sucks
Well, it feels nostalgic to me but that's because I've been listening to it for about 50 years, LOL. But I see what you mean, if I try to listen to it with fresh ears. Yes you're girlfriend is great. Another chapter from the book of Zeppelin.
Another fine job Silas. It is fun how you bring in your dad and Olivia to help out. Is mom going to make an appearance at some time too? LOL. Did you guys catch that he brought his sister to the hangman so she could offer him "something else" besides gold? But then the hangman hung the sister?
hey...old dude here... early 1980s i was watching a movie set in Paris in 1799ish a street musician was singing this song in front of Notre Dame Cathedral (spelling)? The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1930s-40s this is a VERY old song
I think this was some country's traditional folk song and they rearranged it. Cool, whereever it came from. Keep up the great reviews you two lovebirds and I will check all of them out. Saw them live in 1975 as a younger long hair.Peace.
You guys are a very cute couple! Keep getting a led out! You're doing great! Jimmy Page played the acoustic guitar the banjo and the electric guitar in this one song Jimmy is the wizard and dark strings of the guitar!
To the Lyrics: The guy who is forward to be hanged, talks to the 'Hangman' and find any excuses ("my brother's coming", 'my sister's coming") but at the end he "is swinging on the gallows pole"...
You two are seriously listening and THAT is where Zep shines. Keep going. And dude, any girl hearing like she's hearing this stuff? Stick with that one if she'll have you man. Keep on exploring Zep, check out live versions of 'How the West Was Won' cd. High quality sound and premium live recordings. Best live stuff for my money. Fan since I was 10 in 1976.
Wow, I totally forgot how fucking cool this is. Everything about it. I've been a musician for several decades now since I heard this stuff as a kid and my appreciation for it now after all these years is an order of magnitude greater. It's just phenomenal, I knew they were always good when I was young but now I appreciate how good they really were. And I've been in a lot of really good bands that I loved how tight we were and how creative we were and I hear all of that energy and fun and emotion and passion and creativity in just about every one of their songs I listen to. But what's nice about this third album is I haven't heard it as much. I bought it and listened to it sometimes but not nearly as much as the others. So now it is this incredibly fertile ground to experience stuff that I have not heard on the radio over and over but I used to hear a long time ago. It's fantastic. I love the idea of you working through all their albums. It's doable because they really only have about eight, some people would include Coda I suppose. And that's a good album too. But for me it's right up through when Bonzo died and that's it.
very nice reaction from you both. You have the same taste in music, you go well together. I've seen Gallows Pole live and heard about Page/Plant. They used an accordion instead of the banjo. Greetings from Germany .
I thought this snippet of information might be interesting in this context. It is a transcription of an excerpt from the liner notes on the cover of the 1969 12 inch black vinyl record "Led Zeppelin" which I purchased in 1975. It was the first record I bought after buying my first stereo. “Robert Plant’s voice is so powerful that when the speakers broke down during our first date in Sweden, you could still hear his voice at the back of the auditorium over the entire group.” I have searched exhaustively throughout the data available on the internet to find some - any - corroboration of this story but no dice. Thank goodness for hard copy, eh?
Olivia please if you can stick with Silas for the rest of this album because the upcoming two or three songs are really awesome, lighter tempo acoustic and very deep! I do believe that you will enjoy them!!
Don't know if you saw my recommendation for Alivia's songs -- so hope you don't mind that I repost it here: - - - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You You Shook Me Dazed and Confused - - - Whole Lotta Love Thank You Ramble On - - - Since I've Been Loving You - Tangerine That's the Way - - - The last two you haven't actually hit yet on LZ III, but you'll hear them in a few days, AND they show some different aspects of LZ that I think you and Alivia will enjoy. Regardless, ALL Led Zeppelin songs are "classics", so it's hard to go wrong ....
Good channel you two. I cannot wait till you start on the houses of the holy album. NO QUARTER will blow your minds. See if you can guess the characters...have fun.
