What If Stairway To Heaven Came Out Today? 

THAT IS VERY COOL. WOW!

If you ever slipped and fell, you did something as cool as playing guitar with Robert Plant, let's be honest.

I've played it in my bedroom, and in guitar shops before they banned it.

Out of interest, the words and tune of the bit that says “if there’s a bustle in the hedgerows, don’t be alarmed there; it’s just a spring clean for the May Queen” is from an old folk song. Saw a great video about it somewhere,

@@hanreality.7266 I'll have to hunt that one down. Always curious about some of those phrases.

It’s a hella long journey and has been played into the ground…

This song is about drugs, and it tells the story of a lady looking for some drugs. Then taking it. Then being transported into a different world. Then being transported more. Then it's all happy, because they all loved drugs in those days, before feeling the brain damage. A similar song, but I think better, because more direct, is the Ramone's "Howling At the Moon". The druggy imagery in the 70s was all the fantasy "Lord of the Rings" stuff.

What sucks is no one is making music like the 70s and 80s. I was young teen to 20s in 70-80s I was blessed to grow up in the best era of rock ever.

Amen.

No one thinks that everytime I listen to it it’s awesome

God bless you

@charles nagle, sending you🙏and ❤. Chemo has been hell on my brain, and music has been so helpful for me, too. If you don't get the answers you need, or want, from 1 dr, PLEASE find another and another until you do get what you need.

The best battle against dementia is music. Enhance it by doing it actively. Join the choir. Very, very understated method. I have seen benefits (in other people) myself. Kudos on your intuition and best wishes mate.

That was true of Glen Campbell as well! He could play music but he couldn't remember the names of his kids.

Sending good wishes your way my friend.

Perhaps not what people generally seek in a rock and roll song?

@@willynilsson2320 rock and roll is a really broad term. This folk style parts just give more character for a song, which is very important in this genre imo

@@willynilsson2320 and Led Zeppelin are the perfect example of how rock and roll is just based on hard blues and country

@@willynilsson2320 AC/DC has bagpipes in one of their songs.

Perhaps the only instance where I haven't had the urge to puncture my ear drums when a recorder is played.

Best band ever in my opinion and in their day that was up against really stiff opposition.

LedZeppelin is 2 groovy 2 my cat

@@stoptheworldiwannagetoff4780 i concur.. for a large window of time just creating some of the most beautiful tunes in rock.. that was a great time for rock music.

Hard to believe it was only that long ago. Feels longer.

@@stoptheworldiwannagetoff4780 I think you mean competition there, but I'm sure there was plenty of opposition from the fundamentalists to all rock music.

Me too. So unbelievably lucky! I would never trade it for anything else!

I grew up in the 70's as well, best of times for music!

What about the evocative 'Kashmir'?

I didn't but discovered it with my dad and began to play drums shortly after! Amazing

The last word reminds me of Plant saying that in the Earl’s Court 1975 show after he said “do you remember laughter”

That should go on a mug or t-shirt lol

I don't think most people know what they like, very few really love music in a big was enough to explore the back catalogues. It's difficult to get some people to listen to other genres so most people go along with what they are exposed to.

I think the issue is that there's millions of ways of being interesting, but only one way of being dull. Making music that appeals to as many people as possible will inevitably lead to uninteresting stuff in most cases. Sometimes a miracle happens, and music is made that is so good that it cuts through that, and you get Bach, or Mozart or the Beatles.

@@maccagrabme unfortunately true. Try to get people to listen to jazz today. I was in high school 1968-1972. We listened to Motown, bluegrass, jazz and of course the greatest era of rock music!

I was at that performance. It was amazing.

I so wish I had seen it!

So I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes.

I seriously doubt that a song released in 1971 "was the anthem of every high school prom in the country in 1977-78." I don't pretend to have any idea what songs might have been used, but if forced to put my money on something, I'd note that the film "Saturday Night Fever" came out in late 1977.

@@puhead2 I obviously don’t know your age or background but I can say for sure that stairway to heaven was the theme of every 1977 prom….

I was high school class of 1975, peak of the Baby Boom (born 1957). I recall STH competing with Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", the former more for sophisticates and the later redneck rockers, then all migrated to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. Many cool songs then, even "Dead Skunk ...". Eventually, Fleetwood Mac and Boston came along to displace STH on the radio.

@@puhead2 Many of us just HATED disco and Saturday Night Fever! Only the super weird people ever cared for that garbage! If that album had somehow gotten smuggled in and played, we would tear the needle right off it! Although S2H was already old in 78, it could well have still been played at proms then. I never had a prom, but I turned 18 in 78. S2H was still monumentally popular then, and I can fully see it being played at every prom.

@@williamgrissom9022 Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road, by Loudon Wainright The 3rd. Excellent song! I still know every word! His son is quite successful too, but I forget his name.

What year Z-28 ??

My dad and myself, rebuild the 289 ford engine. We got the mustang running Saturday. Was a warm day, the under dash factory A.C. (that would freeze you). I was driving the new rebuilt 289, slowly, to break-in the rings. Listening to the radio 📻 and Stairway to Heaven. Was very difficult to drive the mustang, slowly, with Stair Way to Heaven.

...and you still have Zeppelin; just press "play"...

@@albundy8052 1970

It’s stairway! I don’t think anyone is taking that song for granted

@@mightypigeon836 Yeah but I know what he means. We take for granted that Stairway to Heaven is there but forget what a miracle it was when it came along and how the timing was just right because of rock fans who had become so much more sophisticated listening to the Beatles, Stones, Cream, Yardbirts, etc.

By the way, one of the best performances of Stairway to Heaven was done when Led Zeppelin was being inducted at the Kennedy Center Honors. It started out with just the two women from Heart on the stage and more people started playing as it grew and grew. John Bonham's son played the drums. You can find it with one search, "Kennedy Honors Stairway to Heaven".

@@mightypigeon836 If streaming had come out in the 60’s bands like Zep would not have been likely to survive. Same with most of the best bands from that era and beyond to the present.

Good to hear frOM you Chris! I thought you were dead.

Wall of eyes by the smile Subtitles by Madison Cunningham

how cool to groove all day long to Swth on a tractor….what a memory! Farm girls get it LOL

Did they do the Rolf Harris version? 🤣

@@Youiethefly It's a long time ago, but I am sure they played it. Would the ABC get away without playing our quintessential Ozy hero (at least back then he was, anyway)?

yes! it's true every generation but each still thinks they were great and the new one(s) are crap

Absolutely Positively Correct !!

100%

Why do you put the word "art" into quotation marks? I do it because I quote your one word out of context. I really wonder what your reason might be.

@@maikstrecker6995 perhaps because 'art' is commonly what you hang on your wall and look at while 'music' is commonly what you play on your high fidelity stereo device, while 'theatre' is what you go to a hall and witness and an 'artist' is someone who uses tools to create a feeling within a passive audience.

I was waiting in a parking lot last weekend and the car next to me was playing King Crimson so I was surprised. I was shocked when the guy who got out of the car was like 20 years old.

There are always cool people making music. You are just most in touch with music of that time. Though, there isn't quite the same amount of money being put into music now. The radio stuff yes, but the Indie stuff is pretty cheaply made. Not a bad thing though. Of my generation, I think you might like The Shins, Beach House, The Fleet Foxes and Kurt Vile. They all sound a bit out of their time because they were a movement that was looking back to your generation. Rock hasn't been too big for a decade though. All the ones named were from the 2000s but are still going.

@@Bradley_Lute It did seem that "good music" had a big resurgence with Fleet Foxes and other bands from 10 years ago (OMG, 10 years ago already!). Beach house, School of Seven Bells, M83 and many other indie bands are awesome. I hate when boomers say, "music today is crap". I feel sorry for them if all they know is their local radio station: 'Classic Rock top 40". yawn. I wish they could be exposed to indie artists.

Umm pardon me ?

@@mikelanzafame3401 My response is just a thought about a song. If it was wrong in your opinion, why didn’t you just scroll past the response. No need to be so dismissive.

Your comment spoke quite clearly to me. Ignore the downers

@@vanessashaw3351 thank you. Merry Christmas!

@@vanessashaw3351 agreed. I got what you meant right away. They don’t make songs like this anymore. One thing, as a guitarist, I always am blown away by the song, but specially the Page solo. That first phrase where he ends up just blows me away. The song is an experience, as much music was back then. Or at least attempted to be. Anyway, your comment was a good one!

Thats ridiculous

Well Brian, I think, as a Brian, anyone who says that's ridiculous is a complete .... .I'm English so that begins, obviously with a C.

You can do it Steve. Just do the same again and remember that moment since the beginning.

Headphones, good ones! That might help.

I was listening to Ramble On the other day, a very familiar song, but this time I was sitting in my car watching the moon go climbing up behind some tree branches. It was spectacular. There will always be ways to rediscover a song!

“I wish I could hear it again for the first time.” Most poignant thought I’ve read in a long time . . .

I mean, Stairway stands out from the rest. Even more so today than then.

MAN....THIS IS THE SYNTESIS OF THE ESCENCE OF THAT SONG....I NEVER READ OR HEARD SOMEONE WHO DESCRIBED THIS WITH THAT ACCURACCY AND PRECISSION....YOU DIDN'T MISS A SINGLE WORD....CONGRATULATIONS.....

@@luissegura1580 Thank you. You are very kind.

Bolero. Ravel.

Very well said! 👍

That's kind of the problem with music now right? theres a lot of good songs now but nothing has such a story and feeling as the music from this era.

I love songs that build up to a real crescendo.

To me the change of tempo seemed like having sex - the final frenzied verse to the collapse of finish.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You is even better

@@dejavu2752 Thats my second favorite Zep song!

@@stevewolff7187 Yeah, I think if I were hard-pressed to pick a favourite, that could possibly be it

Very Tolkein-like

Art at it's very greatest ! ! !

I saw them in 77 also. In Los Angeles . I think it was the Forum. If my memory serves me well. It is serving me less well every day unfortunately . 😬

Paris , France, young age going to concert who were not ban from under 18 yrsold

@@TJ-ht3jb The Badge Holder Show?

@@jonfrost2152 my first full concert, beginning to end, The Who 1975. Lousy venue, sound was way too loud for Concrete building. But they jammed hard , got the Townsend guitar smash!!

@@TJ-ht3jb Eddie Van Halen was in the crowd that night!!

............and waking up to the sound of the 'run off'!

That was the greatest experience of listening to albums totally concentratednin the music while "studying their cover" as you say. I feel sorry for my kids who never got to have this wonderful spiritual experience.

@@nahumgabrieli9020 Looking back to what was totally “normal” for us they never experienced music the way we did. We came up in an era of great, original, experimental groundbreaking music. They have never lived that. That was my favorite treat as long as my homework was done I could sit and soak up that music.

Agreed. Life was at a slower pace back then. Kids today don't have the attention span and mental discipline to just sit and listen to an album's worth of music. Too many distractions between the iPhone, social media and the internet in general. On a separate note, I think this is why card playing isn't popular anymore either.

@@christopherlees1134 I agree. Great point about card playing. I had forgotten but you’re right. My parents would go visit relatives on the weekend to catch up and also to regularly play cards. My father used to attend regular card games with his male friends and relations taking turns at each one’s home at least once a month or once every two. That’s quite a vivid memory.

I know it's corny, but I also like "Knights in White Satin"- Moody Blues

Well picked

Listen to Tull’s Christmas Album……… Now that’s a departure from the “norm”…..timeless

You're right. Steeleye Span should do this.

Funny how 80's rock bands concerts were like operas

In spanish: está obra de arte marca la cúspide del rock y de toda la música del Siglo XX, nunca ha podido ser superada ni se podrá, a partir de ahí el rock empezó su descenso el cual continúa hasta nuestros días.

I would blame a lot of why it wouldn't be popular today on Spotify and to an extent sites like Submithub. Spotify has pushed no brain cell songs with their larger playlists that us musicians all try to get on to drive up our stream numbers and our monthly listeners. Rick has touched on this with his Spotify Top 10 videos. Submithub if you're not familiar, it a site where curators for Spotify, Soundcloud, RU-vid and so on list themselves so artists can try to get on their playlists. The problem is the curators are not obligated to listen to more than 90 seconds of a song before making a decision. Anything that has a long intro or really any intro and or doesn't have the hook right off the bat doesn't stand a chance of getting on a list. This forces artists to comply and write formula songs. I stopped dealing with Submithub almost 2 years ago. It's a money toilet. I also stopped really caring how many streams my band gets on Spotify. Ninety eight percent of the artists with music on Spotify make $1000 or less on streams per year. They probably spend that much or more trying to promote. Sorry, I digress.

Absolutely agree!! Today's music has no soul, complexity, or narrative. If you asked a young person today to name the soundtrack of their life, they'd look at you like you were from Mars and likely say "whatever, boomer." Real music will die with us.

How’s it feel to be 76 I just turned 63 is there much difference mentally I know physically there is ?

How’s it feel to be 76 I just turned 63 is there much difference mentally I know physically there is ?

I was also born in 65 and still love the song, i remember it being played on the radio, those were the days.

Maybe you'll like the song Taurus by the band Spirit released in 1968... (The same band that opened for Zeppelin at one point) but was then stolen by Zeppelin and release as stairway in 71

@@sleevesgaragemoments2931 dumb

@@SpicyElaichi what's dumb?? Them ripping off the song from their friends they had as opening act

It was an unusually good composition for Led Zep as well, both the music and lyrics which were often silly machismo stuff.

For me... That redition at the Kennedy Centre stands out as THE best performance of the song ever. The quality of the performance by heart & their band, the emotion (Jason Bonham's participation, honouring his father) and with the three remaining band members... and the entire audience clearly enjoying it.

It was so epic, especially with the choir. I kept thinking about how they went from being only accepted by young people and hated by older people when they first came out, and then now they are being honored by the president. What a journey.

Plant realized he couldn't reach those notes anymore.

Seen it several times….I get choked up watching Robert so moved by what they’ve created and now being played by such professionals…..♥️

@@jamesdawson1090 certainly the best cover of it. they NAILED it

Modern music has conditioned us to have a short attention span.

To have a minute long solo of any musical instrument be considered long in this age, just shows how horribly instruments have been pushed back into the background to make the singer the primary focus of a song. I am sorry, but except in a few cases, to have the vocals the primary focus in a song extremely vain and self-centered. I say exceptions as you have the Beatles Song "Because" where except for the electronic harpsichord the focus of the song "Because" is overdubbing of the vocals to give the affect of a 9 part harmony.

@hognoxious prog was the best. And I became a singer! 🤣

The non-musical, non-tune garbage that makes up about 99% of today’s music, of any genre, has so ingrained people into not being able to listen to real music, hardly anyone would like it.😢

@@pinballrobbie I think that the enternet ,social media and falling IQ rates played a bigger role in that than the music. The music is a reflection of that.

Dead on. No argument from me.

I offer a fourth option: 4. _Performing_ music. Immersed in the piece with others all playing their parts is the best experience of all. I love singing with a live band and a live audience ... nothing comes close.

Im always in point 3.....thats why I only listen to rock and roll.....the ONLY music I feel

Bam. Exactly. I could not have phrased your words any better.

​@Acme Racing Stevie Nicks always loses herself in "Rhiannon." Feel like she'd agree with you. I sang in choir and ensembles in school (which is nothing by comparison lol)...but even that is very a different feeling from singing along with the radio. 😊

You are right the song sound medieval and magical...may be this song and it's lyrics came from a paranormal source.. Watch "the curse of led Zeppelin" video on RU-vid if you can.

Well said man. I think if any band managed to produce and write that recording people would be turning their heads and wondering who the band is and if there’s an album of more songs. There’s so much juice and vibe and talent in the song. What’s going on now is that we are in a time where there aren’t artists, bands, producing music at that level. Because of this there is a space for this to emerge snd question mark as to whom it might come from and how it might develop.

Senza contare che chi oggi ha almeno 30 anni, da ragazzino ha sentito, chi più chi meno, qualcosa dal repertorio del beneamato Maestro Branduardi. Anche per questo motivo a noi un sonorità del genere non è mai sembrata stravagante. Sottoscrivo quanto hai detto riguardo all'avercelo nel DNA.

Thank you agree

I too never thought it sounded weird but I got a Medieval England and Lord of the Rings feel.

God that's a tough one. I might have to pick metallica

Or maybe zep? the smiths? Or maybe queen? Or maybe David bowie....uggggh that's a really tough one.

I think I’d pick the beatles

Oh actually yeah David bowie

@@sandrinecacheton3909 its impossible

True. Stairway to heaven was a great rocksong of its time, but it was far from being something unusual.

Moody Blues

Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues especially came to mind for me, so does Jetro Tull.

Add The Stone's "Lady Jane" to this mix. No recorders, but very folksy

true, I still have my yamaha recorder that I was playing back then, they were everywhere

So what is the song about?

I don't know how popular Celtic Music is as a genre outside of Canada, but it's still very popular here many years after it first became so. Laureena McKinnett is the absolute Queen of modern Celtic. Today's Sandy Denny. And her stuff really rocks too! It truly is golden!

It sure would. Look at Greta Van Fleet's masterpiece, "The Heat Above" and how it was ignored on classic rock 'n roll radio altogether.

You are 100% correct. Like so many things, what we are exposed to is controlled by corporations.

@@jderoma4382 And that is why Actual rebellious Rock n Roll is basically censored. It may get created but currently it will not distributed,promoted etc

Unless its sanitized rebellion: Manufactured anger at...what for it...the agreeable enemies. Not the actual ones.

That's totally true, I never thought about this in this perspective

Thats a fantastic critique. Ive always considered “Dazed and Confused” as the rock music equivalent of the classic painting “The Scream”. True artists were Zep. Such quality is sorely missed.

You put it better than I would have but that's what I wanted to say exactly. The song draws you in to the story unfolding before you. I can remember the first time I ever heard it I stopped what I was doing to see what and where it was going.

Back in the day we bought creativity, nowadays, who has time. Our time will come again, unfortunately our generation will be long gone. The ones that will rediscover such art are a few years from being born yet and haven’t thus seen what is coming. But when they do and grow through it, they will most certainly be expressing the same sentiments through their music. They will live into a post trauma world full of growth, hope and opportunity and begin to wonder just like Robert Plant sang about. Read “The Fourth Turning” for understanding. That, and pray.

Don't forget the Lemon Song. 😉

I blame technology, pagers making people take shortcuts with language, abbreviating everything. Pretty soon no one was talking in complete sentences or using proper grammar or spelling. I saw Frampton in 1976 with my boyfriend who played guitar

Which concert?

I think I see that. The way Guardians of the Galaxy introduced "Come and Get Your Love" to a new generation.

And I found it amazing that I didn't even need to close my eyes to envision Frampton playing it. Rick did an amazing job there!

My mom always disliked "Sweet Home Alabama" for that reason (overplayed). I couldn't understand why she didn't like it when I was younger. Lol Also, she saw Led Zeppelin front row once and another time at Day on the Green. My folks love Led Zeppelin, but they don't always stay on that channel when Stairway comes on, either. ✌️

Likely granddaughter

@@angc214 She is his daughter. He had all 3 of his kids late.

Great music and its arrangement like Stairway is never to long.

@scott foster, Just curious, it wasn't Cleveland's "Zoso" you jammed with was it, & what decade either way are we talking about?

Man, you were there for it all! I missed the early parts, but my heart has always lived in that 60's to 70's transition ever since my taste matured beyond Kenny Rogers -- LOL! I find Dave Matthews to be a fairly worthy successor in relatively modern music. Lots of variety, thoughtful lyrics, and compelling musicianship. I like songs that build an atmosphere and tell a story.

@@briansmith303 I agree

Ahame you missed the 90s, way better than the 80’s. The Seattle Sound or grunge as it was referred to out of the US and brot pop from the UK was quite a revolution in itself. Quality decade for music.

Those three helped launch that incredible music period.Their UN timely deaths were not in vain.

It's gonna take struggle, hard times and the passing of many generations . . . .in my opinion

It is the multiple layering of instruments, the changing of chords, and tempos, etc in so many songs of the 60's, 70's, and 80's that made Classic Rock so timeless and enduring across the decades.

it's about a materialistic widow.

@@freezingcathedral I always thought there was something deeper going on than just that.

@@JonsDDVlog Even Plant doesnt knows. The lyrics are abstract. It means what you want it to mean.

Seventh Wonder - The Great Escape I'm 23 years old, ok just give the entire album a shot, it's amazing.

@@senditkevin I'm an old guy but I'll take a listen based on your recommendation. It better be good though...

Supper's Ready.

The whole Prog Rock era in the 1970s featured a lot of songs that were too long to get airplay on Top 40 AM Radio. Yes, Zep, Floyd, Genesis, ELP all had songs that were 5-10 minutes long or even longer that you wouldn't hear on any AM stations. But, man, were there some great songs in that catalogue.

@@johnware7353 and then check out Ayreon. Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal[1] and power metal[2] sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" (or "metal operas") because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist. Each Ayreon album tells a different story, but all, with the exceptions of Actual Fantasy, The Theory of Everything, and Transitus, take place in the same fictional, science fiction universe; additionally, Lucassen's solo album Lost in the New Real is also set in the Ayreon universe. Ayreon's music is characterized by the use of traditional instruments in rock music (guitars, bass guitar, drums, analogue synthesizers, electric organs) mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music (e.g. mandolins, violins, violas, celli, flutes, sitars and didgeridoos). Lucassen writes the music and the lyrics, sings and plays most of the instruments on all of the Ayreon albums, alongside many guest musicians. His most regular collaborator is drummer Ed Warby. Due to the project's particular nature, Ayreon live performances are rare, and no official Ayreon live show took place until 2017. Several Ayreon songs were first included in two live albums by other Lucassen bands: Live on Earth by Star One (2003) and Live in the Real World by Stream of Passion (2006). No I didn't type that. Just a copy and paste from Wikipedia. He has worked with 100's of musicians. There is a list on wiki of them. Enjoy 😁.

But the thing is that people don't actually like the modern pop stuff, they just want background noise, they dont know the lyrics, they dont sing along, they talk over it, and they will not be distracted by it. But then they hear something decent and dismiss it because it's making them feel (kind of the point of music)

I fully agree this they have nowadays is corrupt

jethro put out a lot of great tunes

@@droctagon9842 yes he did 😎👍

Also, Walt Parazaider of Chicago, had plenty of noteworthy flute work with them.

@@mattheffron391 I totally agree.

The remixed 'Aqualung' album is superb. No album released today could touch it.

I totally agree.

Absolutely on the nose. Music is just something to fill audio space, not something to concentrate on and have an emotional response. It's not art anymore.

Absolutely on the nail

It sometimes seems as if the media on which we listen to music have become more convenient, the music has become more disposable.

Massive disagree. Only true if you listen to popular radio. There's so much music out there that is heartfelt, true art. You're just not looking for it.

@@NickNicometi Greta is making a living off of early Zeppelin, Zeppelin continued to evolve, you think of No Quarter, Kashmir & Achilles Last Stand, maybe Greta changes as well and finds their own identity.

@@markandersen793 I completely agree: I hope they find their way. Imitation is only good for so much.

Can relate to that at the Pink Floyd concerts. Stone cold sober God as high as I could be just sitting there transformed transcended by the music. I get it. It’s a phenomenal feeling!

Listening with others, without verbal comment, is rare. I love it when it happens.

no way you didnt have a contact high :)

@@Catatonicus I don’t know who you were directing your comment to but in my scenario, I sure did get a contact 😉., the clouds of good stuff around me were thick n probably helped. 🙂

My best friend and I did the same thing...all the time.

Agreed. I perceive the song as an experience, artistically crafted, leading the audience into a shared heartfelt understanding , rather than than a top 10 mechanically generated music machine algorythm.

I'm 76 and still love this song and listen to it regularly

Agreed ... It stops me and moves me every single time.

Artycom you are so right!

My favorite triad is "stairway..." followed by "lay lady lay" then "nights in white satin"