Some songs occupy a category all by themselves. They defy classification with anything else. Such is the case with Led Zeppelin's 1971 masterpiece, "Stairway to Heaven." The only other song I can liken it to is the Beatles' "A Day in the Life." So elusive and allusive, like T.S. Eliot's landmark poem, "The Waste Land" and even Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," with haunting lyrics and an eerie, other-worldly message. The song begins so delicately, revs up crashingly, then blazes into the melancholy finale.
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These songs inhabit your brain and seep into your soul. They are wonderfully emblematic of their era, yet they are timeless, never to be repeated or successfully mimicked. Per Mental Floss, "Led Zeppelin's 1971 opus has it all: mystical lyrics, memorable riffs, a monster guitar solo, and crazy urban legends involving Hobbits and the Devil." Unpacking all that would take a whole book!
You may think you know all about "Stairway to Heaven." Well, maybe. What Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wrote is a monumental classic for the ages. Here are four facts about their phenomenal eight-minute-and-two-second, scintillating, pithy creation that are worth pondering. Alas, "to be a rock and not to roll"!
'Stairway To Heaven' (1971)
A Copyright Infringement Allegation Arose Regarding The Song
It's hard to imagine that any portion of "Stairway to Heaven" came from another piece of music. Nevertheless, that was what guitarist Randy California of the band Spirit alleged. The case went to court. According to Mental Floss, "The suit alleged that Zeppelin stole the 'Stairway' riff from Spirit's 1968 song 'Taurus.'" Led Zeppelin denied swiping anything from another band or song. Nine years ago, a jury found there was no wrongdoing on the band's part, a ruling that was upheld five years ago in an appeals court.
Robert Plant Was Reportedly Irate When Some People Claimed There Were Satanic Overtones In The Lyrics
Plant was allegedly displeased to the max about the speculation that there was something satanic about the song. Per theclassicmachines.com via Musician magazine, he said, "'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. It's really sad."
'Stairway' Was Not An Immediate Smash
Sometimes things don't catch on right away. It takes time for the public to respond. Even Vincent Van Gogh's paintings were snubbed initially. That was sort of what happened with "Stairway." Led Zeppelin played it for the first time in Belfast in 1971. Incredibly, it was kind of a dud. The band's John Paul Jones admitted it. "They [the concertgoers] were all bored to tears waiting to hear something they knew."
Jimmy Page's Stirring Guitar Solo Was Played Off-The-Cuff
Per the outlet via Rolling Stone in 2008, "The solo sounds constructed—and it is, sort of, but purely of the moment," explained Jimmy Page. "For me, a solo is something where you just fly, but within the context of the song." He performed the "Stairway' solo a trio of times and ultimately selected the one he thought was the best. Page chose historically well!
