Songs Lyrics and YT- Youtube Music Videos: Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin Songs - Hats Off To (Roy) Harper Lyrics

Led Zeppelin - Hats Off To (Roy) Harper

Led Zeppelin - Hats Off To (Roy) Harper Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Led Zeppelin III
Released: 1970

Hats Off To (Roy) Harper Lyrics

Hats Off To (Roy) Harper Song Chart

Roy Harper is a folk singer from England who Jimmy Page met at the Bath Festival in 1970. He became friends with Page and Plant, who used him as the opening act on some Zeppelin tours. The song is a tribute to him.

In 1971, Page played on Harper's album Stormcock, appearing in the credits as "S. Flavius Mercurius." In 1985, Page recorded an album with Harper called Whatever Happened To Jugula.

Explaining this track to Melody Maker before the album was released, Jimmy Page said: "This came about from a jam Robert and I had one night. There is a whole tape of us bashing different blues things. Robert had been playing harmonica through the amp, then he used it to sing through. It's supposed to be a sincere hats off to Roy because he's really a talented bloke, who's had a lot of problems."

Zeppelin never performed this live.

Roy Harper sang lead on Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar." He was friends with the band, and they asked him to sing this because Roger Waters' voice was shot.

This was listed on the album as "Arranged by Charles Obscure," which was a pseudonym for Page.

The music is based on a Blues song by Bukka White called "Shake 'Em On Down." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

Jimmy Page played slide guitar on this song. (thanks, Mat - Rock Cave, WV)

Led Zeppelin Songs - That's The Way Lyrics

Led Zeppelin - That's The Way

Led Zeppelin - That's The Way Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Led Zeppelin III
Released: 1970

That's The Way Lyrics

That's The Way Song Chart

As pointed out in Stephen Davis's Hammer of the Gods, this song's lyrics reflected Robert Plant's views on ecology and environment. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote this in Wales on a retreat to the Bron-y-Aur cottage, where they wrote many of the songs on the album. They took a long walk with a guitar and tape recorder (yes, they carried a tape recorder on their hikes), sat down in a ravine, and wrote this.

One of the most mellow Zeppelin songs, it reflects the quiet countryside in Wales where it was written.

This was the first song Led Zeppelin authorized for use on a film soundtrack. After seeing a rough cut of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous in 2000, Page and Plant agreed to let him use some Zeppelin songs on it, but this is the only one that is on the soundtrack. Other Zeppelin songs in the movie are "Tangerine," "The Rain Song," "Bron-Y-Aur" and "Misty Mountain Hop."

The lyrics "I can't believe what people saying, you're gonna let your hair hang down, I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long, you're in the darker side of town" reflects the way Zeppelin was treated in their earlier days in America. In the south it was common for Zeppelin to receive death threats before concerts. When they walked into restaurants they were usually asked to leave, but not before being spit on or having a gun pointed at them for their long hair. (thanks, John - Boca Raton, FL)

The original title was "The Boy Next Door."

According to Robert Plant, this was written 30 minutes before Page's daughter Scarlet was conceived.

Led Zeppelin Songs - Gallows Pole Lyrics

Led Zeppelin - Gallows Pole

Led Zeppelin - Gallows Pole Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Led Zeppelin III
Released: 1970

Gallows Pole Lyrics

Gallows Pole Song Chart

This is based on an old Blues song called "Gallis Pole," which was popularized by Leadbelly. The song is considered "Traditional," meaning the author is unknown. Jimmy Page got the idea for this after hearing the version by the California folk singer Fred Gerlach. Page explained when previewing the song for Melody Maker: "He was one of the first white people on Folkways records to get involved in Leadbelly. We have completely rearranged it and changed the verse. Robert wrote a set of new lyrics. That's John Paul Jones on mandolin and bass, and I'm playing the banjo, six-string acoustic, 12-string and electric guitar. The bloke swinging on the gallows pole is saying wait for his relatives to arrive. The drumming builds nicely." (thanks, Jason Lee - New York, NY)

The lyrics are about a man trying to delay his hanging until his friends and family can rescue him. Although there are many versions of this song, Led Zeppelin's is unusual in that it ends with the hangman hanging the protagonist despite all of his bribes. Most other versions end with the hangman setting the protagonist free. (thanks, Alex - Melbourne, FL)

A similar folk song called "Slack Your Rope" was sung by an Arkansan named Jimmie Driftwood. He adapted the words from a fifteenth century British Ballad when any crime could be paid off with money right up to the last step of the gallows. In his version, the criminal is definitely a woman and her lover rides up and pays her fee. (thanks, Lalah - Wasilla, AK)

This is the only Led Zeppelin song that features a banjo. Jimmy Page wrote it on a banjo he borrowed from John Paul Jones. He had never played the banjo before.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant teamed up again to record this song for an MTV Unplugged set. It's featured on the The Very Best of MTV Unplugged album and the duo are listed simply as Page and Plant. (thanks, Dave - Canberra, Australia)

Jimmy Page has claimed this as his favorite song on Led Zeppelin III.

The band used some lyrics from this song on their 1975 track "Trampled Underfoot."

This is a rare Led Zeppelin song that speeds up as it goes along, a technique Jimmy Page also used on "Stairway To Heaven." (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)

In 1994, Page and Plant re-recorded this in Wales for their album No Quarter. On that version, Page played a hurdy-gurdy, an odd instrument resembling an organ grinder that sounds like a bagpipe.

This was performed only two or three times live in concert, in an electric-only version. However, a few verses of the song (especially the final one) were sometimes included in some medleys (for instance in "Communication Breakdown," or "Trampled Underfoot"). (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

Led Zeppelin Songs - Since I've Been Loving You Lyrics

Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You

Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Led Zeppelin III
Released: 1970

Since I've Been Loving You Lyrics

Since I've Been Loving You Song Chart

A seven-and-a-half minute Blues number with some electric piano played by Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones, this was a live favorite for the band. They started working on the song during the sessions for Led Zeppelin II, but was bumped for "Whole Lotta Love." By the time they recorded it for Led Zeppelin III, they had worked out the song in live performances, but according to Jimmy Page, it was still the hardest track to record for the album. The guitarist says they were getting very self-critical around this time.

Before this song was committed to tape, Led Zeppelin performed it at their famous January 9, 1970 concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. The show was filmed and recorded, but the keyboards didn't make it into the mix on this track, so the song was not included on the 2003 DVD Led Zeppelin, which featured footage from the show.

This is a very difficult song to sing, and it showed off Robert Plant's vocal range quite well. He said in a 2003 interview with Mojo: "The musical progression at the end of each verse - the chord choice - is not a natural place to go. And it's that lift up there that's so regal and so emotional. I don't know whether that was born from the loins of JP or JPJ, but I know that when we reached that point in the song you could get a lump in the throat from being in the middle of it."

This was recorded live in the studio with very little overdubbing. If you listen carefully, you can hear the squeak of John Bonham's drum pedal.

Jimmy Page did his guitar solo in one take. Engineer Terry Manning called it "The best rock guitar solo of all time."

Plant used a sample from this on his solo track "White, Clean, and Neat."

Just before their Physical Grafitti tour, Jimmy Page broke the tip of his left ring finger in a door-slamming incident. They went on with the tour but they had to drop this and "Dazed And Confused" from the set lists as he couldn't play them until his finger healed. (thanks, julian - Boston, MA)

The riff in the beginning is taken from "New York City Blues" by The Yardbirds - Jimmy Page was not a member of that band yet when the group wrote that song.

The track was recorded live (except for the vocals part and a few overdubs) at Island Studios in London. This features John Paul Jones on both bass pedal and organ. Interestingly, Jimmy Page's famous solo was recorded in a studio in Memphis, whereas the whole album was recorded in Headley Grange and in Island Studios. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2)

Led Zeppelin Songs - Friends Lyrics

Led Zeppelin - Friends

Led Zeppelin - Friends Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Led Zeppelin III
Released: 1970

Friends Lyrics

Friends Song Chart

Page told interviewer Daniel Rachel (The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters) that he wrote this after a massive argument with someone. "And yet you wouldn't know," he said. "I was inspired, I guess, by this feeling: I've just got to release this somehow."

On a trip to India in 1972, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant recorded a version of this song with musicians from Bombay. This version can be found on various bootleg recordings.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote this in 1970 at Bron-yr-Aur, the cottage in Wales they went to after a grueling US tour. The cottage had no electricity or running water. It didn't even have cable.

This was one of a few Led Zeppelin songs that used strings. The band wanted an Indian sound, but unlike The Beatles, they played the instruments themselves instead of bringing in Indian musicians. Their bass player John Paul Jones did the arrangement.

Jimmy Page had his guitar in an alternate tuning for this song. It's Open C tuning, a tuning standard for foreign folk musicians. It explains the low pitched sound and the rattling heard from the strings throughout the song. This is achieved by tuning your strings C, A, C, G, C, E. (thanks, JT - Tullahoma, TN)

Previewing this song for Melody Maker before the album came out, Jimmy Page commented on Robert Plant's vocals: "Robert shows his great range – incredibly high. He's got a lot of different sides to his voice which come across here."

Influenced by Neil Young, this song has been closely referenced to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's "Carry On." If you listen, the first part of the song is almost exactly identical to this song. Even so, this song has not been tried on conviction of plagiarism like many Zeppelin songs. (thanks, Jeff - Kendall Park, NJ)

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