This Led Zeplin classic was never even released as a single since it was 8 minutes long and impossible to reduce to a single-length track due to its composition. Nevertheless it became one of the most-requested and most-played rocks songs in radio history. What is funny about the song is that the story told by the lyrics comes from an unlikely source for a rock song. Robert Plant got the idea from a fable by the famous 19th century Danish childrens storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The story was called Den Gyldne Trapper in Danish, The Golden Stairs in English. It was a fable about a wealthy woman who was so obsessed with getting to heaven that she was building a golden staircase to get there. The story ends tragically, of course; the staircase becomes so heavy that it sinks into the earth and becomes a staircase to Helvede (Danish for hell). Robert Plant happened to read the story while the band was writing songs for their album at a cottage in Whales, and he thought it was a good lesson for the band as they became richer and more famous.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 22:26:07 +0000
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