Has an intro ever sounded so autumnally heavy as the opening 0:30 on Ten Years Gone? It has that 'getting darker earlier' feel to it - leaves blanket the ground, the sunlight slants create strange hues, and there's a chill in the air.
Robert Plant tells of a woman he was in love with ten years ago (so 1965-ish?), a few years before Led Zeppelin formed. She gave him an ultimatum: her or the music. Jimmy Page patched the musical ideas together. The song goes through a number of variations. After the first 0:30, a second part comes in with a descending chord sequence, like A-G-D-Dm. The intro sequence then comes back in at 1:01 and Robert waxes nostalgic starting at 1:16:
Then as it was, then again it will be
And though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea
John Bonham thunders in at 1:34...building on to the repeated second part of the intro, and we continue along into the next verse.
At 2:30 we head into the middle section. Jimmy's guitar rises up out of the mist and it's like the sun has come out and everything sparkles and shines. Robert gains strength from this and expresses his bitter feelings of regret:
Did you ever really need somebody
And really need 'em bad
At 3:47 Jimmy leads us across a field and we head back in among the trees at 4:10. Now, though, the sun filters down through the branches and Robert remarks that even though much time has passed
We are eagles of one nest
The nest is in our soul
There will always be a special bond that they shared. At 5:03, Robert turns reflective again; the face of his lost love still appears in his dreams. He cries out at the end that the memories are still there. He still cherishes them, holdin' on, ten years gone. The music surrounds and comforts him like protective spirits.
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