Sometimes I can't get over how beautiful Stairway to Heaven is. There's a reason it is often number one on lists of the greatest rock songs of all-time. The way it gracefully builds from quiet reflection to transcendent glory, journeying through mystic landscapes, adding layers of sonic majesty; it is a dazzling experience.
It opens with a medieval caravan traveling among moss-covered stones in a misty ancient forest: the smell of earth and leaves, fungi, ferns, faires, friars, fairies, fires, elves and wizards, dungeons and dragons. Troubadours accompany the group, playing delicate notes on guitar and recorders. Sunlight breaks through the trees here and there, a scene of peace and serenity.
At 0:53, Robert Plant sings the first words:
There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
Who is this lady? She is part of a royal court, perhaps a queen, and she is in one of the wagons, accompanied by her servants, traveling in great comfort, but she is also dying and she feels alone. She drifts in and out of a dream state, her reality merging with visions of the afterlife. She imagines that with all her wealth she should simply be able to buy her way into heaven, but she's not sure. The timbre of Plant's voice is like a quiet stream of cool water.
At 1:47 the lady's subconscious creates realms of existential trials and visions:
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
She hallucinates smoke rings and ghostly voices, pipers and bustles in hedgerows, laughter ('does anybody remember laughter?' I wonder if anyone in the audience felt obligated to laugh when Robert said this. 'I do, Robert! Hahaha!') and May-queens, as natural reality blends with her soul's departure into the afterlife.
The music changes with her. At 2:15, acoustic and electric guitars strum together, joined by electric piano, weaving a tapestry of wonder and mystery at 2:40 as Robert sings, There's a feeling I get When I look to the west.....
The song achieves magical proportions at 4:19 when John Bonham's mighty drums suddenly burst into the mix. The timing is perfect, and it shifts the song into a higher gear, propelling the lady's journey further away from the mortal coil. Bonham's drums sound so full and crisp, the reverb is exactly spot on, and he hits the skins with a power that just bursts through the speakers.
From here on out the music soars. At 5:08 Robert sings Your head is humming and it won't go. The lady is dying, her soul is about to leave her body and fly to heaven on the whispering wind.
At 5:33 there is a crashing of time and space followed by walls of electric guitars; the lady has died and her soul is entering heaven with great pomp and circumstance. Jimmy begins his otherworldly solo at 5:57, coloring the scene with golden notes that ring out across the world like bells.
Robert brings out his metal god voice for the final passage. The shining spirit of the lady appears to her people, desiring to show that everything turns to gold in the end, entering heaven has nothing to do with money, it's all about being faithful, staying true to your beliefs. I think this is what the line to be a rock and not to roll means. The rock of faith, don't roll from it, and you will turn to gold in the end. I may be stretching it a bit, but Robert has said 'this is a song of hope'. I hope so.
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