Stairway to Heaven

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"Stairway to Heaven"
Song by Led Zeppelin
from the album (Led Zeppelin IV)
Released	November 8, 1971
Recorded	December 1970 – March 1971
Genre	Hard Rock / Folk Rock
Length	8:03
Label	Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Page/Plant
Producer(s)	Jimmy Page
(Led Zeppelin IV) track listing
"The Battle of Evermore" (3)	"Stairway to Heaven" (4)	"Misty Mountain Hop" (5)

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant, and recorded on their fourth studio album, (Led Zeppelin IV). It is cited as the most played song on FM radio stations in the United States,^[1] despite never being released as a single there.

Contents 1 History 2 Lyrics 3 Music 4 Other recordings 4.1 Cover versions 4.2 Parodies 4.3 Detournements 5 Satanic claims 6 Cultural references and spoofs 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

The music was written by Jimmy Page "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night".^[2] The recording of "Stairway to Heaven" started in December 1970 at the Basing Street Studios (Island Studios, London). The song was completed by the addition of lyrics by Robert Plant during the sessions for Led Zeppelin IV at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in 1971.

After the inaugural public performance at Belfast's Ulster Hall on March 5, 1971, (coincidentally Led Zeppelin's first appearance in Northern Ireland)^[3][4] "Stairway" was performed at most Led Zeppelin concerts up until 1980. "Stairway" was also played at Live Aid in 1985 and the 40th anniversary celebration of Atlantic Records in 1988, and by Jimmy Page as an instrumental version on his solo tours. Teasingly, the first few bars were played alone during Page and Plant tours, only to be morphed into other songs. Plant cites the Live Aid performance as the most unusual performance of the song ever, "with two drummers while Duran Duran cried at the side of the stage - there was something quite surreal about that."^[3]

"Stairway to Heaven" is the biggest-selling single piece of sheet music clocking up an average of 15,000 copies yearly.^[3]

It also continues to top radio lists of the greatest rock songs, as well as topping a recent Guitar World poll. Some radio stations that have listed the song as #1 include WNOR (Norfolk), WEBN (Cincinnati), WLVQ (Columbus), WGRX (Baltimore), WFXF (Indianapolis), KZOK (Seattle), KLSK (Albuquerque), Triple M (Adelaide, Australia) WDVE (Pittsburgh), KKEG (Northwest Arkansas), WXKR (Toledo), WMGK (Philadelphia), KLSX (Los Angeles), Virgin Radio (London), KRTH (Los Angeles), KGON (Portland), KSAN (San Francisco Bay Area), KGB (San Diego), CHOM (Montreal), WNCX (Cleveland), Q107 (CILQ Toronto), CFMI-FM (Vancouver) , WCSX (Detroit) , WZLX (Boston) and WAXQ (New York City).^[1]

The song's length precluded its release in full form as a single. Despite pressure from Atlantic Records the band would not authorize the editing of the song for single release, making "Stairway to Heaven" one of the most well-known and popular rock songs never to have been released as a single. It did, however, appear as a promotional disc in the United States, on an Australian acoustic EP, and in the 1990s as a 20th anniversary promo book.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine put it at #31 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[edit] Lyrics

The first attempts at lyrics, written by Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then".^[5] Jimmy Page was strumming the chords and Robert Plant had a pencil and paper. Plant later said that suddenly, "my hand was writing out the words, 'There's a lady is sure [sic], all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to Heaven'. I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat." Plant's own explanation of the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration. The first line begins with that cynical sweep of the hand ... and it softened up after that. I think it was the Moroccan dope!"^[3]

[edit] Music

The song is a multi-movement suite. A quiet introduction featuring acoustic guitar and a recorder^[6] (ending at-2:12) gradually moves into to a slow electric middle section (2:13-5:33), before the faster hard rock final section (5:55-end).

Written in the key of A minor and mainly in common time the song opens with an Am-Fmaj7 arpeggiated, hybrid-picked guitar chord progression with a chromatic descending bassline A-G#-G-F#-F. John Paul Jones contributed overdubbed wooden bass recorders in the opening section (he used a Mellotron, and later, a Yamaha CP70B Grand Piano and Yamaha GX1 to synthesize this arrangement in live performances)^[3] and a Hohner Electra-Piano electric piano in the middle section.

The sections build with more guitar layers, each complementary to the intro with the drums entering at just over four minutes. The bridge to the solo consists of shifting time signatures (3/4 to 4/4 to 5/4 to 4/4 to 7/8) before dropping back into common time for the solo and ending.

The extended Jimmy Page guitar solo in the song's final section was played for the recording on a 1958 Fender Telecaster (an instrument he used extensively with the Yardbirds)^[3] plugged into a Supro amplifier although in a Guitar World interview Page also claims, "It could have been a Marshall, but I can't remember".^[5] Three different solos were recorded with Page agonizing about deciding which to keep. The other guitar parts were played using a Harmony acoustic guitar and Fender Electric XII (12-string); both can be heard on the left and right recording channels respectively. For live versions, Page switched to using a Heritage Cherry Gibson EDS-1275 6/12 Doubleneck guitar.

The final progression is a I-VII-VI (natural minor) progression (Am G F), a mainstay of rock music.

Page always kept a cassette recorder around and "Stairway" came together - from bits of taped ideas.^[5]

The opening chord progression in "Stairway to Heaven" is similar to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit.^[2][7] In the liner notes to the reissue of Spirit's 1968 eponymous debut, songwriter Randy California mentions the fact that Jimmy Page took special interest in "Taurus". Prior to his death in 1997, Randy California was often asked about it in interviews, to which he typically responded that he did not consider the "Stairway" intro to be a rip-off, but a simply a "reworking" of his song.^{[citation needed]}

Led Zeppelin was the opening act for Spirit's 1968 tour.^[8] While nobody in Led Zeppelin has ever cited influence from the track, the band was known to cover the Spirit song Fresh Garbage during their early days, and Jimmy Page has said that his use of a theremin was inspired by seeing Randy California use one.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Other recordings

[edit] Cover versions

A few attempts at a straightforward cover have been made over the years, notably by glam metal band Great White. The supergroup Far Corporation was the first act to chart with a single release of the song, barely making the charts in the U.S., while becoming a top-10 hit in the UK in October 1985. Tiny Tim has a recorded version of the song, on his album Girl, where he is accompanied by the band Brave Combo, and it is played very jazzy and lounge, which is one of three times the song will be played as a lounge song. Frank Zappa recorded an original version of the song during his 1988 world tour, and it appeared on the 1991 live album The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life. In 1993, the band Leningrad Cowboys collaborated with the Red Army Choir to perform a cover of the song.^[9]

Singer Dolly Parton recorded a country-bluegrass version on her 2002 album Halos & Horns. Jazz singer and conservative Pat Boone chose it to close out his 1997 album of heavy metal covers In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. A cover by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, which includes only the first three verses of the song, begins with a straightforward rendition, and then kicks into an energetic pop 'punk' style. This cover got them booed off stage while performing during a 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates game.^[10] Native American singer Jana recorded a electronic cover of Stairway to Heaven which won the Native American Music Award (Nammy) for Best Song in 2002.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Scholes, recorded an instrumental version of the song on the album Kashmir: The Symphonic Led Zeppelin. Jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan recorded an instrumental cover of Stairway to Heaven where he simultaneously played two independent parts on one guitar with no overdubs. Rodrigo y Gabriela recently recorded an instrumental cover of Stairway to Heaven for their self-titled album in 2006. An instrumental version has also appeared on Hayseed Dixie album "Pickin' on Zeppelin: A Tribute".

A compilation album, Stairways to Heaven, was put out on the Atlantic label, featuring versions of the song by The Australian Doors Show, The Beatnix, John Paul Young, Kate Ceberano, Leonard Teale, Sandra Hahn and Michael Turkic (Grand Opera), The Ministry of Fun, Neil Pepper, Pardon Me Boys, Robyne Dunn, The Rock Lobsters, Rolf Harris, Vegimite Reggae and others.

Many other covers are ironic or intentionally humorous, notably Dread Zeppelin's reggae/Elvis-inspired version, Pat Boone's and Richard Cheese's lounge takes, and Rolf Harris's didgeridoo-and-wobble board interpretation (which reached number 7 in the UK charts in 1993). Rolf Harris's version was one of 25 different versions of the song that were performed live by guest stars on the early 1990s Australian chat show The Money or the Gun - each being a unique version of the song in the usually idiosyncratic style of performance of each guest star, following which the best 25 performances of the song were released on video tape for posterity (Rolf Harris' version would appear to be the only version that people are aware of). Dread Zeppelin, Kate Ceberano, and the Doug Anthony All Stars are also of some note. Harris is said to have received death threats from fans of the song for his version of this iconic rock anthem. The Foo Fighters's lead singer Dave Grohl also performed a humorous version of the song on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, where he pretended to forget the lyrics (Grohl is an avid Led Zeppelin fan and has numerous tattoos representing the band across his body) and proceeded to improvise the electric guitar solo vocally. ^[11]

A novelty song featuring the music and arrangement of the song combined with the lyrics to the "Theme from Gilligan's Island" (which has a similar chord progression)^{[citation needed]} was recorded by the San Francisco band Little Roger and the Goosebumps and often featured on the Dr. Demento radio program. Singer Robert Plant has described this as his favorite cover "version" of the song.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Parodies

A parody of "Stairway to Heaven" was recorded by the ApologetiX, a Christian parody band. The parody was titled "Narrow Way to Heaven" and depicted their interpretation of the Christian path to Heaven.

Also popular on Dr. Demento's program was "7-Eleven", a parody based on the title of the store, by Led Slurpee, a one-time-only pseudonym of the duo Icemark composed of Rob "Iceman" Izenberg and former KZZP disk jockey Mark Jonathan Davis^[12].

[edit] Detournements

Composer Thomas Dimuzio reversed the original recording and digitally spliced it into quarter notes, then reassembled it in forward order to retain the original melody. According to Dimuzio, the resulting file contains exactly 666 regions. [1]

[edit] Satanic claims

Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged^[13] that a backward message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:

Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

– Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards^[13]

In 1982, a consumer protection committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on the song. Several "experts" claimed that "Stairway to Heaven," when played backward, contains a similar message:^[1]

I sing because I live with Satan.
The Lord turns me off -- there's no escaping it.
Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan.
He will give you 666. I live for Satan.

– Alleged lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards, from the 1982 California State Assembly hearing

The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages.^[14] This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills, Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses of the hidden meanings of both the "backwards" and actual lyrics.

Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns contains a minor reference to the song's supposed backward message: "Father Don said that Led Zeppelin hid a prayer to Satan in their song "Stairway to Heaven." / They hid it very well. They recorded it backwards."^[15]

Led Zeppelin has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because '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."^[16]

[edit] Cultural references and spoofs

• In 1988, the Butthole Surfers released an album entitled Hairway to Steven, a spoonerism of the song's title.

• The tendency for many aspiring guitar players to learn to play the introduction to the song was satirised in the 1992 Mike Myers movie Wayne's World, when a "No Stairway to Heaven" regulation is enforced at a music store visited by the title character. When the movie was later released on home video, the producers were unable to reach a licensing agreement with music publishers, so the intro was replaced with the ending riff of We Will Rock You, making the joke incomprehensible. Plant himself referenced the scene's "No Stairway? Denied!" line during a concert appearance with Page in 1995.

• One of the load screens in Guitar Hero II says "Remember, NO STAIRWAY!", likely referring to this song and the Wayne's World joke.

• In Terry Pratchett's Soul Music, where the guitar store owner, after taking advantage of the new guitar craze, tells his assistant to hire a troll, instructing it to pull the head off of anyone who tries to play "Pathway to Paradise".

• During live performances of their song Tribute, Tenacious D often plays the song with bits and pieces of guitar riffs and chord progressions from Stairway to Heaven. Also, they often sing the last few words of the song similarly to how the end of Stairway to Heaven is sung. On their HBO series version of Tribute, large chunks of the song use chord progressions and vocals reminiscent of Stairway to Heaven.

• In Bad News Tour, Vim Fuego boasts "I could play Stairway To Heaven when I was twelve. Jimmy Page didn't actually write it until he was twenty-two [sic - Page started writing Stairway in 1970, when he was 26]. I think that says quite a lot."

• A piece of the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven was used at the beginning of chapter 4 of the book The C Programming Language of Kernighan and Ritchie as an input for a sample program.

• Writer Michael Klassen wrote "Understanding Stairway to Heaven" in 1990 as a parody of moribund classic rock radio formats and the backlash by the Parents Music Resource Center against rock lyrics.^{[citation needed]}

• The subtitle for Down's 2002 sophomore album Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow was taken from lyrics from Stairway to Heaven.

[edit] References

• Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
• The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9

[edit] External links

• Stairway to Heaven songfacts, tabs, videos and audio, at the Stairway to Heaven website.
• The Straight Dope: What's the story behind Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven?"
• NPR Fresh Air audio interview with Robert Plant, who comments on various covers of the song, the lyrics and writing it.
• 101 cover versions of “Stairway to Heaven”
• Sold on Song, "Stairway To Heaven" at BBC Radio 2
• [2] Live performance at Google Video
• Jeff Milner, "Backwards Songs"