25 Greatest Songs of Led Zeppelin

With sales topping 300 million units worldwide Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest rock bands of all-time. But it's not the sales that make Led Zeppelin great. It's the music. Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and John created some of the most textured, creative, and complex music of any genre from any era. Their sound is instantly recognizable and uniquely diverse. Their songs range in topic from New Orleans drag queens to the great flood of Mississippi in 1927. Each band member brings their own trademark style which combined forms a rich and solid sound which cannot be duplicated or imitated. Led Zeppelin phenomenal success and is a one of a kind band.

Before moving on to the Top 25 (or in this case 26) songs here is a list of the songs that just missed the Top 26.

50. Hats Off To (Roy) Harper (1970) / 49. The Lemon Song (1969) / 48. Trampled Under Foot (1975) / 47. Nobody's Fault But Mine (1976) / 46. South Bound Saurez (1979) / 45. Ozone Baby (1982) / 44. You Shook Me (1969) / 43. Heartbreaker (1969) / 42. In The Evening (1979) / 41. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (1970) / 40. The Rain Song (1973) / 39. Houses Of The Holy (1975) / 38. Black Dog (1971) / 37. No Quarter (1973) / 36. The Ocean (1973) / 35. The Battle Of Evermore (1971) / 34. Dazed and Confused (1969) / 33. Gallow's Pole (1970) / 32. The Song Remains The Same (1973) / 31. Candy Store Rock (1976) / 30. The Crunge (1973) / 29. Misty Mountain Hop (1971) / 28. Four Sticks (1971) / 27. Living, Loving Maid (1969)

26. Out On The Tiles (1970)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin III

Jimmy Page's grunting guitar work is a highlight in this song. In a 1977 interview with Guitar Player magazine Jimmy stated, "That's ambient sound. Getting the distance of the time lag from one end of the room to the other and putting that in as well. The whole idea, the way I see recording, is to try and capture the sound of the room live and the emotion of the whole moment and try to convey that."

The song title comes from drummer John Bonham when he would talk about going "out on the tiles," meaning to the bars. The quote is a British statement for going out on the town. In the song lyrics themselves "out on the tiles" never appears. Lyrically it's just your standard love song, "All I need from you is all your love." Robert Plant sings these lyrics with an exciting verve and crisp phrasing and expert timing. I would argue to say, this is one of his best vocal performances.

25. Celebration Day (1970)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin III

Simply the title of this song, "Celebration Day" draws me toward this song. The title feels good to me.

The song starts with guitar chords played over a monotonic drone created by a synthesizer. This connects the song musically with the preceding track on the album, "Friends", which ends with the same drone. Originally, one of John Bonham's drum tracks was to be used in the intro of "Celebration Day", but an engineer accidentally erased the recording. (This paragraph is from Wikipedia)

Robert Plant's lyrics were inspired by his initial impressions of New York City. On Zeppelin's 1971 concert tour of the United States, he would sometimes introduce it as "The New York Song". (This paragraph is also from Wikipedia)

24. Fool In The Rain (1979)

Parent Album: In Through The Out Door

When the album "In Through The Out Door" was released there was a good amount of diehard Led Zeppelin fans that felt the album was not up to par. Despite the album was #1 in Canada, New Zealand, UK and US.

"Fool in the Rain," which was the only single released from the album, was one of Led Zeppelin's biggest hits in the US reaching #21 on the charts.

23. Royal Orleans (1976)

Parent Album: Presence

"Royal Orleans" was written about life on the road; the title refers to the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, which the band would stay at while on tour. It is alleged that John Paul Jones brought a woman from the bar up to his room, unaware she was a transvestite. Both smoked marijuana and fell asleep, the transvestite with a lit joint in her hand, which caught fire and burned the room down. Jones disputes this story and states, "The transvestites were actually friends of Richard [Cole’s]; normal friendly people and we were all at some bar. That I mistook a transvestite for a girl is rubbish; that happened in another country to somebody else… Anyway ‘Stephanie’ ended up in my room and we rolled a joint or two and I fell asleep and set fire to the hotel room, as you do, ha ha, and when I woke up it was full of firemen!"

The entire song makes references to transvestites or as more commonly known as drag queens. The attitude towards the drag queens is not negative but on terms of friendship." References include, "he kissed the whiskers," meaning he kissed a face that wasn't smooth but had whiskers. Another reference is, "New Orleans queens,"

The most interesting reference to drag queens is, "She'd best not talk like Barry White." Soul singer Barry White is known for his deep toned voice. Here the subject is saying his date best not have a man's voice.

Even the title itself pays homage to the drag queen. "Royal Orleans," the term Royal would be a reference to Queen of New Orleans," which if course the queen of New Orleans is a drag queen.

The song also makes several references to New Orleans such as "The Quarter," which is the French Quarter," a festive neighborhood in New Orleans. Also mentioned is "Bourbon Street," a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter.

22. Communication Breakdown (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin

This song was used as the B-Side to the band's first single "Good Times Bad Times."

"Communication Breakdown" is one of Led Zeppelin's shortest songs running at 2:30 minutes. It's one of the first songs Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote. Having been written while they were still performing as The New Yardbirds.

21. Dancing Days (1973)

Parent Album: Houses of the Holy

This is not your typical Led Zeppelin song in that the arrangement is akin to a pop song with catchy choruses and memorable hooks.

The music composition of this song was inspired by an Indian tune Jimmy Page and Robert Plant heard while traveling in Bombay.

"Dancing Days" was the first song from "Houses of the Holy" to be issued to radio disc jockeys for airplay and made it's debut on the Roscoe lunch time show on BBC One.

Despite being issued to radio disc jockeys "Dancing Days" was never released as a single. Some say this was a missed opportunity.

In most parts of the world "Dancing Days" was used as the B-side to the 7" single "Over The Hills and Far Away." However in France and Australia "Dancing Days" was the A-side.

20. Good Times Bad Times (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin

"Good Times Bad Times" is an iconic Led Zeppelin song for many reasons. One such reason is the song is Led Zeppelin's first ever single release although it was not released worldwide. The song was released in the US, Canada, Mexico, various parts of Europe, and eventually Japan.

The song was not released as a single in the UK, as Jimmy Page explained that he did not want Led Zeppelin to be a singles artist but rather an albums artist. He said Led Zeppelin's albums are meant to be listened to from start to finish.

"Good Times Bad Times" was the first song on side one of the first Led Zeppelin album. For many diehard fans that was the first Led Zeppelin song they ever.

Imagine that it's 1969 and the hardest rock you ever heard was The Beatles or Rolling Stones and you drop the needle on this record and you hear Jimmy Page's opening guitar riffs and 19 year old John Bonham's intricately timed jam band drum pattern with a great fill within the first few seconds and the deal is sealed before you've even heard Robert Plant sing. But once Robert Plant's tenor appeared his passion and soul so raw and energetic there simply was no turning back - you were now a fan for life.

One of the amazing aspects of this song was John Bonham's drumming. Don't be fooled John Bonham was not aimlessly hitting the skins with his sticks making just any random thrashing sound possible. At the young age of 19 he knew what he was doing and in an instant he became the inspiration for millions of fledgling drummers. Bonham played a mind blowing bass drum triplet that was a great and challenging pattern played as 16th note triplets between the hi hat and the kick drum. He used a single kick drum to produce this driving sound which is all the more challenging. Such complex drum patterns were unheard of in popular music until Led Zeppelin entered the scene.

Jimmy Page employed a Leslie speaker to create a swirling effect on his guitar. The Leslie speaker has a rotating paddle which was designed for use with an organ, but many musicians tried it with guitars and vocals.

19. Rock and Roll (1971)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin IV

Before I get into the song itself, I want to talk about the name of the album. L3d Zeppelin's fourth studio album was released untitled. Instead it had a symbol on the front cover of which many call"sozo." This untitled album is commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV and will be referred to as such going forward on this list.

Okay, let's get some stats out in front. "Rock and Roll" was the second of two singles released from "Led Zeppelin IV." The song was a moderate hit reaching #47 in the US, #13 in Germany, #38 in Canada, #51 in Australia. Despite moderate chart activity the song is a Led Zeppelin classic and has received heavy airplay on AOR radio.

A note on "Led Zeppelin IV": Zep IV was hugely popular. In the US the album has sold a whopping 23 million copies with around 40 million copies worldwide. In Canada the album was certified 2x Diamond and either Platinum or Multi-Platinum throughout various countries around the world.

Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart made a guest appearance on the song. He adds a pulsating and dramatic key part.

18. Over The Hills And Far Away (1973)

Parent Album: Houses of the Holy

"Over The Hills and Faraway" was released as an A-side and made it to #51 in the US and #63 in Canada. In 2007 the song resurfaced again reaching #63 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs in the US for sales of digital downloads.

Jimmy Page's understated acoustic guitar riff opens the song sounding much like a Neil Young chord progression. Page starts out with a six string acoustic. Upon the repeat of the opening passage Page masterfully joins himself with a mesmerizing 12 string acoustic (the wonders of overdubbing). In comes Robert Plant with a toned down bluesy ballad vocal. The combination of Page's guitar and Plant's vocal is haunting and sets the mood for Plant's explosive delivery as he belts out, in his tenor voice, "Many have I loved, and many times been bitten." Thecswitch is hit and the rhythm section of John Bonham and John Paul Jones enters with a groove that sets the tone to transition from acoustic to electric and rocks into Jimmy Page's solo which works into some prog influenced guitar and bass chords.

17. When The Levee Breaks (1971)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin IV

"When The Levee Breaks" has an interesting story. The song is a country blues song written and recorded in 1929 by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie. The song's lyric is based on the damage caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

When Led Zeppelin recorded the song they, of course, changed things up and basically rewrote the song. Plant kept most of the original lyric and added a few of his own. Page changed up the guitar pattern structure. Plant used a different approach wíth the melody to better suit his vocal style.

The song is one of Led Zeppelin's most complex pieces with a huge wall of rhythm bringing John Bonham's drums to the front. The layers of varying sound volumes intertwining in and out of each other gives the song a sound that pops and feels multi-dimensional.

Most importantly not once is the soulful blues power lost in this hard rock rendition of this Great Depression era blues tune. Led Zeppelin maintains the authenticity of the blues while Robert Plants wails and growl with the same conviction as any seasoned blues man.

16. Tangerine (1970)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin III

"Tangerine" is one of Led Zeppelin's most beautiful songs. Jimmy Page wrote the song in 1968 while still with The Yardbirds.

The Yardbirds recorded the song under the title "Knowing That I'm Losing You." The music is identical to "Tangerine" but the lyrics are different.

In the Led Zeppelin recording Jimmy Page plays a pedal steel guitar which in some parts gives the song a country music twang.

Supposedly, Jimmy Page dedicated "Tangerine" to Jackie DeShannon, but the timeline doesn't fit as they dated from 1964 to 1965 and the song was written in 1968.

"Tangerine" is one of my personal favorites by Led Zeppelin. The song has a dreamy quality about it and is a nice listen on a hot summer day.

15. Ramble On (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin II

Robert Plant's lyrics were influenced by the book The Lord of the Rings authored by J.R.R. Tolkien. The lyrics reference The Hobbit and Frodo Baggins and their adventures into the dark land of Mordor and encounters Gollum and the Evil One.

It is rumored John Bohnam's percussion supplement to his drums was a plastic garbage pail or a suitcase. He was able to manipulate the sound enough to make it sound like he was playing bongos.

On his guitar solo, Jimmy Page, used a neck pickup on his Les Paul with the treble cut and utilized a sustain-producing effects unit built by audio engineer Roger Mayer, which produced a violin sort of sound.

"Ramble On" is one of Led Zeppelin's best known songs yet was not released as a single, although in 2007 the song reached #66 on the Canadian Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart.

14. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin

"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was written in the late 1950s by Berkeley student Anne Bredon (whom at the time was known as Anne Johannsen). In 1962 folk singer Joan Baez recorded the so g for her "Joan Baez in Concert" album.

Jimmy Page heard Joan Baez's rendition and he liked the song. Throughout the years, as early as 1964, Page had played around with the song developing an arrangement.

After having both contributed to Joe Cocker's album "With a Little Help From My Friends, Jimmy Page and Steve Winwood hooked up and recorded a few tunes together, which included a recording of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You." The song was never officially released. Winwood and Page discussed forming a new band, but Winwood decided to stick it out with Traffic - although Traffic split shortly after.

In 1969 Led Zeppelin recorded the song for their debut album, "Led Zeppelin," the songwriting credit was attributed to Trad. Arr. Jimmy Page. Songwriter Anne Bredon was not mentioned anywhere. Twenty years later it came to Bredon's attention that Led Zeppelin had recorded her song. In 1990 she won a settlement in which she received a hefty back payment of royalties as well as 50% of future royalties. The song credits were changed to list Page, Robert Plant and Bredon as composers.

Led Zeppelin's recording all together ditches the folk roots of the song and turned it into a torrent blues rocker. Robert Plant proves his ability to perform the blues with a soulful howling rawness.

Jimmy Page developed his guitar parts using a finger-style approach then following with an outburst of flamenco styled guitar chords. This is what Jimmy Page often described as; "light and shade" adding the intensity of a louder section for effect.

"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was released as a promotional single with "Dazed and Confused" as its B-side. There were two version of this promo released; a stereo version and a mono version. Copies of the stereo version ate selling for an average of $300 while the mono has a median value of $500.

13. Thank You (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin II

Robert Plant wrote "Thank You" as a love song to his then wife Maureen. Plant was married to Maureen from 1968 to 1983. The couple had three children together.

In the opening lines Plant sings; "If the sun refused to shine / I would still be loving you / When mountains crumble to the sea / There will still be you and me."

The lyrics “if the sun refused to shine" and "when mountains crumble to the sea” were both taken from the Jimi Hendrix song; “If 6 was 9."

The members of Led Zeppelin were admittedly fans of Hendrix.

This was the first Led Zeppelin song in which Robert Plant wrote all the lyrics. He constructed his words with poetic beauty.

John Paul Jones play a Hammond organ on the song, which at the end fades out and then comes back ten seconds later for the final ending of the song.

Jimmy Page played an acoustic guitar solo which is something he rarely did. He played a Vox 12-string guitar.

Many fans consider "Thank You" to be Led Zeppelin's most beautiful song.

12. Kashmir (1975)

Parent Album: Physical Graffiti

"Kashmir" first came to life as an instrumental in late 1973. A little later in '73 Robert Plant added his lyrics. In early 1974 John Paul Jones added the instrumentation including strings and brass parts that were played by session musicians.

"Kashmir" is one of Led Zeppelin's most complex progressive pieces and is one of their most critically acclaimed works.

11. Friends (1970)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin III

"Friends," like several other acoustic based songs on Led Zeppelin III, was written in Wales at the countryside cottage Bron Yr Aur, which the Plant family used at a holiday home during the 1950s. This peaceful cottage was the perfect setting for writing acoustic songs as it did not have electricity or running water.

Jimmy Page commented that the song was written after he had a huge argument with someone.

"Friends" is one Led Zeppelin's only tracks to feature strings. John Paul Jones composed the strings arrangement. Page's goal was to create a Middle Eastern Indian sound with the strings.

On the personal side "Friends" has long been one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. The lyrics alone do it for me, "Mmm, I'm telling you now / The greatest thing you ever can do now / Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now / It's very easy just."

10. Hot Dog (1979)

Parent Album: In Through The Out Door

"Hot Dog" was used as the B-side to the single "Fool In The Rain," which in itself was a pretty decent song. But it's "Hot Dog" that I always felt should have been the A-side. The song has loads of commercial appeal. First the song is three minutes and fifteen seconds long which was the perfect length for Top 40 radio airplay back in 1979. The song has a fun upbeat rockabilly country rhythm which could have been a natural in country music dance clubs around the world. Country music was making a huge splash right around this time with the June 1980 release of the John Travolta starring film "Urban Cowboy." It was the right time, right place for this song - instead it was relegated to B-side status.

"Hot Dog" is a rockabilly inspired track, that came out of the initial rehearsals, where the group warmed up by playing a series of old Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson covers.

My note: This is truly one of my favorites... I love the guitar work and the upbeat feel... Great song!!!

9. All My Love (1979)

Parent Album: In Through The Out Door

Much like "Stairway To Heaven," this song was not released as a single yet received heavy radio airplay. Maybe not quite as enduring as "Stairway to Heaven," but in the fourth quarter of 1979 into the first quarter of 1980 the song was one of the best-known of the time.

"All My Love" is a rock love song with a classically inspired synthesizer solo by John Paul Jones. The song is not a love song in traditional sense as it was written in honour of Plant's son Karac, who died of a stomach illness in 1977 at the age of five. Knowing this aspect of the song gives it a poignancy not found in any other Led Zeppelin song. Plant said, "It was paying tribute to the joy that he gave us as a family."

8. D'yer Mak'er (1973)

Parent Album: Houses of the Holy

"D'yer Mak'er" originated when drummer John Bonham tried combining reggae with 1950s doo-wop by experimenting with a short off-beat tempo. John Paul Jones dismissed the track calling it a "studio joke," while Robert Plant felt it had hit potential.

The song was released as a single as was suggested by Robert Plant and went on to reach #20 in the US.

There has always been confusion as to the pronunciation of the song's title (which does not appear in the lyrics). The title is pronounced "Jamaica," as spoken by the locals in that country. It is a play on the phrase "did you make her":

"She went to the Caribbean."

"Jamaica?"

"No, she went on her own."

Disc jockeys and fans often mispronounce the title as "dire maker".

"D'yer Mak'er" received heavy airplay throughout the US, Canada, and New Zealand and garnered fans that normally were not tuned into Led Zeppelin's music.

7. Immigrant Song (1970)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin III

"Immigrant Song" is one of Led Zeppelin's most popular single releases. The song reached #16 in the US making it Led Zeppelin's third most popular single in the US. Elsewhere the song peaked at #3 in Denmark, #4 in New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada, #6 in Germany, #7 in South Africa, #9 in Spain and Netherlands, and the Top 20 in several other countries.

"Immigrant Song" is one of the Led Zeppelin’s most iconic releases, likening the band’s trip to Iceland to Norse warriors setting out to colonize America ("The new lands," "Western shores"). The song was written about the Viking invasions of England and inspired by a short tour of Iceland in June 1970.

6. Down By The Seaside (1975)

Parent Album: Physical Graffiti

"Down by the Seaside" originally written as an acoustic track at Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970 was influenced by Neil Young. Led Zeppelin had many influences including Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young and several others. But I feel with "Down By The Seaside the influence is most evident. The phrasing is spot-on, I can imagine Neil Young given that a cover of this song to perfection.

The song was originally recorded for Led Zeppelin IV but at the time the band felt it was not good enough for the album. It was included on Physical Graffiti to fill the double album. When they originally recorded the album they had only enough songs to fill three sides. "Down By the Seaside" and a few other outtakes from previous albums were used to fill out side four.

It was Robert Plant's idea to include this song on the album, though not everyone agreed with him. Says Plant: "Everybody laughed when I suggested to include 'Down By The Seaside' on Physical Graffiti." John Paul Jones in particular hated this track.

On a personal note... I am glad the band ultimately listened to Robert Plant as this is one of my favorite songs by Led Zeppelin. It's one of those lie back in the sun and enjoy songs.

5. Going To California (1971)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin IV

One of Led Zeppelin's finest songs. Robert Plant puts his heart into this vocal singing with yearning in his voice.

Jimmy Page's acoustic guitar chords blend beautifully with John Paul Jones' bright and airy mandolin.

I am a big Joni Mitchell fan, so when I found out that she was the inspiration for this song, I became intrigued to learn more about this. Mitchell's 1971 composition "California," from her highly regarded album Blue, was specifically an influence.

This is one of those rare Led Zeppelin songs that does not have drums in it. John Bonham sat this one out while Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones create acoustic magic. Page plays a 12 string and a 6 string guitar and Jones is fantastic with the mandolin.

4. In The Light (1975)

Parent Album: Physical Graffiti

This song was composed primarily by John Paul Jones on synthesizer, though Robert Plant and Jimmy Page also received songwriting credits.

The opening of the song was created with Jimmy Page playing his acoustic guitar using a violin bow accompanying Jones' synthesizer solo.

Jimmy Page has claimed that "In The Light" is his favorite song from Physical Graffiti. He says the song is somewhat a follow-up to "Stairway to Heaven."

3. Whole Lotta Love (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin II

"Whole Lotta Love" is easily Led Zeppelin's biggest hit in the US and around the world. The song made it to #4 in the US as well as #1 in Australia and Germany. It was #2 in Belgium, Canada, and Denmark, #3 in Austria, and Top 5 throughout most of the rest of Europe including #4 in New Zealand and #6 in South Africa. "Whole Lotta Love" is the only Led Zeppelin single to chart in the UK reaching #21 but in 1997, a full 27 years after the initial release of the song. Needless to say, "Whole Lotta Love" was a huge hit around the world and was certified Gold in the US and UK and Platinum in Italy.

The song on its own experienced further popularity beyond Led Zeppelin charting on four different occasions as a cover by different musicians. Collective Consciousness Society in 1970, King Curtis & The Kingpins in 1971, Tina Turner in 1975, and Goldbug in 1996.

Led Zeppelin ended up in a lawsuit regarding the lyrics and music of "Whole Lotta Love." It ends up the lyrics were based off the Muddy Waters song "You Need Love" which was written by Willie Dixon. Zeppelin and Dixon settled out of court in 1985 with a payment to Dixon and songwriting credit on subsequent releases. Dixon used the settlement money to set up a program providing instruments for schools.

2. What Is And What Should Never Be (1969)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin II

The credits list Page and Plant as the songwriters but was primarily written by Robert Plant. This was one of the first songs recorded by the band for which Robert Plant received a songwriting credit.

According to the book Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, he wrote the lyric reflecting on his affair with his wife's younger sister.

The dynamics of this song are dramatic ranging from understated verses to explosive choruses.

Probably the best part of the song is the use of stereo effects as the guitars pan back and forth between channels. The vocals were phased during Robert Plant's screaming part.

1. Stairway To Heaven (1971)

Parent Album: Led Zeppelin IV

With most popular bands there are usually 3 or 4 songs that can be debated as being their signature song. But Led Zeppelin does have that undisputed signature song - "Stairway to Heaven." In a catalog of classic after classic after classic, "Stairway to Heaven" reigns above the others for so many reasons. The song is regarded as the most popular rock song of all-time. During Labor Day and 4th of July radio request countdowns all throughout the 70s and most of the 80s "Stairway to Heaven" always ended up being the most requested song. Despite never being released as a single in the US the song was the most requested song on FM radio throughout the 1970s. "Stairway to Heaven" has sold more sheet music than any other song in music history. The song has sold more than one million copies of sheet music.

Despite pressure from Atlantic Records, the band would not authorize the editing of the song for single release. Page told Rolling Stone in 1975, "We were careful to never release it as a single," which forced buyers to buy the entire album. Despite never being released as a single the song charted throughout the world due to digital downloads between 2077 - 2010. The song charted highest in Norway where it reached #5 and Portugal reaching #8. The song also reached the Top 20 in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Now, I imagine had the song been released as a single in 1971/72 we would have seen several #1 and #2 peak positions. But Jimmy Page wanted people to buy the album (Led Zeppelin IV) and it worked. To date the album has sold near 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all-time.

"Stairway to Heaven" was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. With Page composing the music and Plant contributing the lyrics. Plant has said the beginning of the song is about "a woman getting everything she wanted without giving anything back." But the rest of the lyrics can have different meanings. He said, "Depending on what day it is, I still interpret the song a different way - and I wrote the lyrics." Plant said the lyrics came to him in an instant. He came up with the line, There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold/And she's buying a stairway to heaven," he knew this was the beginning of something great.

Much like a classical piece, the song consists of several distinct sections, beginning with a quiet introduction on a finger-picked six-string guitar and four recorders in a Renaissance music style (ending at 2:15) and gradually moving into a slow electric middle section (2:16–5:33), then a long guitar solo (5:34–6:44), before the faster hard rock final section (6:45–7:45), ending with a short vocals-only epilogue.

The song ends with Robert Plant singing classic line in a Capella, "And she's buying a stairway to heaven."

All that glitters is GOLD