Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
Written by richard
To many people, Led Zeppelin is really a blues band. After all, they took a riff from Willie Dixon and made Whole Lotta Love out of it. They also ripped off the following Anne Bredon, Jake Holmes, Eddie Cochran, Bukka White and Sleepy John Estes, Howlin’ Wolf, Blind Willie Johnson, Moby Grape, Spirit, and Davey Graham for the songs Babe, I’m Gonna Leave you, Dazed and Confused, Communication Breakdown, Custard Pie, The Lemon Song, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Stairway to Heaven, and White Summer. They were also really big geeks, because aside from the supposed rock facade, they had many J.R.R. Tolkien references, though not really as many as you probably thought.
That brings us to Immigrant Song. Aside from making me go Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah! Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah! and making me feel like a Viking, I’m not really sure what else to say about it other than, THEY RIPPED OFF THE BROADWAY MUSICAL SOUTH PACIFIC.
The song Bali Hai is where my favorite part of Immigrant Song comes from. No, seriously. Try it right now. Sing the words “Bali Hai” to “Ah-ah-ahhhhh-ah!” Really. Try it right now. No one is looking. Slow it down and pretend you’re in the 1940’s, and you’re now singing Bali Hai.
But, returning to repetune, the song is undoubtedly about the
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
I could run around screaming that all day. And sometimes, I do, but I limit those times to when I’m at home all day, lest the horde come and find me.
Immigrant Song is also one of those songs where I just don’t know the lyrics except for a select few. In a way, this is my karaoke song. The song I will see on the karaoke list, request to sing, then get up there and realize I don’t know any words other than
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
……
The hammer of the gods
And thus, I am stuck with what is a classic repetune for my head. A driving rhythm, incomprehensible lyrics except for a bit in the chorus and one line in the verses. Perhaps that’s it.
The hammer of the gods, are these songs that stay in my head.
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
Ah-ah-ahhhh-ah!
the best way i know of to learn the lyrics, if you ever wish to do so, is through this site:
http://www.dennyweb.com/viking_kittens.htm
And though the Ah-ahh-ahhhhhhhhh-ah! is without debate the best part of singing this song, I always get a chill when it gets to the part that goes “On we sweep with threshing oar”. Positively Beowulfian!!!
The lyrics of this song are definitely inspired by Tolkien’s works. In The Silmarillion, “the land of ice and snow” that were traversed by the immigrant Noldoran Elves is called the Helcaraxë.
I hadn’t looked it that way Kurt. I thought it was about the Viking Invasions to Europe, but the “western shore” in the lyrics confused me a bit.
I sing this song with the band, the part I like most is the last one.
“So now you’de better stop! And rebuild all your ruins…
Cause peace and trust can win the day!
Despite! of all your losing…!”