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kenoki wrote:how can you NOT listen to the lyrics?....................

squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg? yuckk. does that mean his balls?

This line is ripped off verbatim from Robert Johnson, who admittedly doesn't wink and nudge you in the ribs like Plant does when he says it, but still--Bob's not to blame for that one. The Norse mythology, on the other hand...

I'm 37 and my name's Rbt. Plante (French version), so you figure out how many times it was an ice-breaker with drunk chicks at '80s kegger parties. Thx Pop.

Had a lot of good memories associated with Zep. Come upon iced-over waterfalls during a night-time snowstorm in the woods tripping our balls off and immediately thought of "No Quarter"; the bittersweet "Rain Song" makes me think of summer parties on the cliff overlooking the Hudson Valley, and how we knew we better enjoy being a kid cos it wouldn't last; "Battle of Evermore" would flip us out when we were stoned out of our gourds; and "Kashmir" could make you trance out and drive off the road if you weren't careful.

In the purest sense Sabbath invented metal. Zep were basically a heavy prog band.

John Paul Jones was indeed the secret weapon of this band.

Angus Jung wrote:

kenoki wrote:how can you NOT listen to the lyrics?....................

squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg? yuckk. does that mean his balls?

As with a lot of Zep stuff, this "squeeze my lemon" line was stolen from a very old blues song.

I read last night that the lemon line was a nod to Robert Johnson, and the rest of it was Vanilla Iced from this.

itchy mcgoo wrote:

Angus Jung wrote:

kenoki wrote:how can you NOT listen to the lyrics?....................

squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg? yuckk. does that mean his balls?

As with a lot of Zep stuff, this "squeeze my lemon" line was stolen from a very old blues song.

I read last night that the lemon line was a nod to Robert Johnson, and the rest of it was Vanilla Iced from this.

It should be noted that it is very much in the blues tradition to 'compose' song lyrics by taking individual verses from different songs you heard down the line, and coming up with a title/hook (i.e. "Terraplane") of your own to tie it all together.

This is what everybody did in Robert Johnson's day, and I'm sure he did it too. I have little doubt that many of the lyrics attributed to him were things he heard some broke-down guy, who never made a record or was remembered in any other way, sing.

These guys didn't really think about stuff like copyright and song ownership. It was a pool everybody drank from. What made you unique was your individual style of singing and playing, not so much your 'original compositions.'

Zep followed in this tradition, but it was disingenuous of them, as a mega-corporation earning millions and millions of dollars from their 'original compositions', to do so. They should have done something to make this right, but to my knowledge they never did. I know they got sued at least once.

Angus Jung wrote:

itchy mcgoo wrote:

Angus Jung wrote:

kenoki wrote:how can you NOT listen to the lyrics?....................

squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg? yuckk. does that mean his balls?

As with a lot of Zep stuff, this "squeeze my lemon" line was stolen from a very old blues song.

I read last night that the lemon line was a nod to Robert Johnson, and the rest of it was Vanilla Iced from this.

It should be noted that it is very much in the blues tradition to 'compose' song lyrics by taking individual verses from different songs you heard down the line, and coming up with a title/hook (i.e. "Terraplane") of your own to tie it all together.

This is what everybody did in Robert Johnson's day, and I'm sure he did it too. I have little doubt that many of the lyrics attributed to him were things he heard some broke-down guy, who never made a record or was remembered in any other way, sing.

These guys didn't really think about stuff like copyright and song ownership. It was a pool everybody drank from. What made you unique was your individual style of singing and playing, not so much your 'original compositions.'

Zep followed in this tradition, but it was disingenuous of them, as a mega-corporation earning millions and millions of dollars from their 'original compositions', to do so. They should have done something to make this right, but to my knowledge they never did. I know they got sued at least once.

These lines that appear in countless songs, kind of the blues version of public domain, are called "floaters."

As far as Zeppelin goes, you can bet those blues guys ripped each other off mercilessly (it's generally accepted that Robert Johnson's sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-at-the-crossroads shtick was lifted from Peetie Wheatstraw, "The Devil's Son-in-Law") and would've gladly cashed in had they had the opportunity .

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:These lines that appear in countless songs, kind of the blues version of public domain, are called "floaters."

This is a perfectly appropriate descriptor for most Zeppelin lyrics, regardless of whether they're original, lifted from blues songs, or lifted from bad fantasy fiction.

CRAP.

placeholder wrote:

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:These lines that appear in countless songs, kind of the blues version of public domain, are called "floaters."

This is a perfectly appropriate descriptor for most Zeppelin lyrics, regardless of whether they're original, lifted from blues songs, or lifted from bad fantasy fiction.

CRAP.

"The bad fantasy fiction" was only limited two a couple of songs off Led Zeppelin II and IV. Despite the pervasive blues influence they were capable of writing good songs and were excellent musicians. Not Crap overall.

This argument that Led Zepplin ripped off the blues is f'ing retarded.
So did ZZ Top
So did The Beatles
So did So Did Thin Lizzy
So did The Jesus Lizard

So did a billion other bands. Why is it that Led Zepplin is the only one who gets shit for it?

Tom wrote:This argument that Led Zepplin ripped off the blues is f'ing retarded.
So did ZZ Top
So did The Beatles
So did So Did Thin Lizzy
So did The Jesus Lizard

So did a billion other bands. Why is it that Led Zepplin is the only one who gets shit for it?

T-Dawg.

I posted what I did because of what I read night about Killing Floor/Lemon Song, and because I enjoyed reading both lyrics. I'd be the one the last to insinuate that LZ used blues elements in an unoriginal way. Their influences show clearly, but it's an novel interpretation that has been buzzing my noodle in a big way of late.

-bef.

itchy mcgoo wrote:After 29 years of avoiding this band due to the creepy stoners who built the pedastal they dwell on and Robert Plant's ear-searing cries, I bought "Physical Graffiti" this week. The first Led Zeppelin album I have ever owned. I can't stop listening to it. It's sonic and soulful at the same time. The drumming is madness. The ripped off blues riffs are wonderful. It's dirrrrty.

It's so cool to have this be "new" to me now.

Not Crap.

I don't know if I've ever been more jealous. To come to Led Zeppelin not exactly pure, but at least unencumbered, at a relatively mature age and with so much other music already under your belt must be devastating.

I listen to a shitload of heavy music and see a lot of heavy acts live. Really heavy. Just last night, I was listening to "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and thought that it was still one of the heaviest songs ever recorded in the best sense of the word.

Everyone who voted CRAP? Get in the fucking truck. Seriously, turn in your cards, get in the truck, and perform one last, tiny act for humanity by becoming Soilent Green. I will eat your ill-directed, sour iconoclasm, though it bring tears to my eyes and a rise in my gorge, and "Hats Off To Roy Harper" will soothe my demons.

Shame on you. SHAME!