anonymous August 12th, 2006 01:25AM  
You guys are all insane. I can't believe one stupid song could inspire so much contrivercy..Don't get me wrong, I love zep..But gee..Its just a song.

anonymous August 13th, 2006 08:31AM  
Well, I do agree with some of the interpretations on this song. It could well be about drugs, but I just had a random thought. Maybe the song is talking about someone trying to buy "love" so to speak, or being so sure that she is able to get what she wants. Look at the first stanza.

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
(maybe it's saying that everything that looks hopeful in life is good, very sure of herself.)
and she's buying the stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
with a word she can get what she came for.
(this seems to be saying that she's buying "the stairway to heaven", so buying happiness. She seems to be sure of herself because she thinks "that with a word she can get what she came for.)

and as we wind on down the road
our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
who shines white light and wants to show
how everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
the tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
to be a rock and not to roll.

I think when it says "our shadows taller than our soul" it's saying that we let all the bad things in life linger over who we really are. Then there's this lady and she wants to show how there's still happiness, she found it, she's "buying a stairway to heaven.

Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven. When it says "to be a rock and not to roll, I think it's saying that if you're sure of yourself, to "be a rock" the "tune will come to you at last", meaning you will find happiness.

eclipsemaster August 19th, 2006 07:03PM  
It's about whatever you want it to be. Listen, music is beatiful because each person is inspired and touched differently from another. Trying to convey one meaning to the world as the song's "real meaning" is not what the band would have wanted. It's cool to share some points or interesting facts but it's not about shoving your opinion down someone's throat because their opinion matters just as much as yours. That's the beauty of music.

anonymous August 26th, 2006 07:49PM  
The song is about a celebrity "unnamed" who either died and thought that money was one way to get in to heaven as in

"when she gets there she knows that the stores are all cled, but with a word she can get what she came for"

and.

There walks the lady we all know!

Near a chruch hence her spirit is haunting there because she didn't get to heaven

Cobainfan420 August 29th, 2006 09:51PM  
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
and she's buying a stairway to heaven.

-she is trying to either 1, buy drugs, or 2, buy heaven. Both are pretty good explainations

when she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
with a word she can get what she came for.

- it looks like one things, but she can get what she wants, be it drugs, or salvation.

Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.

-he is trying to tell us not to try to figure things out. Leave well enough alone and enjoy what you have.

In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

- maybe its not what we think. It goes with the whole "words have 2 meanings" line

ooh, it makes me wonder,
ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
and my spirit is crying for leaving.

- he sees everything going on in the world and feels bad, or has lost salvation and regrets it.

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
and the voices of those who stand looking.

-this is about judgement from the world.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,
ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
and the forests will echo with laughter.

-not sure what this means, but it gives me goosebumps.


If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
it's just a spring clean for the may queen.

This is about being judged by god. Dont be suprised. It happens to everyone. Or a girl on her period. (me being a girl)

yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
there's still time to change the road you're on.

- you can go different ways in life. I do believe this has to do with drugs because you can go down the wrong path, but you will always be able to change.

And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
the piper's calling you if your in there
dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

- I think that this is about being confused and looking for the answeres


and as we wind on down the road
our shadows taller than our soul.

- things in your past you have done that weigh down on you

there walks a lady we all know
who shines white light and wants to show
how everything still turns to gold.

- you might know her for doing bad things, but she has changed her ways. But she still believes everything has value/

and if you listen very hard
the tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
- I think is is about comming together for the greater good.
To be a rock and not to roll.

-this means be a leader and not a follower. Make your own path in life.

And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
- same as the first line.

anonymous August 31st, 2006 11:03PM  
I remember reading a while ago that the song and the band does have a connection to satan. I don't know the whole story but it goes like this -

A few years ago there was a big media frenzy over a us marine that was a satanist. They couldn't throw him out for it because the navy couldn't descriminate over religion. The connection to the band is that one of the band members or managers (stuffed if I know who) purchased a building off this bloke before he entered the navy. This building was used as meeting place for the local satanist group god only knows what, but the connection to the song is the building was nicknamed the 'tool-house'. As you may have read, when 'stairway to heaven' is played backwards you should hear a subliminal message referring to the devil, quoted "there was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad satan"

There you go. Like I said I don't know the full story but try researching it out. The conspiracy continues...

jmazza14 September 11th, 2006 01:42AM  
"stairway to heaven. The most-played track in radio history, it began like many zeppelin classics...On a tape from page's home studio. Recording at headley grange, a converted poorhouse in hampshire, page first played the track to John Paul jones. "bonzo and robert had gone out for the night, and I worked really hard on the thing. Jonesy and I then routined it together, and later we ran through it with the drums and everything. Robert was sitting there at the time, by the fireplace, and I believe he came up with 80% of the lyrics at that time. He was just sort of writing away and suddenly there it was....

Plant picks up the story: "yeah, I just sat next to pagey while he was playing it through. It was done very quickly. It took a little working but, but it was a very fluid, unnaturally easy track. It was almost as if uh-oh—it just had to be gotten out at that time. There was something pushing it, saying 'you -guys are okay, but if you want to do something timeless, here's a wedding song for you."

i got this from the official band website and just reading it shows that many people are reading into this song way too deeply (page didn't even write the lyrics to stairway, robert plant wrote the lyrics to the song while listening to it the first few times through. So there goes the theory of page writing this song, while being into witchcraft and magic, because he wanted to obey satan.) and are trying to make sense out of one of the greatest songs ever written. For the band this was not a satanic experience they were just making the music that would lead a generation of kids through there adolescence by listening to the rock and roll heavyweight that zeppelin was and still is (because, lets face it... Rock and roll is unfortunately dead.) I think that people should just sit back and listen to the insane guitar riffs that jimmy page on his les pauls, double-neck guitar plays with insane emotion for his addoring fans. If that isn't good enough for you maybe you should just stop trying to find an allegoric phenomenon in led zeppelin and start talking about bad bands like metallica.

anonymous September 26th, 2006 11:53PM  
To whoever wrote about led zeppelin's "plot" to corrupt people to satanism through their music: you are a dumb*ss! Your fundamentalist views are hypocritical and obscure the truth of christianity's message of love.
To the cunt-bag who said the bible is an un-proved book of fairy-tales: f**k you! I don't have a problem with atheists, but I do have a problem with people of any religious beliefs (even christians) bashing someone else's beliefs that they hold dear.
To whoever thinks this song is about drugs: check into f**king rehab. Your addiction causes you to think everything you don't understand is about drugs.
Finally, to whoever just thinks this is a classic that should just be enjoyed without dissecting the song for a deep meaning that isn't there: rock on!!!

baseballking2130 October 11th, 2006 09:22PM  
This song is very influencial. It is telling us that there is no designated person who determines your fate, but you have a say in it, and you should make the best of it. Whether you are striving for heaven or not caring at all, the people and things around you can also determine your fate, so your fate is partial to what you want it to be, but everything around you has a say, too. The reference to a piper clearly means that someone lower, poorer, not as noticed and pompous as us is the one who will bring us together in peace and end everyone's differences. The reference to gold represents some act that someone does as a step to creating "their" stairway to heaven. All in all, as deep as you have to dig to find the transversal meaning to this song, there is one meaning that every interpretation lies uner: fate.

anonymous October 17th, 2006 05:47AM  
Hey people,
i think all of you are right. Interpret the song whatever way you want, and none of you are wrong. If it makes sense to you, then that's what its supposed to mean.
The songwriters might have had something different in mind, but we'll never know, so don't be so sure you know what they were talking about. So don't get all pissed off when someone else thinks something different.

anonymous October 25th, 2006 04:33PM  
I just want to start out by saying this song is like poetry. The words and the music seem to flow effortlessly from the band. Those four guys were geniuses.

Now about the lyrics. There isn't a clear-cut meaning hear, and you cannot analyze the song's lyrics line-by-line. There are a lot of symbols in there that may very well refer to jesus, satan, tolkien, drugs, materialism, etc., but to say that the lyrics are to be strictly interpreted in one way is ridiculous. Plant even warns listeners from going in that direction in the song: "cause you know sometimes words have two meanings."

as for me, I'm a confirmed catholic but I've become disillusioned with organized religion and I now consider myself an agnostic. I believe that there is some higher power and a general sense that one should do what is right, but like my opinion on the song, I'm not going to confine my life's path to a singular preaching. So for me, that's what the song is. Live life the best you can, and things will sort themselves out.

"do what thou wilt." page took that crowley quote and put it on the pressings of iii. I think that attitude is a good one to have in life, and it is reflected in this particular song. The important thing is not to think too much when you listen. Do think, but feel just as much. Like I said, this song flows like poetry. It's beautiful.

I was wrong to search the interpretation of this song online, but I just had to voice my opinion. What am I going to do now? Smoke a bowl or two, and chill out to stairway. All of you should stop bickering and do the same.

Hats off to the greatest song ever written by the greatest band of all time.

-zephead from new hampshire

anonymous January 7th, 2007 02:01AM  
Thsi si just my interpretation of the song, and most of you will probably disagree with it. but maybe it's about someone who is incredibly rich and thinks that she can live however she wants because when she dies, she can just buy her way into Heaven. But the piper calling us to join Him could be a metaphor for God saying "you can't do this." and the whole thing with the two paths are saying you can either listen and go to heaven or keep thinking your way and go to hell. So the song has nothing to do with the backwards version talking about satan, but the version played normally, speaking of God.

anonymous January 14th, 2007 02:51PM  
I just think a song could mean many different things to listener. It could mean something to the writers, but to someone else it could prolly mean something completely different. To me it think it's about many things in life.

anonymous February 26th, 2007 01:46PM  
You people fail to realize what the story of the pied piper was about... There is a very clear message in the song having to do with this... I have more but not right now because I have no time...

Lord Pyro

anonymous February 26th, 2007 10:33PM  
I just want to say this is an awesome song! At the beggining of the song it sounded like it was about a woman who got everything she wanted with money and she thought money was the most important thing in life, but in the end of the song she died but she still thought money was the most important thing.

anonymous February 28th, 2007 05:18PM  
OMG!!! I'm gonna shit my pants. You people actually TAKE the time to type 3-page reports on a fucking song. Stairway is a legendary rock song made by legendary rock artists. That is all that needs to be said.

anonymous March 9th, 2007 04:03AM  
Okay someone said somewhere that there's nothing in the bible about a toolshed where satan made us suffer...ur right but it's referring(or could be) to this satanic group somewhere that wen they were discovered, had a toolshed on their property where they sacrificed and tortured people in the name of satan.

I think the song has little meaning fwds but backwards it seems to be talkin about armegeddon cause its starts with stuff about the lord coming to save us then about but the lord won't save me for I worship satan and then asking forgiveness. another theory is that backwards it's about those satanists maybe some of them wanting forgiveness then realising they might not get any cause they spent their lives worshipping satan and that satan won't help them because he's really evil anyways.

anonymous March 11th, 2007 04:37PM  
I think this song is how a rich person just gets it all too good and kills herself and I think all you losers who wrote this 5 page shit on the whole song r nerds so bye

anonymous March 18th, 2007 06:28PM  
Hello to all,

I think its incredibly amusing that we're all still arguing about the meaning of a song that's 30+ years old. Sure, there must be thousands of derived meanings, but in short, this song truly means whatever the hell you want it to.

People have questioned, analyzed, and over-analyzed countless pieces of literature over the centuries. Take into account Skaespeare. In his world famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, there are many ambiguous scenarios and verses. For example: "...cut off the heads of the maidens; Or their maidenheads. Take it in what sense thou wilt..." The forementioned line states that the 'maidens' (women of the house of capulet) will either be killed (beheaded), or raped (a 'maidenhead' was a word used at the time of Shakespeare to illustrate a woman's virginity.)

Stairway to Heaven is a piece of literature as well. If you take away the music behind it, and look just at the lyrics, it is quite simply a poem. Poems (much like those written by Shakespeare) have multiple meanings. It's even said in the song itself that "...words have two meanings."

Therefore, when you look at anything in art, ambiguity is inevitable. In short, all of you are both wrong and right. So shut up and stop arguing.

anonymous March 23rd, 2007 06:41PM  
I want to start off by denouncing all claims about drugs and satanism. Those were QUITE probably fuelled by association and self-projection.

Also, I support the opinion that the interpretation is indeed subjective. There is no MESSAGE in this song, but there IS a meaning. It was about Erma Rees Gwyn. Reference:

http://www.michaelklassen.com/understanding-stairway-to-heaven/

Although some of the religious interpretations have been insightful, I'm gonna go with this interpretation. It makes perfect sense. I want to remind you all that this song was written in a style called "stream-consciousness" and those familiar with that type of literature will recognize the pattern. The technique itself denounces any "deeper meaning" as it is like a dream - random thoughts and memories of a particular event evoking SUBJECTIVE emotions and experiences.

Artists usually write things people can connect with even if they have no clue about what inspired the song. That's probably why Page/Plant refused to discuss the inspiration - it's what it means to US that matters. Because we have nothing to do with Erma nor do we care - this is why it was written while deliberately not referencing the inspiration directly. It would ruin the value of the song.

This way, "And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter" means something completely different - to me. It reminds me of a particular memory. It is simply an expression of hope, nothing more. Interpretation aside, the experience of those same lyrics is what makes it really stand out. You have no idea what runs through my head while I listen to those words, nor how it makes me feel. This is the sole PURPOSE and MEANING of the song. To make us feel that way, with the calming beautiful music, and the powerful words.

At least that's my point of view. Just as life itself simply has no meaning on its own - we search for it.