mnavon July 9th, 2009 04:31PM  
Stairway to Heaven is about what the title says it is - a stairway to heaven. This song was referred to by Robert Plant as a "wedding song" which, in the mystical terminology of the kabbalah, refers to the union of man and his Creator in Heaven. The song goes on to describe "a Lady" making her spiritual journey. Interestingly, mystical literature refers to mankind as a lady in respect to the Creator. For a complete explanation see: http://www.divreinavon.com/stairway.htm

anonymous August 6th, 2009 03:03PM  
Ok, I just want to say before I submit my interpretation that I am in no way religious but I have studied many religions and religious practices in great detail. Also I believe that music, like any art, is open to personal interpretation. There are no right or wrong interpretations, because even the artists themselves do not know the True message sometimes.

Ill start of by saying that I do not believe the "piper" is Jesus as several others have said. I will instead post a passage from the bible and let you make your own judgement.
God to Lucifer...

"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." [Ezekiel 28:13]**A tabret is a small drum and a pipe is well a flute**

The bible teaches that God created Lucifer as the celestial composer of music, with celestial pipes; the piper. The Piper could also be a reference to Pan, the greek god of the forest. He was half man, half goat. The image of Pan was used as by the church in the medieval period as the image of Lucifer.

Ok now to the lyrics....
------

^Theres a lady whos sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.^

There is a person(presumably a woman)who believes all that appears to be is so (The gold is not literal). She is buying a Stairway to Heaven, not with money, but with her actions and the way she lives her life.

^When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.^

The closed stores are basically the doors of life, or the things she has given up in order to remain in good standing with god. But with a word, or prayer, she can get what she came for, which is her gods blessing.

^Theres a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.^

The sign on the wall is the Bible or the "word of god". Apparently she has read something that disapproves of what she is doing in life. Even though the bible clearly says it is wrong, she is having doubt and she is thinking that maybe "the words have two meanings."

^In a tree by the brook
Theres a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder.^

She realizes that she has missed out on so much and begins to have second thoughts about her beliefs. And maybe that her time and thoughts were "misgiven"

^Theres a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.^

Here the song shifts from the "Lady" to the Narrator, or the singer. At its roots Christianity was a religion of the East, the Western Religions were the Pagan Religions. His spirit is crying for leaving the ways of old.

^In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.^

The rings of smoke are from the chimney as he walks back to his home, returning back "to the west". And he hears the voices of those who stand looking (the gods or god and lucifer)

^And its whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.^

If we all call the tune(find the meaning to the song) Then the piper (Pan) will lead us to reason(Absolute Truth)

^And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.^

A new day will dawn for those who stand long (the gods)

^If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Dont be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the may queen.^

The Narrator, or singer, is now talking to the Lady from the beginning of the song. A "bustle in your hedgerow" is a way of saying she is menstruating, coming of age(not literally, but it shows that she is coming of age in a spiritual sense, so now she can make her own decisions about religion.)

^Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.^

The Path of Christianity or the path of the Occult. Even though she had chose Christianity it isn't too late to change her path.

^Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know,
The pipers calling you to join him^

Her head is humming because she has a decision to make, and the piper (pan) is calling her to join him.

^Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.^

Her past life of Christianity is gone, blown away with the wind so to say.

^And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.^

As our lives go on our image is more valued by society than what we think.

^There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How evrything still turns to gold.^

The lady walks on and shows how no matter what decision you make, life still goes on.

^And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.^

Like I said earlier all you have to do is listen and you will find your meaning of the song.

^When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.^

When everyone stands strong in their devotion regardless of what others think of them.

anonymous September 26th, 2009 02:55PM  
The song begins by saying:
"There’s a lady whose sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a 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 first stanza can mean that even though the world is ugly and dirty (sin, violence, crime) there are still some things that glitter like gold (religion, peace, tolerance). When she speaks a word to get what she came for (in this case the "gold") she is presumably praying, or the act of speaking out for her beliefs. When she "buys a stairway to heaven" she is not actually looking for a cheap way to God, but rather is finding a way to make the world a better place, to shine more like gold. She can do this through religion (God, or any other deity that the listener can interpret), through peace and tolerance, speaking out "with a word", through random acts of kindness, etc.

"There’s a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
’Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there is a songbird who sings:
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven."
This stanza sums up all of our interpretations by saying that there is no particular one interpretation. rather, there is a meaning behind the song (with "a sign on the wall") but we have to be sure what it says in our interpretations, because "sometimes words have two meanings." We are warned not to over-analyze the song though, because "sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven."

"Theres a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking"
Religiously speaking, Jesus Christ is said to come from the eastern sky when the world ends, so many people would think east is to west as Jesus is to Satan, and so here we see a classic example of a possible religious meaning. However, to many early Americans, Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. was destined to spread to the Pacific Ocean, (which was located in the west). So, when "[we] get a feeling when [we] look to the west/ and [our] spirit[s] [are] crying for leaving" we believe that we must strive to be free. Free from the ugliness of the world, so we can reach the gold. And as the world burns, as seen with "rings of smoke through the trees" we stand and watch what we have done, listening to "the voices of those who stand looking."

"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"
"the piper" who "will lead us to reason" can be God, any other spiritual deity, or even any idea that would lead us to make the choice each day to lead a healthy, beneficial life for the good of the world, to make it "shine like gold". "...for those who stand long", the song says, "a new day will dawn" which means that those who perservere in the world and "stand long" will see a new day dawn. One that is bright and joyous, like gold. When "the forests... echo with laughter" we will finally be at peace with the world. Religiously speaking, we will be praising and worshiping in Heaven.

"If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow,
Don’t be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by but in the long run
Theres still time to change the road you’re on."
"the May Queen" can again be any spiritual force, being, or idea that acts upon us and the world. So "if there's a bustle in you hedgerow (your hedgerow being your life) don't be alarmed now" because that spiritual force is acting in your life to clean it up, making you a new person, so you can make the world a better place. But although the may queen has acted in your life, you still have a choice: "yes there are two paths you can go by". But if you're not on the right path, "There's still time to change the road you're on."

"Your head is humming and it won’t go,
In case you don’t know:
The pipers calling you to join him."
Even though you may be in total chaos right now, like "your head is humming", just listen to your heart (the Piper) because "the piper's calling you to join him". Follow your heart and you will find peace, love, and joy.

"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know:
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind."
Once again, your heart is calling you, but can you hear it? "Can you hear the wind blow"? Listen to hear it, because "your stairway (answer) lies on the whispering wind (your heart)".

"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, yeah, to be a rock and not to roll."
As we go on with our lives, "wind[ing] on down the road" we realize that we have sinned, so "our shadows [are] taller than our souls." However, we must look to see the "lady we all know" because she is the example. She "shines white light and wants to show [us] how everything [can] still turn to gold." However, "if you listen very hard, the tune (answer to finding peace, love, and joy in this world) will come to you at last." It is only then that you will realize what it means "to be a rock and not to roll" or, someone who stands by and does nothing to make the world a better place.

"And she’s buying a stairway… to heaven."
The song is summed up in this last line at the end of the song when it is said "she's buying (or finding) a stairway (or a way, path, or answer) to heaven (or a better world filled with peace, love, and pure joy for everyone)".

anonymous October 29th, 2009 03:30AM  
It's about the struggle between the physical/greedy/real world vs. The spiritual world.

anonymous November 6th, 2009 10:42PM  
its about how jimmy page was trippin on acid one day and took a walk through the forest. he was seeing a bunch of different things like giant squirrels and trees made of sea shells and he came across a stairway leading up to clouds. he started panicing because he thought he was dying from an overdose and he thought the stairway to heaven was a sign from God that his time was over. he passed out in the forest and eventually woke up with a new appreciation for life. all hail this song. btw the story is true

anonymous December 18th, 2009 07:59PM  
Ok,just let me get this out...i think whoever was looking for this is stupid. what kind of a lazy butthead would listen to their songs over and over backwards until he found something. However,there is more messages in this song saying "Leave God and come to Satin" of course bacwards but hey could this just be coincidence?? the members of led zeppelin may worship satin or they may not. Who knows? There are however, some lyrics like "there is still time to change roads your on." which does that mean leave the stairway to heaven and start on the stairway to hell?

anonymous January 26th, 2010 10:41PM  
Well I have done a lot of research on the use of subliminal messaging specializing. In the backmasking of songs, and in STH, in the hedgerow stanza, you should notice how and odd stress is put on the words 'may queen' . That is only one of the reasons I believe it is intentional backmasking. Another is what someone has already stated about the toolshed and the other backmasking in the song. The most important reason iis that do you think that a whole entire paragraph of words that played backwards would say: here's to sweet Satan, the one who's little path would make me sad whos power is Satan. He gives those with him 666, there was a little TOOLSHED (see comment on toolshed) where he made us suufed sad Satan. I mean do you really think that was an accident? Look at what kind of things they did, they do drugs and practiced satanism and voodoo. Also, the whole song hints a backmask: 'because you know sometimes words have two meanings' , ' there are two paths you can go by (god/Satan) but there's still time to change the road your on ( change to satanism)' , 'a new day will dawn for those who stand long' etc the list goes on. It is really your interpretation though.

jcbshp February 24th, 2010 03:10PM  
Great song and there should be room for multiple interpretations. I would like to say Page, Plant, and the rest of Led Zep were great musicians for years, so any argument about the length of time to write the song, I consider void. After all, Einstein came up with E=mc^2 after a train ride. I leave room for more interpretation. Basically, the woman is going to church on Sunday, mostly because stores are (were) closed on Sunday. And she is buying her way to heaven on the cheap, by saying she “believes” as opposed to donating a little money (or doing a little good) “because she wants to be sure” that she is getting her monies worth. The fact that you can always just say that you “believe” and then get into heaven without doing any good along the journey…”It makes me wonder”. “Our shadows” (i.e. what we accomplish, contributed, influenced, efforts to do good…our legacy) “are taller” (more significant) “than our souls” (what is in our hearts at the moment or what we say “I believe”). In other words, what we do is more important than what we say. It is what you do that is important. “It makes my wonder” why so many say that just by declaring that you “believe”, you can buy your way into heaven.