What does Misty Mountain Hop mean?

Led Zeppelin: Misty Mountain Hop Meaning

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Album cover for Misty Mountain Hop album cover

Misty Mountain Hop Lyrics

Walkin in the park just the other day, baby,
What do you, what do you think I saw?
Crowds of people sittin on the grass with flowers in their hair said,
Hey, boy, do you wanna score?
And you know how it is;
I really dont know what time it...

  1. anonymous
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    May 30th 2016 !⃝

    I think the misty mountains is a reference to draft dodging.

  2. anonymous
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    Sep 26th 2015 !⃝

    It's a summary of The Hobbit. In the book, Gandalf stops by Bilbo's house for tea. He invites the dwarves over to invite Bilbo on a treasure hunting adventure to the Misty Mountains "Well you know, They asked us to stay for tea and have some fun,
    Oh, oh, he said that his friends would all drop by, ooh. " All of his (Gandalf's) 13 friends (Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur) stop by Bilbo's house in the Shire to pack his bags for the Misty Mountains. Also, adventuring is looked down upon by hobbits (Nasty, disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!)"Folk down there really don't care, really don't care, don't care, really don't " references this.
    It's also about smoking weed, but Hobbits and Gandalf enjoy good pipe weed.

  3. zepkat
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    Sep 25th 2013 !⃝

    DUDE! It's just a song about really, really good drugs man!!!! This trip was so groovy, the stoners misinterpreted the cop telling them he's calling for backup. I think the narrator is being tongue in cheek sarcastic because he thinks you know the cop was nowhere near as polite as the stoners interpret his words (Would we all care to get in line, as opposed to the British term "que"... Cop is telling them to "line up" for arrest/stay for tea, instead of wait/friends stopping by.... Um, like Yeah, that's backup officers on the way, I think). I think that's why the moral at the end is to watch your back if you go out to score with the hippies, since they really don't care about anything, including having an arrest record. But if you want to stay out of trouble, head for a natural high... Like the misty mountains where the spirits soar, etc. Maybe too literal for the Toilken fans, but I think LZ just came to popular attention at the end of the "Summer of Love" has a lot to do with the tongue in cheekiness about the hippy culture too.... The hippies were overly idealistic.... LZ was the band that changed how bands got paid.... They were loving Capitalism baby... C'Mon, the Mothership? Trashing hotels for the hell of it?

  4. chris.lisa.96
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    Nov 19th 2012 !⃝

    Like many Zepplin songs, Misty Mountain Hop utilizes a simple, yet powerful and intriguing repetitive riff (this one only 4 beats). Each verse is sung in a nonchalant, somewhat off key frat boy sing along style, with Plant belting out the last line of the verse with contrasting clarity and gut wrenching emotion.

    At first glance the meaning seems simple enough, but it addresses an underlying issue that is near and dear to most teenager's hearts.

    The narrator runs into some hippy flower children (representing the free spirited anti-establishment folk) and gets wrapped up into what they are doing. But then a policeman (representing the establishment) comes along and tries to show them the benefits of the straight and narrow, "would we care to all get in line."

    The narrator is confused by these two opposing lifestyles and can't decide, which path to take, "which way the pressure lies."

    So he decides what he is going to do, he decides to rejects both lifestyles and get out of there, "packing my bags for the Misty Mountains."

    This conflicting lifestyle choice is a constant high school and college theme, where young people are trying to decide their own lifestyle preference and feeling pressure from the free spirit group and the establishment telling them to get in line.

  5. stewdog
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    Mar 31st 2012 !⃝

    Misty Mountain Hop opens side two of Led Zeppelin's officially untitled album. It is the most pop moment on the entire album. It's got some really groovy keyboards, a short and sweet guitar solo, and some cool lyrics by Plant.

    Supposedly the song contains references to Tolkien's the Hobbit. The misty mountains supposedly feature in the epic story. Having never read it I am not sure, although I do know that Plant himself is a big fan of Tolkien's works.

    Simply the song is about smoking marijuana in the park and getting caught by the police for it. Plant himself was a huge pro-marijuana supporter.

    In the first verse the narrator stumbles across some hippies smoking marijuana and they invite him to join them. He agrees and in the second verse they are caught by the police. I think the third verse might be about the police telling the marijuana smokers to take a good, hard look at themselves but the pot smokers believe that police officer is narrow minded "like a book on a shelf rusting." The fourth and final verse is about the new pot smokers new experience and how marijuana has opened his eyes to the world. He, like his new buddies, has become much more mellow. The final chorus of the song is about the narrator deciding to leave the city and mainstream life behind to head for the misty mountains.

    That's basically it.

  6. anonymous
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    Aug 24th 2011 !⃝

    Misty Mountain Hop is about the pressure to escape

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 14th 2010 !⃝

    Its about the 60's vibe, and Robert was gettin' high with some friends,and some cops try to bust them, but end up gettin' high WITH them.

  8. crutchead
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    Apr 2nd 2007 !⃝

    Actually - along with "Battle of Evermore", "Bron Yr Stomp", "Ramble On" -- this song runs with reference to Christian classic fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkein's LORD OF THE RINGS novel. Page, Plant, and Jones are fans Tolkein. 'Misty Mountain' is a place found in the book, sort of given in reference quite vaguely to some early seventies tripping that is somehow being depicted quite loosely within its lyrics.

  9. anonymous
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    Apr 1st 2007 !⃝

    This song is about the disorder and chaos that was happening in that time. In this movie Plant sings of wanting to move away to a better place "Misty Mountain".


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