Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven Meaning
Stairway To Heaven Lyrics
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
Ooh ooh and she's buying a stairway to...
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I think (key word "think") that this song is about life. Making decisions, looking at whats around and making decisions. Good or bad. There is beauty in everything. I like to take a simpler approach to music, this song is beautiful, but also thought provoking. I am an artist, but you may interpret what I draw or paint the way you like, that is the beauty of it. It's not bad aor good it is just art. Musicians are also artists, the composing of music and compiling of words is a great art. You may interperate it the way you want, there is no right or wrong....
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Okay, this is so simple.
First of all, it is CLEARLY about getting into either Heaven or Hell.
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
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.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven."
-- There is a woman who is rich and stuck up and she thinks she can get into heaven by just stating "I believe in Jesus." One word- believe, can get her into heaven, although she is greedy which is a sin. She most likely also donates money to the church and thinks that will get her into heaven as well. This also plays into Christians in general and how Jesus forgives for their sins as long as they believe in him. She can be rich and snobby and greedy and she knows that Jesus forgives her because she believes in him. OR she could be very conceded and just assume that she is rich and powerful and doesn't need redemption from her sins and that she has a guaranteed spot in heaven.
"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's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder. "
---This refers to the bible. The bible states you should not be greedy, but she doesn't want to give up her money just for heaven. She assumes her belief will get her in regardless of her sins. She's in denial that her being greedy is a sin. She also is unsure if her belief is enough to get her into heaven despite her sins. Also, misgiven means 'To arouse suspicion or apprehension in (one's mind or heart, for example).' Therefore, it is also referring to people in general in the fact that EVERYONE has sins yet with Jesus they are forgiven. The greedy rich woman is an example.
Also, although the word brook used in this context means a small body of water or whatever, it also means 'To put up with; tolerate' Jesus tolerates sins as long as people believe in him. Therefore, the songbird sings, or praises, Jesus because Jesus has forgiven it's sins and it knows it's okay. Then that ties in with the all thoughts are misgiven line. [songbird could symbolize a person]
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving."
---West most ALWAYS resembles death. When he looks in the future towards his death, his spirit is begging for forgiveness to Jesus because he has sinned and knows now he must be forgiven or he will not go to Heaven.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
---Smoke can symbolize many things. It could possibly resemble drug use in which is a sin and he wants to be forgiven for it or it could resemble all his sins in general. The voices of those who stand looking is either his conscience telling him he's done many bad things and needs to redeem himself or the devil telling him to continue doing those things which are sinful.
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.
--Whisper is a very silent, sometimes a hidden, message. As in we can not actually HEAR the voice of Jesus but we know the word of God. It could resemble that he's read and heard about God's word and to not sin yet it's never actually been said by God himself which could show deep down he's confused on what to believe about God and religion. It also means that if you ask for forgiveness, Jesus [the piper] will lead you to heaven and reason. He's heard in church and from the bible that if we all "call the tune", as in state our devotion to Jesus, then we will be saved. And once you've stood by Jesus until you've died, then you will go to heaven- a new day will dawn. Forests could resemble all the dark places he's been in his life, or Satan himself. An echo is something that repeats itself and eventually dies away, as in the devil pushing him to sin [laughing] and finally, after he finds Jesus, will die away and he will be saved.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
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.
And it makes me wonder.
---The bustle in your hedgerow part isn't very symbolic. It could just point out that you have sins in your life, but not to be alarmed because you can save yourself and your sins will be forgotten.
Two paths to go by means you can either choose- Heaven or Hell. That's an easy line to interpret. And the next line obviously means you can always choose Heaven, no matter what you've done; As long as you ask for forgiveness from Jesus and God. All of this makes him wonder. Everything the bible states makes him wonder, he isn't sure what to believe.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
---Your head addresses to all the sinners out there in the world. Head is humming because of the devil and Jesus both fighting to either save you or condemn you, it's a battle for everyone to choose to sin or not to sin, to ask forgiveness or not to. The piper [Jesus] is calling people to join him and believe in him. Although, drawings of the devil sometimes resemble him with horns and horse legs with him playing the piper. Therefore, if the piper resembles the devil, then it could mean the devil is CONSTANTLY calling him and everyone to join him in Hell and to commit sins. It's a constant battle between Jesus and the devil. They are both calling people to join them.
"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind."
---He's speaking to the lady, and to all sinners, that the gateway to heaven is to ask for forgiveness. He's trying to solve the battle in everyone's and his own head, to believe in Jesus. AGAIN with the whispering. The whisper is the soft words of the bible and he's telling himself and all other sinners that your stairway to heaven lies in the bible and the words of God through the bible- and to just believe in even though you can't actually SEE or HEAR Jesus and God, They are there.
"And as we wind on down the road"
--As we go on through life
"Our shadows taller than our soul."
--This is the best line. Our shadows resemble the end of our life and all of what we have done in our life- good or bad. He is also saying you have to do good things and even though your belief in Jesus can save you, you must do God's will and spread love and such and whatnot. The good things people have done are more important than just believing, you have to act out in a good way to prove your belief in Jesus.
It could also being saying that all the sins we love doing such as sex, drugs, and everything are more important to people than being saved therefore they do them anyway expecting to just get into heaven with their belief in Jesus.
"There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold."
--This lady comes off as saved because she goes to church and does things to show her belief in Jesus yet deep down, she's still a greedy sinful broad. She still wears all these expensive things and shows off her stuff and thinks she's hot shit yet she believes this of little importance because hey, she believes in God, so she thinks this belief alone will get her into heaven.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
--Eventually all sinners will come to realize they need to do better for Jesus and it's not all about believing you have to prove you know the word of god by being good christians.
"When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll."
--He says you have to be strong in your belief in Jesus and try your friggin hardest not to roll away and commit sins and listen to Satan. Once everyone comes together and believes in Jesus they will have won the battle against Satan.
And she's buying the stairway to heaven.
blah blah.
BASICALLY
the song means that you can get into heaven by just believing in Jesus and saying you want your sins to be forgiven, but you must also try not to commit sins and be a good Christian or you'll go to Hell.
it's simple.
Yeah, I know I'm right.
<33 BINNY the dog.
Oh yeah, I have my own religion, join ittt. www.myspace.com/binnyy -
Okay the band memebers said there's no meaning. The song says there's no meaning "sometimes words have no meanings," why can't there ever be no meaning? The song isn't about drugs or some rich chick. It's just a good song. I heard that they wrote it in like a hour.
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A lot of you raise some good points, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks the song is about- the band doesn't even know what the real meaning is behind it. They've publically admitted that they were so drugged up while writing it that they don't even remember a) what its about, and b) even writing the piece. Its meant to mean a different thing to every unique person that listens to it- just like any other piece of music. No one's analysis is going to be exactly identical.
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Who cares what it's about, man. It just a rockin' tune. Now,why doesn't everybody just stop trying to disect the song and just sit back and enjoy the music. Hey, crack open a beer or smoke a bong, whatever makes you happy. Just feel the music.
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To interpret an artists work in a song is like trying to interpret an artists painting. I could paint a picture witht he sole intent of making an aesthetic work of art, with no meaning whatsoever. but, when someone attempts to place a meaning behind it, does that make the meaning wrong? perhaps page and plant were telling the truth, maybe they meant no hidden meaning whatsoever, maybe the words just sounded good. so to say there was a hidden meaning that they TRIED to convey would be wrong. but, if a song means something to you, then that is what it means. as for what page and plant meant by their lyrics.. Is it so hard to believe that they had no intent on creating a "double meaning" song? perhaps we should just trust THEIR (the writers of the song) interpretation.
*as a side note, i'd like to say something about backmasking--
someone said they had listened to the backmasking (as have i) and they thought it was too unlikely to just be a coincidence. if you think about it.. How many songs are there? just for arguments sake, lets say 1000000..(very low estimate) on that site (and yes, I am sure there are more) there were about 7 songs that were seemingly not backmasked on purpose.. That's a 7/1000000 chance that a song has a (somewhat) distinguishable backmask. so stairway is a song with a backmask, pretty low chance of that happening eh? but then ask yourself, would stairway have been such a hot topic had it not been for the accidental backmask? -
I'd just like to point out the fact that the lyrics within Stairway To Heaven repeatedly refers to how words can have two meanings, and having two paths to go by. Brilliantly, the reverse lyrics within the song contain references to Satan -- The song is not about Satan, and the band is not praising Satan, but rather the result of taking the "other" path (the Stairway to Hell?)
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Ok, I've never heard the whole "sundeck" thing, but in a way it makes a certain amount of sense...If viewed in the context that the song was written quickly in one sitting. The lyrics have always reminded me of "Stream of Consciousness" writing. In this method of writing, the writer simply sits and jots down the first things that come to mind, regardless if they make much sense. Usually one thought will lead to another, etc, much like dreaming. The result is...well, a heck of a lot like Stairway. In this type of writing, events going on in one's life naturally "creep in" to the lyrics. Therefore, it could well be that some of the lyrics had very much to do with what was going on in Plant's life at the time. If this is the case, then the song needs to be taken in that context. The lyrics have dreamlike imagery because that's sort of what they are. A wandering wakeful dream. By the way, this type of writing isn't very hard, but coming up with something that you'd actually want to publish can be a bit tricky.
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"There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven"
The song starts out about a lady, Erma Reese-Gywnn, who believes everything that dos not glitter is not valuable and she's buying a stairway to heaven. In Jimi P's castle, he was building a sun deck or a patio on the third story, which could be refered to as heaven, because of its height and beauty. In this song "buying"= building. They hired some lady contractor to build it. and when she brought in lumber, she caused damage and did not care of all the valuables she broke, hence "all that glitters is gold" (if it is not gold, its worthless) so she's building a stairway to heaven, heaven is the third story of jimmy's castle.
"When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for"
in the town they were in, there was only one hardware shop and it was closed, the owner on vacation. and erma, the contractor, needed tools, so she threatened them with all types of stuff and they eventually opened up the store, hence "with a word she can get what she came for"
"There's a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings"
to secure the sundeck she was building she had to enter jimmys guitar room, but there was a sign that said "stay the fuck out". without permission she went in. more than 95f his guitars were stolen in the room. The "sometimes words have to meanings" is robert plants sarcasm, because stay the fuck out means one thing....stay the fuck out!
"In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven"
reportedly Jimmy was out on his property, singing in his favorite tree, when he saw Erma's helper hanging out the Guitar Room's window. His berserk ranting ("misgiven thoughts") could be heard in the next county
"There's 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"
west of jimmy pages castle, was a coal buringp power plant. sulphur was just pouring everywhere, this pissed off robert plant because it was bad to the enviroment. He formed a protest group, but it soon was ended because there eyes were opened, they actually needed the power plant after all.
"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"
a choir for led zeppelin was to be formed, the zeppettes, and the new day for them would be singing careers, but they could not sign right, that's why he says a new day will dawn when we all call the tune, when they get it right they will get singing careers. They were laughed at by the neighbors, as the neighbors watched them rehearse from next door, hence the laughing forests.
"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now"
after some stupid parties that led zep attended, clothes were found in weird places. I guess it was a dress up party, after they all got drunk that is.
"It's just a spring clean for the may queen.
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"
IT is the clothes scattered everywhere, may queen is a washing machine page bought. Therefor its a spring clean for may queen.when he bought the machine, he had 2 choices, return or keep. but he had a warranty, that's why he still had time to change the roads of keep or return.
"Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know"
robert plants worst hangover
"The piper's calling you to join him",
John Paul Jones or John Baldwin, wanted Robert to go back to london with him
"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind"
this line is written to Erma Reese, the sundeck she made was torn down by a spring torrent that blew through that year, hence it lies on the wind".....she did a crappy job by the way, that's basically what it means
"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 ev'rything still turns to gold"
guess what, while the guys were driving down a road, turns out Erma dropped out the carpenter buisness, and she was waving a flashlight as she was trying to hitchhike. She promised them "everything still turns to gold. She got less than a dozen thousand pounds of earning from the sundeck job.
"And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all"
it means, "hey zeppettes, keep practicing"
"To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven"
Plant decided to be a rock, and SIT at home, in one spot, as a rock does. and not roll around tours. He wanted to stay at home with his wife and be a father for a while. and she's buying a stairway to heaven....in this point of the song, heaven changes, heaven is no longer a metaphor for pages castle, but it is now the bahamas, the last they heard of her was, she was buying a ticket to the behamas, possibly from the money she earned off the sundeck.
this my friends, is the meaning of stairway to heaven, nothing with the devil, nothing about drugs. nothing about going to heaven, just the life of led zeppelin. lets keep it this way -
This song was writtin in one night and that was it so how deep the meaning of this song goes is unknown. It is pretty much open for interpretation. I doubt that anyone knows what this song means because led has never released the true meaning and who knows if there ever was
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I would just like to say that as a LZ fan from the time of birth, I think you are all crazy for trying to put a lable on the greatest rock band of all time. And I am also very insulted that you would go so far to try and explain it with the most un-proven piece of literature ever written- the Bible. I am not a religious person, but I think the effect this song has on a person when they hear it for the first or one hundreth time is beyond explaination of word or creed. If you want to preach, go to a church. Don't try to explain away the most natural of feelings with a large book of fairy tales.
This song is beyond interpretation. The reason the artists who wrote this song say it is about nothing, is because it is about nothing. Sometimes if you try to hard to make people understand things they become more confused. If you try to let them intrepret for themselves, they may get something entirely different from you. Which does NOT make them wrong by any means. This song can mean too many things for you to explain to someone else's ears what they just heard.
So, for the love of music and the indescribable things it can do to you, stop trying to explain this song, and let the song explain it's self.
EAD -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
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.
If you play this bit backwards it says:
Oh here's to my sweet satan.
The one who's little path would make me sad,
whos power is satan.
He'll give you the 666.
There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer,
Sad Satan.
Listen to it at:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/stairway.php
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