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Rating:
The third album by Led Zeppelin is without a doubt the most maligned by music critics.
What stands out the most is that, in the face of so much trash being given a presumed dignity of "historicity," the third work of this band that bridged rock from its blues hues to the hard phenomenon (also significantly contributing to shifting the music scene from the USA to the UK) was as poorly accepted at the time of its release as it was later snubbed, almost as if it were a misstep by the band, whether or not you want to include "Houses of the Holy" among the recommended ones.
The truth is that Jimmy Page, after such and so much apprenticeship with the Yardbirds, after the success of exhausting tours across different continents, after the noise for the first two albums, with the second one—several gold records—that was even recorded in the intervals of a US tour with copied (pardon, freely interpreted artistic) local melodies, Jimmy Page—let's say—retreats with his group into a remote Welsh cottage and meditates on his own artistic vein.
In this context, the third album of Led Zeppelin, the most complex one, is born.
The record (which preferably wants to be listened to on vinyl, at "realistic" volume) opens the curtain with a track, "Immigrant Song," which, although it clearly connects to its audience with the hard sounds and that voice which will pave the way for every hard or metal group to come, already hints at something different in structure, practically devoid of a refrain, and in the lyrics, always quite defiant, but very different from the various "... way, way down inside, honey, you need it..." and "...squeeze me, baby, till the juice runs down my leg..." that exhaustively exemplify the deep themes of the second album.
It continues with "Friends," a rich blend of influences and sounds, the first song published by Led Zeppelin with the complete renunciation of Bonham's powerful drums, almost implying that they wanted to open spaces for a new musical formula (something that will be repeated later in the album). Reassuring the fans with the "classic" "Celebration Day," they also offer the blues ballad "Since I've Been Lovin' You," which with that voice and those guitar slides, you go grab a beer from the fridge and think about the first love story of your life.
But, without dwelling too much, now I ask the most willing among you to listen to "Tangerine," up to the end of the first half (with the guitar starting after 1:40, until 2:02) and I ask you: is it the latest, heartfelt, single from the famous metal group, or is it a ray of light, the fold of the elbow of a Michelangelo sculpture, recorded 32 years ago?
A record beautiful, very beautiful, so rich in inflections and artistic digressions that it does not deserve to be appreciated by those who cannot understand it. Those softness and melancholy that are still considered excessive today, likely fueled that same artistic vein from which "Stairway to Heaven" is about to spring and that, when exhausted, will leave our guys searching among arid riffs and yodels from country cousins (with all due respect).
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Immigrant Song (02:30)
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords.
On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing.
02 Friends (03:50)
Bright light, almost blinding
Black night, still there shining
I can't stop, keep on climbing
Looking for what I knew
Had a friend, she once told me
"You got love, you ain't lonely"
Now she's gone and left me only
Looking for what I knew
Mmm, I'm telling you now
The greatest thing you ever can do now
Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now
It's very easy just
Met a man on the roadside crying
Without a friend there's no denying
You're incomplete, they'll be no finding
Looking for what you knew
So anytime somebody needs you
Don't let them down, although it grieves you
Someday you'll need someone like they do
Looking for what you knew
Mmm mmm, I'm telling you now
The greatest thing you ever can do now
Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now
It's very easy just
Ohh, yeah
I'm telling you now
The greatest thing you ever can do now
Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now
It's very easy
It's very easy
It's very easy
It's easy, yeah
03 Celebration Day (03:30)
Her face is cracked from smiling, all the fears that she's been hiding
And it seems pretty soon everybody's gonna know
And her voice is sore from shouting, cheering winners who are losing
And she worries if their days are few and soon they'll have to go
My my my, I'm so happy
I'm gonna join the band
We gonna dance and sing in celebration
We're in the promised land
She hears them talk of new ways to protect the home she lives in
Then she wonders what it's all about when they break down the door
Her name is Brown or White or Black, you know her very well
You hear her cries of mercy as the winners toll the bell
My my my, I'm so happy
I'm gonna join the band
We gonna dance and sing in celebration
We're in the promised land
There is a train that leaves the station, heading for your destination
But the price you pay to nowhere has increased a dollar more
Yes, it has!
And if you walk you're gonna get there, although it takes a little longer
When you see it in the distance you will wring your hands and moan
05 Out On The Tiles (04:00)
As I walk down the highway, all I do is sing this song
And a train that's passin' my way, helps the rhythm move along
There is no doubt about the words are clear
The voice is strong, is oh so strong
I'm just a simple guy, I live from day to day
A ray of sunshine melts my frown, and blows my blues away
There's nothing more that I can say, but on a day like today
I pass the time away, and walk a quiet mile with you
All I need from you, is all your love
All you got to give to me, is all your love
All I need from you, is all your love
All you got to give to me, is all your love
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
I'm so glad I'm living, and gonna tell the world I am
I got me a fine woman, and she says that I'm her man
One thing that I know for sure, gonna give her all the loving
Like nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody can
Standing in the noonday sun, trying to flag a ride
People go and people come, see my rider right by my side
It's a total disgrace, they set the pace, it must be a race
And the best thing I can do is run
All I need from you, is all your love
All you got to give to me, is all your love
All I need from you, is all your love
All you got to give to me, is all your love
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
07 Tangerine (03:10)
Measuring a summer's day
I only find it slips away to grey
The hours, they bring me pain
Tangerine, Tangerine
Living reflections from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen
And now a thousand years between
Thinking how it used to be
Does she still remember times like these?
To think of us again, and I do
Tangerine, Tangerine
Living reflections from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen
And now a thousand years between
08 That's The Way (05:40)
I don't know how I'm gonna tell you
I can't play with you no more
I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me
My friend, the boy next door
I can't believe what people saying
You're gonna let your hair hang down
I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long
You're in the darker side of town
And when I'm out I see you walking
Why don't your eyes see me?
Could it be you've found another game to play?
What did mama say to me?
That's the way, oh, that's the way it oughta be, yeah yeah
Mama say that's the way it oughta stay, yeah yeah
And yesterday I saw you standing by the river
And weren't those tears that filled your eyes?
And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying
Had they got you hypnotized?
And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers
But all that lives is born to die
And so I say to you that nothing really matters
And all you do is stand and cry
I don't know what to say about it
When all your ears have turned away
But now's the time to look and look again at what you see
Is that the way it oughta stay?
That's the way, that's the way it oughta be, oh don't you know now
Mama said, mama said that's the way it's gonna stay, yeah
10 Hats Off To (Roy) Harper (03:40)
When I done quit hollerin' baby
I believe I'll shake 'em on down
Get me baby, won't be late
You know by that I mean seconds late
Ah, must I holler, must I shake 'em on down?
When I done quit hollerin' baby
I believe I'll shake 'em on down
Well I ain't no monkey
I can't climb no tree
No brown skin woman gonna make no monkey out of me, yeah yeah
I ain't no monkey
Sure can't climb no tree
I been mistreated babe
I believe I'll shake 'em on down
Well I've been mistreated babe
I believe I'll shake 'em on down
Listen mama, put on your mornin' gown
Put in your nightshirt mama, we gonna shake 'em on down
Must I holler?
Must I, must I, must I shake 'em on down?
Ooh well, I been mistreated baby
I believe I'll shake 'em on down
Gave my baby
Twenty dollar bill
If that don't get her
I'm sure my shot-shot-shotgun will
Yeah, I gave my baby
A twenty dollar bill
If that don't get that woman
I'm sure my shotgun will
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