Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Why does everyone have such a raging hardon for Stairway to Heaven? Don't get me wrong, it's a great song and all, and I like it, but why does it always get thrown on "The Best Shit In The Universe" lists in obligatory fashion? Can someone please relate their fascination with this song?
Guest redbaron51 Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 cause its the best solo, and most played song ever.
Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 I'd like to see some legit reasons, too. Don't leave me hangin'.
Guest gangsteruwa Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 I agree, it is definately good, but very overrated. The first time I heard it, I was like, "This is it? This is the song everyone creams themselves over?" I've asked some people this very question, and I've never gotten a straight answer. The best I got was "It's an epic song", "It has some great guitar playing, man" or "ZEPPELIN RULES!!!!"
Guest JAxlMorrison Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 I dunno, great lyrics, great guitar laying. And, when that part hits, "There's a feeling I get/When I look to the west".......I still get chills and I must've heard the song 10,000 times.
Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Great song, I agree like I said, but seriously, I don't even consider it the best song on the album, let alone the best Zeppelin song, let alone the best song ever.
Guest Dmann2000 Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 It just hit a bunch of stoned 20 somethings in the early 70's in the right place at the right time, it was long (8 minutes) it went from ballad to rocker (one of the first songs I know of that started as a soft ballad and built to a loud cresendo), it has 'mystical' lyrics, and so the masses just grabbed onto it and boisted it up as an anthem. I agree with AoO, great song not best on the album (When The Levee Breaks) not best by the group (The Rain Song)
Guest mesepher Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 it appeals to the masses, thats why its so 'great' although, it doesn't kick you in the face like "How Many More Times"
Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Which is exactly why that's my favorite Zeppelin song, even though "When the Levee Breaks" is really close. Actually, the two are interchangeable to me.
Guest mesepher Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Which is exactly why that's my favorite Zeppelin song, even though "When the Levee Breaks" is really close. Actually, the two are interchangeable to me. when I saw John Paul Jones and band in concert last winter, he did an AWESOME version of Levee on a steel pedal guitar... I'd recommend going to see JPJ if he ever comes around. That was the tour with JPJ and King Crimson (playing small theaters)... so it was over the top.
Guest WrestlingDeacon Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Dmann and Mesepher are pretty right. It's a song with good mainstream potential that hit the right people the right way at the right time. Legends are not built on actuality, but fantasy and hindsight. Overtime, Stairway to Heaven just sort of grew and built based on word of mouth and hype. If everyone on this message board just picked a random song and we all started talking about how it is the greatest song ever in ten to fifteen years we could possible get that to be considered the greatest song ever by the mainstream.
Guest Edwin MacPhisto Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Well then, I suggest we do just that with "Cum On Feel the Noize." Do it for your country, people.
Guest redbaron51 Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 Stairway was a hard song for the guitarist fanatics back then. The sad thing is that this song was made in about an 1, 10 minutes went to lyrics, where Plant was on an acid trip.
Guest NoCalMike Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 if you play the lyrics in the topic backwards, it supposedly says, "I get my power in satan" or something like that. I tried doing it using my sound recorder, but it doesn't sound like that at all, you hear a possible mumbled, "satan" but the rest is just babbling.
rising up out of the back seat-nuh Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 If you're gonna describe a song as the best of all time, its gonna be over-rated. The same with songs like Layla, Imagine, Bohemian Rhapsody, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Strawberry Fields Forever etc. They're all good songs, but I never play them, because other songs touch me more.
Guest JAxlMorrison Posted June 12, 2003 Report Posted June 12, 2003 For the record, this song was never released as a single either. It earned it's hype from Zep fans hearing it then constantly requesting it to radio til they were forced to play it.
Guest The Czech Republic Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 ZEPPELIN RULZ!!!!! Jimmy Page is the best guitarist ever.
Guest godthedog Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 If you're gonna describe a song as the best of all time, its gonna be over-rated. The same with songs like Layla, Imagine, Bohemian Rhapsody, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Strawberry Fields Forever etc. They're all good songs, but I never play them, because other songs touch me more. agreed, i think "a day in the life" is the only song that really matches up to the hype.
Guest DARRYLXWF Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Stairway is my personal favourite Zeppelin song, and I have most of their albums. I can see why some people think it's overated, and for some it can be the most boring thing they've ever heard, but for some reason it just strikes a chord with me. One critic claimed that it's the closest musical interpretation of an orgasm ever, and I can see why. It starts out slow with an acoustic guitar, and picks up the speed just a touch before bonham comes in with his drums. Then the solo hits as the song starts to get heavy, before punching you in the face with the 'As we wind on down the road' bit. The live version I think blows the studio one out of the water, with Page's extended solo and Bonzos drumming. As for the lyrics, I've got my own interpretation which I have no doubt is different to Page's, who claims that the song is about 'hope'. Even if the lyrics mean nothing, they're still cool.
Guest Dmann2000 Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Some people will tell you "(Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is the Stones best song... ...But we all know the real answer is "Gimmie Shelter"
Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Nay! The answer to that conundrum is "Sympathy for the Devil"
Guest DrTom Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Nay! The answer to that conundrum is "Sympathy for the Devil" Indeed. Followed closely by "Paint It, Black," IMO. As for "Stairway," sure, it's a heck of a song, but nothing could live up to the hype it received over the years. It's not the best song on IV ("When The Levee Breaks" and "The Battle of Evermore" vie for that honor, though the whole album is strong). My favorite Zeppelin song, and the best IMO, is "Kashmir."
Guest godthedog Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Nay! The answer to that conundrum is "Sympathy for the Devil" next to "you can't always get what you want," "sympathy for the devil" has to be the most overrated stones song ever. it's not that good. it doesn't rock & it isn't even particularly catchy, & the lyrics are overblown and cheesy. their simpler stuff like "turd on the run" and "bitch" was always better.
Guest INXS Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Try to imagine what that generation went through when they heard "Stairway to Heaven" for the first time and Zeppelin for that matter. There has always been music but it wasn't over exposed like it is today. You didn't have MTV then. FM radio was still small then and there wasn't rap and 150 different styles or rock music like there is today. Stairway to Heaven must have made the hair on your neck stand up. Same can probably be said for Sabbath, KISS, Aerosmith, Misfits and others.
Guest Agent of Oblivion Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 next to "you can't always get what you want," "sympathy for the devil" has to be the most overrated stones song ever. it's not that good. it doesn't rock & it isn't even particularly catchy, & the lyrics are overblown and cheesy. You're nuts, that song is all kinds of catchy. Little Piano hooks here and there, simple lyrics, "woo woo", hand drums..like it or not, you're kidding yourself if don't think that's a catchy tune. I'd agree that it's not that particularly good...but then again I don't think the Stones are that good of a band, either. Catchiness, energy, presence, and image they've got in spades, but when it comes to licks (pun intended) they get stomped by other British bands of the era, like The Beatles and The Who.
Guest mesepher Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Nay! The answer to that conundrum is "Sympathy for the Devil" everyone is forgetting about "Stray Cat Blues" - now there is a Stones song!
Guest godthedog Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 "sympathy" has just never made me want to get up & shake my moneymaker, or even bob my head. and they could be great with licks. 'sticky fingers' is pretty much built around great guitar licks.
B. Brian Brunzell Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 Nay! The answer to that conundrum is "Sympathy for the Devil" Nay to you. "Tumbling Dice" is the best Stones song of all-time. Oh, "Stairway to Heaven" is not the most played song of all-time, "Yesterday" is.
Guest WrestlingDeacon Posted June 13, 2003 Report Posted June 13, 2003 My favorite Stones song is Beast of Burden and I would definetely put Tumbling Dice in the top five there. But there best song was Paint it Black, closely followed by Under my Thumb and Dead Flowers.
Guest JangoFett4Hire Posted June 15, 2003 Report Posted June 15, 2003 Best Songs... Zep- That's the Way Stones - Memory Motel (esp the bridge sung by Keef)
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