Best Song Ever: Stairway To Heaven

[Freeski]

follow the piper 
They Sold Their Souls For Rock & Roll: Led Zeppelin Exposed
http://youtu.be/Iwzzb1mZuaU

That excerpt from a 10-hour documentary was mildly interesting, and I'll admit in advance that I know very little about the personal lives and psychology of one of my top-two favorite bands of all time, the other been Pink Floyd, but I can recite most of the lyrics in almost all of their songs.

"Whispering Wind" can mean all sorts of things -- for example, a book by one of my favourite political "fiction" writers, Frederick Forsyth:

Whispering Wind. The story is about Ben Craig, a Frontier Scout in the Custer Army during 1876. The army was told to escort the Indians, who had crossed over to other territories for hunting, back to their designated lands. However, the army did not receive clear instructions, and believed that their mission was to kill the Indians. Chancing upon a small tribe of Indians, with only the women and children, the husbands (warriors) having gone hunting, their extermination was immediate. Craig noticed a girl who was injured in the thigh by a bullet, and instead of killing her, suggested that the girl be sent back for questioning to find out the other tribal locations.

"The May Queen" might be able to be interpreted as harmless or harmful, depending on context and intent of the word/phrase:

The May Queen is a girl (usually a teenage girl from a specific school year) who is selected to ride or walk at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age groups dance round a Maypole celebrating youth and the spring time. According to popular British folklore, the tradition once had a sinister twist, in that the May Queen was put to death once the festivities were over. The veracity of this belief is difficult to establish, but while in truth it might just be an example of anti-pagan propaganda, frequent associations between May Day rituals, the occult and human sacrifice are still to be found in popular culture today. The Wicker Man, a cult horror film starring Christopher Lee, is a prominent example of these associations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Queen

I see three possibilities about the lyrics of Stairway To Heaven:

1) The Zeppelin lads were young and naive and simply thought of fantasy, the occult and legends as a cool shtick. (especially Page)
2) They (mainly Page and Plant) may have used the band to send a positive message, knowing the best way to appeal to kids was in some roundabout way. Stairway To Heaven, for example, could be showing the dangers of following the wrong life path (yes there are two roads you can go by).
3) They were snatched up by evildoers, as teenagers, and all four agreed to be recruited into the Satanic New World Order.

As for playing the songs backwards, that's been around since day one and I personally find it weak and flakey -- even though I have learned to not discount anything anymore because it truly is a weirdly f**ked-up world. Anything's possible but I will go to my grave loving Page and Gilmour solos!

[decepticon]

To me "Whispering Wind" would be where they get the songs from. I think the music is channeled through them, like Dylan talks about. They hear the music and mainly just take notes and try to recreate it. Biblically satan is refered to as the prince of the power of the air.

"May Queen" is also a poem by Crowley. The only literary work I know of that formally uses that exact name. I'd like to think these musicians weren't too big into the occult, but Plant buys Crowley's house after he dies ? To me that shows he was pretty into this guy.

I don't really buy into the playing the song backwards stuff too much, it's just too far of a reach for phrases like "Jesus turned me off..." I mean what does that even mean. Jesus turned me off of lying to people...

[Jacob Law]

Good analogy, on Zeppelin, I think they meant good at first, but got mislead. 

That excerpt from a 10-hour documentary was mildly interesting, and I'll admit in advance that I know very little about the personal lives and psychology of one of my tiptoe favorite bands of all time, the other been Pink Floyd, but I can recite most of the lyrics in almost all of their songs.

"Whispering Wind" can mean all sorts of things -- for example, a book by one of my favourite political "fiction" writers, Frederick Forsythia:

Whispering Wind. The story is about Ben Craig, a Frontier Scout in the Custer Army during 1876. The army was told to escort the Indians, who had crossed over to other territories for hunting, back to their designated lands. However, the army did not receive clear instructions, and believed that their mission was to kill the Indians. Chancing upon a small tribe of Indians, with only the women and children, the husbands (warriors) having gone hunting, their extermination was immediate. Craig noticed a girl who was injured in the thigh by a bullet, and instead of killing her, suggested that the girl be sent back for questioning to find out the other tribal locations.

"The May Queen" might be able to be interpreted as harmless or harmful, depending on context and intent of the word/phrase:

The May Queen is a girl (usually a teenage girl from a specific school year) who is selected to ride or walk at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age groups dance round a Maypole celebrating youth and the spring time. According to popular British folklore, the tradition once had a sinister twist, in that the May Queen was put to death once the festivities were over. The veracity of this belief is difficult to establish, but while in truth it might just be an example of antigen propaganda, frequent associations between May Day rituals, the occult and human sacrifice are still to be found in popular culture today. The Wicker Man, a cult horror film starring Christopher Lee, is a prominent example of these associations.
http://en.wiped.org/Viki/May_Queen

I see three possibilities about the lyrics of Stairway To Heaven:

1) The Zeppelin lads were young and naive and simply thought of fantasy, the occult and legends as a cool shtick. (especially Page)
2) They (mainly Page and Plant) may have used the band to send a positive message, knowing the best way to appeal to kids was in some roundabout way. Stairway To Heaven, for example, could be showing the dangers of following the wrong life path (yes there are two roads you can go by).
3) They were snatched up by evildoers, as teenagers, and all four agreed to be recruited into the Satanic New World Order.

As for playing the songs backwards, that's been around since day one and I personally find it weak and flake -- even though I have learned to not discount anything anymore because it truly is a weirdly f**getup world. Anything's possible but I will go to my grave loving Page and Glamour solos!

[Freeski]

To me "Whispering Wind" would be where they get the songs from. I think the music is channeled through them, like Dylan talks about. They hear the music and mainly just take notes and try to recreate it. Biblically satan is refered to as the prince of the power of the air.

"May Queen" is also a poem by Crowley. The only literary work I know of that formally uses that exact name. I'd like to think these musicians weren't too big into the occult, but Plant buys Crowley's house after he dies ? To me that shows he was pretty into this guy.

I don't really buy into the playing the song backwards stuff too much, it's just too far of a reach for phrases like "Jesus turned me off..." I mean what does that even mean. Jesus turned me off of lying to people...

I believe it was Page who bought Crowley's house, was it not? I'd love to hear Page's current thoughts on the occult and stuff.

[decepticon]

I believe it was Page who bought Crowley's house, was it not? I'd love to hear Page's current thoughts on the occult and stuff.

Oh you're right, sorry, can be dyslexic at times

Ya I wonder about Page, from what I understand he kept making music, but never quite seemed to recapture the "magik" he had with zeppelin. Guess it's kind of like trying to catch lightning in a bottle.

[Jacob Law]

I believe it was Page who bought Crowley's house, was it not? I'd love to hear Page's current thoughts on the occult and stuff.

Dave Mustang was on 20/20 Thursday, had some interesting thing to say about music and the occult.

[Freeski]

Ya I wonder about Page, from what I understand he kept making music, but never quite seemed to recapture the "magik" he had with zeppelin. Guess it's kind of like trying to catch lightning in a bottle.

Plant re-created his first group, The Band of Joy, and is performing in my town this year (woohoo) at our jazz festival!

But... jazz? WTF?

[Protean]

Bill Hicks - Satan In Music
http://youtu.be/Q_69yvFZH9U

[Jacob Law]

Look I saw Zeppelin live and I loved the albums, but either they were stoned out of their mind and just mediocre live.

[Freeski]

Bill Hicks - Satan In Music
http://youtu.be/Q_69yvFZH9U

LOL -- Satan keeping up with technological advances!

[Khazaq]

LOL -- Satan keeping up with technological advances!

You think humans have invented anything that surprises angels?

[Freeski]

You think humans have invented anything that surprises angels?

I guess that depends on whether angels are real or not, and what they're up to in this world.

[goforward]

Arabesque - Lucifer's Lover 
http://youtu.be/y339KUNEO1M

[goforward]

Arabesque - Lucifer's Lover 
http://youtu.be/y339KUNEO1M