I know I heard it last week. I tested out a new pair of headphones, and I put them thru their paces by playing some classic albums I have listened to many, many times. So, yes, recently I laid on the couch and "close listened" to The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street," (1972) and Led Zeppelin's "IV" (1971) (also known as Zozo). Two of the all-time great R&R albums. No doubt. The remastered CDs sound absolutely fabulous. If you want to know what r&r is, what it's about, what it can do to you, you can't do better than spinning those records.
Anyway, this morning, before day-light, I mean, in the blackest of black hours of the night, I awoke with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" dancing in my head. The acoustic guitar, the mellotron, Plant's voice, the step by step build, Page's electric guitar-army, the bass, the dramatic entrance of John Bonham's drums, the swell, the peak. Climax!
It takes you on a journey. Maybe it's corny now, maybe not. It is an amazing track. No doubt. Perfectly executed. Epic. Grand. Overblown. Cliche, because it's been played to death. Too familiar. So obvious. But, you know, it is an undeniable song.
I couldn't shake it this morning. I lay in the dark, wondering should I get up and make the coffee, or should I lay here, turn over, try to still my warring mind and go back to sleep? I got up. So, yeah, I'm making the coffee and those classic lyrics roll out across my mind-space. I take it as a good omen, a propitious event. I mean, why not?!
"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 stand looking
That's you
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
Remember laughter?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah..."
- Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
