Robert Plant Was Right to Change His Opinion and Defend ‘Stairway to Heaven’ When Led Zeppelin Was Accused of Hiding Satanic Messages

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant hasn’t always been the biggest defender of his former band’s most famous song. Plant wrote the lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven” in his early 20s. His words covering themes of materialism, morality, mortality, and hope were of a time and place that escaped him after he wrote them. He revealed his perspective changed again in 2022, but Plant also changed his opinion and defended “Stairway to Heaven” from some listeners, and he was right to do it.

Robert Plant hasn’t always been a huge fan of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’

It’s one of the all-time great songs in classic rock, but Plant has never been shy about his uneasy relationship with Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”

The singer once donated money to a radio station that promised not to play it on the air anymore. Plant often called “Stairway to Heaven” a song of hope and inserted the line, “Does anybody remember laughter?” during many live performances. Yet as he reflected on the lyrics years later, he found them naïve, and he refrained from playing the song live. 

Still, when some critical listeners accused Zeppelin of hiding satanic messages in “Stairway to Heaven,” Plant changed his opinion and defended the song.

“We were so proud of [the song],” Robert Plant told Rolling Stone in 1990, per Led Zeppelin FAQ author George Case. “[I]ts intentions are so positive, that the last thing one would do would be … I find it foul, the whole idea.” 

Plant seemed to have a change of heart about “Stairway to Heaven” when people attacked it. He was 100% right to switch tracks.

Plant was right to change his mind and defend ‘Stairway to Heaven’ when listeners attacked it

We need to set one thing straight. The idea Led Zeppelin purposely hid satanic messages in “Stairway to Heaven” that reveal themselves when you play the song backward is preposterous. Writing a song that sounds good played forwards is difficult enough without the added task of making sure it plays well backward.

Plant hasn’t always been a “Stairway to Heaven” fan, but he was right to defend the song when listeners attacked.

First, as Plant said, Zep was incredibly proud of the song, and they seemed to know they had something special. “Stairway to Heaven” closes side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV, an album they put a lot of thought into. They purposely left their name off the album jacket, and they didn’t title the record. Unlike Led Zeppelin’s first three albums, the members’ faces don’t appear. The message was clear — the album was meant to be all about the music. And “Stairway” occupied prime real estate at the end of side 1.

When you know you have created something special — Jimmy Page said “Stairway to Heaven” has an everlasting quality that makes it powerful — you defend it. You don’t sit by idly while others attack it. It would be like Pablo Picasso standing by silently as upset art enthusiasts badmouthed “Guernica.” Plant called the idea that Led Zeppelin would hide demonic messages in a song with positive intentions “foul.” That’s a strong defense from someone not having a specific attacker or accusation to respond to.

Plant helped bring “Stairway to Heaven” to life, so he gets the best of both worlds. He can critique his own work, bribe pay radio stations not to play the song, and mention how the lyrics he wrote at 23 don’t feel the same to him at 43, 53, or 73. But like any proud parent, you better believe he’d be the first in line to defend his art from outsiders who had no clue the amount of hard work that went into bringing the song into the world.

You earn the right to strike back when someone attacks you via your creation. Plant did it like a modest Englishman by simply calling the idea of hidden messages “foul.” But he was right to change his opinion of the song to defend it from laser-brained critics.

The song remains Led Zeppelin’s signature song and an all-time classic

Bassist John Paul Jones called “Stairway to Heaven” a Led Zeppelin sampler because it features each member doing something great. It was a statement song closing side 1 of their most successful album. Led Zeppelin seemed to know they had something special with “Stairway to Heaven.” The years proved them right.

It’s one of the few songs that’s instantly recognizable within one or two notes. Fans can argue about who is the greatest classic rock band, but most of them can find common ground in counting “Stairway to Heaven” among the greatest songs of its era. 

You can badmouth “Stairway to Heaven” if you want. That’s your prerogative as a music fan. But if you call out the song for satanic messages, be prepared for Robert Plant to offer his opinion to the contrary.

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