Why ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Is So Dividing for Led Zeppelin
“Stairway to Heaven” is arguably the most notable song released by Led Zeppelin. While it’s all subjective, “Stairway to Heaven” tops many of the greatest rock n’ roll songs. However, the band doesn’t have the same opinion as their audience. The group is divided on “Stairway to Heaven,” as a few members aren’t sure whether they love or hate it.
Led Zeppelin has mixed feelings toward ‘Stairway to Heaven’
“Stairway to Heaven” was released by Led Zeppelin in 1971 for their fourth untitled studio album. Guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant wrote the track. While the song was never released as a single, it was still a hit, as it became one of the most in-demand songs on U.S. radios. Despite all the acclaim, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin don’t share the same opinion on it.
In an interview with BBC, Page said the song had a lasting impact on fans because it showed all four members at the height of their musical powers.
“It was really an inspired period of time,” Page said. “It sort of shows the everlasting quality of this music over all these years is the fact that everyone is playing so honestly and with such conviction. It really shows.”
Bass player John Paul Jones also admitted to liking “Stairway to Heaven,” as it showed the versatility of Led Zeppelin.
“I actually like ‘Stairway,’” Jones told Classic Rock Stories. “I know that’s really corny, but it encompasses a lot of the elements of the band – from the acoustic start to the slightly jazzier section, even, and then to the heavier stuff towards the end.”
The contrasting opinion of “Stairway” comes from Plant, whose view of the song has consistently changed. Around when it first came out, Plant would refer to it as Led Zeppelin’s “wedding song.” The singer said he was so tired of singing it that he would only be able to do it in a reggae style.
“I truly loathed it,” Plant said. “When we used to rehearse, we’d perform ‘Stairway’ as a reggae tune because Page could never get me to sing it otherwise.”
One performance may have changed Robert Plant’s opinion of the song
Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980, but “Stairway to Heaven” has lived long past that. Part of the reason is that other artists have recorded their versions of the track, including singers like Dolly Parton and Mary J. Blige. One phenomenal rendition of the song came from Heart, who performed the song with Bonham’s son, Jason, at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Led Zeppelin.
The three surviving members watched in awe, and Plant reacted emotionally to the performance. In an interview with Vulture, Plant said it made him feel differently about “Stairway to Heaven,” as if he had no ownership over it anymore.
“‘Stairway to Heaven’ has its own life. Later I often felt estranged,” Plant said. “It began intimate and vulnerable and sincere, and then the years carried on. It was no longer ours, and neither should it be. Now it’s out there driving people to distraction and then maybe driving a hard bargain.”
“It was a spectacular performance. I’m now a voyeur,” he added. “I’m not responsible for it anymore. I’m not in guitar shops being told not to do it. I’m not going down the aisle at a wedding playing it with a flute. I love the song. It came upon me and stripped away all the years of being a part of all that.”
