Led Zeppelin’s 1971 single Stairway to Heaven is hands down one of the most famous recordings. Many will go so far as to say that it’s the greatest rock song of all time. In fact, the song has been so impactful that it even ensued a legal battle between Jimmy Page and the 1960s band, Spirit. Allegedly, the fight was over the song’s iconic riff. Spirit claimed that Page ripped it off their 1968 instrumental song Taurus. Zeppelin won the years-long case in October 2020.
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Anyways, the point is that the song made a real dent in rock and pop culture history. Stairway to Heaven, Zeppelin’s immortal masterpiece (as some refer to it) was written by Robert Plant who has stated that he drew inspiration from Scottish writer Lewis Spence and his book Magic Arts in Celtic Britain. But since the lyrics are more or less vague, people have interpreted the song in their own ways over the years, which only adds to the magic and mystery of the track.
Still, we’re not here to be vague. We’re here to dissect and demystify. So, let’s begin…