Ramble On

In the summer of 1992, I was living back at my parent's place between terms at school.  For the second summer in a row, I was working at a truss manufacturing plant from about 6:00am until I was done.  After work, I'd possibly catch up with some friends, but they were all working too, so most weeknights I was back at my folks to eat and sleep.

It was in that summer that I read The Lord Of The Rings trilogy for the first time. I know I had started reading it one time earlier in my life; maybe the 9th grade.  I just couldn't get into it then.  But in 1992, I had an opportunity to work a lot of hours during the day, and needed to fill the dead time in a house without cable TV. Books have always been the means of an escape for me, and that year I decided to read through them.  This time, unlike in 9th grade, after about 5 pages, I was hooked.   I read from the moment I got home from work until my eyes hurt or I was falling asleep with the book plopping on my face.   Tolkien's writing transported me out of the corner of the basement I was in to The Shire, to Rivendell, to Helm's Deep and "the darkest depths of Mordor."

T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. 

But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.

I'd been listening to Zeppelin for years by the time I read these books, and now I understood this reference in "Ramble On."  Now, I knew who Gollum was, where Mordor was, and this whole song took on meaning for me. Now when I hear this song, I'm transported. This song is but a thumbnail sketch of the books; it cannot replace them, but it jumpstarts my brain.  Other Zeppelin tunes also feature The Lord of The Rings, one of which I'll write about tomorrow.

Ramble On from KeepItFancy @ Etsy.com

The overall impression of this song to me is of happiness, despite the task at hand. Especially of meaning to me is the chorus line:  

Ramble On, And now's the time, 

the time is now, to sing my song. 

An enterprising artist on Etsy took this line and made a print, which I've ordered.  This will hang in the entry way of my home, so that we see it as we make our way out on whatever ramble it is we are on.