In My Time of Dying

In this blog, I've been trying to relate some personal experiences about Led Zeppelin's songs, and what they mean, or have meant, in my life.  Today, we'll give a glimpse to my future, and what I hope to have happen.

Ever stop to think about your own funeral?

We've all been to a lot of them.  We're sad to have lost our family member, or friend. Mayhap it was a sudden loss, or they were ailing for a while and death was a delivery from the bonds of disease.  Young or old, it's a time of mourning and grief.  I've been to sanctuaries and funeral homes. Some full of people; standing room only. Others have been a few family members. 

At every funeral I have been to, there has been music.  Church hymns, inspirational songs that the dearly beloved had always enjoyed.   If the decedent was Irish, you may hear "Danny Boy."  For fallen policemen or firefighters, a bagpiper is there to play "Amazing Grace." 

Well, at my funeral, of the music to be played, there are two certainties:  the hymn "Abide by Me," and Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying."  This opening lines to the song succinctly wrap up the thoughts I have on death:

In my time of dying, want nobody to mourn

All I want for you to do is take my body home

"In My Time of Dying" is Zeppelin's longest studio piece, clocking in at just over 11 minutes. It wasn't intended to be, but this isn't a song, it's a jam.   You can't edit a jam.  At the 5 minute mark, they really get into business, and If I am in the car, I need to be driving through town or have the cruise control set. If I don't, I'm bound  to hit the gas and make a trail.

I want this song played at my funeral for it to be my last word. The last notes rolling through people's heads, to be that of Zeppelin and the joy that I hear at that 5 minute mark. The ushers will be instructed that after about 7 minutes they can start to let people leave the room, but if they do, they're going to miss the end, where they trail off, Plant singing "Lord won't you make this my dyin', dyin', dyin'…. "  and someone coughs.  Plant doesn't miss a beat, and …. well, listen to it for yourself.

In 2009, a Davis Guggenheim film titled "It Might Get Loud" was released.  This documentary profiled Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, The Edge from U2, and Jack White from any number of projects.  I went to this film on opening night with my pal, Chang.  I went to see the Jimmy Page parts, and left with a tremendous amount of respect for all three, especially for Jack White and what he's doing with music today.  The guy is a genius.   Throughout the film, we're brought to a sound set where the three are sitting around on some couches, guitars near by and they talk and then play together. Toward the end of the film, the three launch into "In My Time of Dying."  I may not have breathed during this part of the film; i certainly was weeping.  It is so beautiful a thing to see these three greats jamming together on this song. I hope you also enjoy listening to them.  If you like what you hear, or enjoy any or all three of these artists, I strongly encourage you to take the time to watch this film. 

Travelling Riverside Blues

In 1990, Atlantic Records released a 4-CD or 4-casette tape Led Zeppelin box set.  I picked up the cassette version at the Musicland store at Ridgedale Mall, using some Christmas money.   After I got it, I brought my brothers back home, then raced over to my friend Pat's house to share the bounty.

This box set provided digitally remastered tracks from the studio albums. Not every song was included, to the chagrin of many; but to our delight, two previously unreleased tracks were included.  One of those was "Travelling Riverside Blues," a song written by blues master  Robert Johnson.  Johnson recorded his version in 1937.  Led Zeppelin recorded their version 32 years later, with the benefit of amps, effects, and Mr. Jimmy Page.

A foot stompin' blues song, Zeppelin's version borrowed Johnson's lyrics (not just from this song, but other Johnson songs as well), but little else.  Some of the lines that Johnson wrote are just pure gold, and I'm not just talking about the "squeeze my lemon" line. The best one is:

She's got a mortgage on my body, got a lien on my soul 

Beyond the lyrics, this tribute song is a Jimmy Page feature from the start; the lead guitar track is supplemented by dubbed-in background tracks by Page.  Bonham, as usual is awesome on the skins,  keeping the beat and tossing in a bunch of triplets on the bass. 

Give a listen to both versions of this song.  I dare you to not be at least tapping your foot along with the band.

 

Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp

If you listen to Led Zeppelin II, released in 1969, one thing you can say about it is: "They weren't being shy about turning up the amps."  Listening at home, it rattles the walls.  Listening in my car, the bass lines in the songs juggle my pancreas and spleen. 

In contrast to that level of electricity, Led Zeppelin III, released a little less than a year later, has more of an acoustic focus.  Most of the songs on the album were written a seaside cottage in Wales called Bron-Yr-Aur, and from the name of that cottage comes our Zeptember 5th song, "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp."

"Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" is one of Zeppelin's songs that always brings a smile to my face.  From the opening finger-picking lines all the way through, the tune is up-beat, and I'm hard pressed to not be tapping my feet or clapping or tapping something with my fingers, especially as John Bonham starts kicking that bass drum at about the 40 second mark.

Ah caught you smiling at me, That's the way it should be, 

Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine. 

Ah all the good times we had, I sang love songs so glad 

Always smiling, never sad, so fine. 

To what are we so happy about? Which is the object of our affection?  The most loyal of friends: A dog, specifically vocalist Robert Plant's dog.  (In the end of live versions of this song, Robert would call out "Strider!," which was the name of his dog, and another Lord Of The Rings reference.)

So of one thing I am sure, It's a friendship so pure, 

Angels singing all around my door, so fine. 

Yeah, ain't but one thing to do Spend my natural life with you, 

You're the finest dog I knew, so fine. 

It's plain, true honest love that he feels and it's clearly carried through this tune.  You can't help but catch that wave and enjoy the walk that they are on.

The Battle of Evermore

As I talked about yesterday, Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" is about J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings.  I have read this book over and over again in the last 20 years.  Thanks also to Peter Jackson, we have wonderful images that brought this story to life.  I’m eagerly awaiting his version of The Hobbit this winter (only 101 days to the release of the first installment!).  

While "Ramble On" makes references to characters, places, and themes in The Lord of the Rings, Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" is more overt in it's message, and elegantly portrays a sense of danger, gloom, and war. 

"The Battle of Evermore" opens fading in to Page playing a mandolin.  While I enjoy this song, and the message of it is a dear story to me, something I marvel at is that Jimmy Page hadn't ever played the mandolin before picking it up at Headley Grange and putting the chords together and writing this song.  From a 1977 interview:  "I just picked up John Paul Jones's mandolin, never having played a mandolin before, and just wrote up the chords and the whole thing in one sitting."   In one sitting.  I marvel at the talent that takes. I've played piano and saxophone. A few times I have tried to learn the guitar, and just not pursued it because I just had too much other stuff going on at the time.  I moved from alto sax to tenor sax to baritone sax to fill needs in the concert bands in high school.  The fingering and notes in the saxophone family are all the same; they just stretch out the brass a little more.  Are chords on a mandolin the same as on a guitar?  I don't know.  Perhaps they are.   And as for writing a song?  It's out of my league.

Back to Page opening the song with the mandolin:  we fade in, as if appearing through the mist.  Then Plant starts us off on the story.  In this song, Plant's vocals are telling the story, and are supplemented by Sandy Denny of the Fairport Convention calling the people of Gondor to action.  This is the only Led Zeppelin song to feature a guest vocalist, and due to how they wrote this song, another voice was needed.

	Plant (Narrator)	Denny (Crier)
	Queen of Light took her bow, And then she turned to go,  The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom, And walked the night alone.	Oh, dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light.
	The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all.	Oh, throw down your plow and hoe, Rest not to lock your homes.
	Side by side we wait the might of the darkest of them all. I hear the horses' thunder down in the valley below,  I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon, waiting for the eastern glow. The apples of the valley hold, The seeds of happiness, The ground is rich from tender care, Repay, do not forget, no, no.	Dance in the dark of night, sing to the morning light.
	The apples turn to brown and black, The tyrant's face is red.	Oh war is the common cry, Pick up your swords and fly.
	The sky is filled with good and bad that mortals never know. Oh, well, the night is long the beads of time pass slow, Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow. The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath, The drums will shake the castle wall, the ring wraiths ride in black, Ride on.	Ride On Sing as you raise your bow, shoot straighter than before.
	No comfort has the fire at night that lights the face so cold.	Dance in the dark of night, sing to the morning light.
	The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back. Bring it back. At last the sun is shining, The clouds of blue roll by, With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes.

This song is still just a back of the envelope summary of the story, but more of a picture is painted than that in "Ramble On," with direct references to Sauron, his Ringwraiths, The Ring itself, Frodo and Samwise, the horse riders of Rohirrim, Aragorn, and Galadriel.   Two of my worlds -- Tolkien and Zeppelin -- crossed paths again, and I personally couldn't be happier. It's a great song and another reason that I love Led Zeppelin.

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. 

Since I've Been Loving You

I work a lot. I work a lot for a lot of reasons.  I need a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear.  I have three awesome kids that need the same things.  In this economy, I'm blessed to have a good job, and I'm lucky to love my work.  I work with some of the greatest people I know, people I respect and trust, and I'm honored to call many of them Friend.  

We're consultants, and we're working with our clients to bridge gaps between the business and the Information Technology that is in place to help the business run.  IT is more than email and Microsoft's Word or Excel programs.  Information Technology is what comes together to connect data points and create information, information which is used to facilitate getting insurance claims paid, or socks and underwear from the manufacturer to your local retailer.

The nature of consulting is that we are there to bridge gaps. Some times it's straight out staff augmentation and helping out where the client needs more bodies. Other times, it's fun stuff where we get to help identiffy a problem and work out solutions to help the client do something differently. 

There's plenty of times on these projects where we work some absurd hours. During a data center relocation, we'll work all weekend, including shifts to cover all 24 hours of the day, in order to get things moved and tested before the business restarts on Monday morning.  On  a strategy project, we might be up late working on the final paper and a presentation to the management team.  One project I worked on, we not only didn't have the deliverables right, but there were some internal dynamics in place at the client that we didn't fully realize, and we were working almost round the clock for a few days to get things right.

The opening lyrics of "Since I've Been Loving You" sum up that situation.

Working from seven to eleven every night, 

It really makes life a drag, I don't think that's right. 

Those are just the opening lyrics, and they pale in comparison to the introduction that precedes them: a little over a minute of mournful guitar work by Jimmy Page, supplemented by Bonham and Jones.  I have sat and just listened over and over to that opening minute.  It's fantastic. Probably the best introduction to a song, ever. For the first 25 seconds, it's the guitar, Jones on the pedal bass and Bonham providing the beat, and then Jones kicks in with the organ.  Finally the words start and they just grab you as Robert Plant sets up the scene. 

Working from seven to eleven every night, 

It really makes life a drag, I don't think that's right. 

I've really, really been the best of fools, I did what I could. 

'Cause I love you, baby, How I love you, darling, How I love you, baby, 

How I love you, girl, little girl. 

But baby, Since I've Been Loving You. I'm about to lose my worried mind, oh, yeah. 

Working, all hours, and loving a woman, and starting to feel some sense of loss and desperation. He's doing what he can.   And in the next verse, the intensity of his emotion grows as he reveals that while others have seen things and tried to tell him, he's been blind to it because of his love for her, and because he's been working his ass off, and when he wails into the final line of the verse you can tell he's not only about to lose his worried, mind; he's already starting to slip.

Everybody trying to tell me that you didn't mean me no good. 

I've been trying, Lord, let me tell you, Let me tell you I really did the best I could. 

I've been working from seven to eleven every night, I said It kinda makes my life a drag, drag, drag, drag

Lord, that ain't right... 

Since I've Been Loving You, I'm about to lose my worried mind. 

The ensemble takes us through the bridge, this blues bit and as the bridge ends, Plant comes back:

I said I've been crying!

Oh my tears they fell like rain.

And as he goes back to the house to find her, he finds out she's done with him; someone has taken his place.  In this case, it sounds like someone physically has taken his place, but it can happen in an emotional way, too, and the end result is the same.  Here the song is at it's peak: drums and cymbals filling in, the guitar and organ wrapping it's arms around us to provide comfort that only it can do. No human can fill the void he's now feeling and quickly, the song ends. He's just worn out, and nothing more can come forth from him this day.

It wasn't just the hours I put in that led to my divorce. A lot of other things I did (or didn't do) contributed to it.  That doesn't take way from the fact that I know and feel the anguish that's conveyed in this song.

Good Times, Bad Times

Welcome to the month of Zeptember!  I've given myself a project to write about a Led Zeppelin song each day of the month.  A lofty goal; let's get started.

My early exposure to Zeppelin is from radio play and studio albums.  I'm too young to have been to a concert - well, not too young, but Zeppelin wasn't the music my parents listened to. When I got my own radio and could choose what I listened to, I realized I liked rock and roll.  I went through times of listening to pop and top 40 and even some country, but realized that rock & roll was what I liked the most.   I heard plenty of Led Zeppelin on KQ: "Stairway to Heaven" and "Black Dog" and "Heartbreaker."  One day, my pal asked me, "have you heard anything else by Zeppelin, like any song off Physical Graffiti besides 'Kashmir?'"  I hadn't. Pat got out the tapes  and from there, it was downhill and picking up speed fast.  Something was talking to me. These weren't just songs on the radio anymore, and what about these songs that weren't on the radio at all? 

I couldn't listen enough.   Most days since then, I listen to Zeppelin.  There have certainly been days where I haven't, but the scales are decidedly tipped in favor of "listened to Zeppelin." 

I went through a period of time a couple years ago where I didn't.  There was some weird and difficult times at home, and I wasn't fully aware of what was going on. My then wife asked me to move out for a bit and give her some space and time to think about our marriage.  I was in shock.  Embarrassed. Trying to understand what had gone on to get to this point.

(This blog isn't going to be just about my divorce. However, my divorce is part of my history.)

I went several weeks where I didn't listen to Led Zeppelin.  The only thing I was listening to was Twins games and some modern Christian-rock.  I was trying to get my head around what was going on in my life, and buried myself in books and music that I hadn't been reading or listening to before.   I realized I had really messed up in some places and was trying to inventory my life and what was going on around me. 

I had a lot of different things going on then.  The same day I left the house, I started a new project at work.  A lot of other changes were made in things I had been doing.  One day, I stopped myself and said: "Shawn, some of these changes you're making are fine.  It's good you've lost some weight.  It's good you've stopped drinking right now. It's good to improve your diet. But not everything in your past has to go away."  

A part of that was the music I had been listening to at the time.  It was fine.  Good messages, nice melody, but the radio stations seemed to have a list of 43 songs that they played throughout the day, and it was getting stale.  So I pulled out my iPod, deciding to listen to something else I loved, and Zeppelin seemed the logical choice. And if Zeppelin was the logical choice, their debut album seemed The Most Logical place to start, and the very first track on that album is "Good Times, Bad Times."

In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man, 

Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can. 

No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam. 

After the intro, these first words came on.  I began to wonder: "Did I really learn what it means to be a man?"  I might not have even heard the rest of the song at that point, or even the album then; it was suddenly just noise in my ears.  I thought, sure, I learned about the birds and bees, I knew you were supposed to have a job, and provide for yourself and your family, if you had one.   Don't steal.  If you get in a car accident, call the police to report it and trade information with the other drive.  Do the Right Thing.  I was also realizing though, that some of the things I had learned and that were normal to me, just were wrong. Most of that was with attitude, behavior, tone of voice and the look I could give.  And that stuff:  the attitude, behavior, tone of voice and look I could give, that is what led to the "same old jam." 

Some changes I have made have been more permanent than others. Some were a bit more temporary (like, I lost a lot of weight, but have put some back on.)   Zeppelin has come back in, and it's there now, almost daily.   

"Good Times, Bad Times" is the first song on the first studio album.  It's short, by Zeppelin standards, but it's all there. Plant's lyrics have hit me in different ways at different times.   John Henry Bonham's drum skills are all put to use; the steady high-hat, and insane triplets on the bass drum.  This guy was kicking out a steady beat with his left foot on the high hat and his right foot doing wild ass stuff on the kick drum. Listen to that!  I'm no drummer;  I'm not able to do two different things like that with my feet.    There's a great bass riff after the chorus too by Jonesy.   This song, as a debut song, really exemplifies the talents that each of these guys brought to the bad.