By Orhan HM. '25
Inspired by the recent Becoming Led Zeppelin movie, I thought it would be fun to revisit the iconic 70s rock band around 5o years after their heyday.
Led Zeppelin formed when four unassuming British teenagers–Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass/keyboard), and John Bonham (drums)–joined forces to jam out in London. Starting at the tail end of the 1960s, the band pioneered the popularization of hard rock, interlacing folk intros, blues chord progressions, and jazz/funk syncopation into their hits. Interestingly, the band did not gain widespread local popularity in Britain until a wildly successful 1968-69 tour in America elevated Led Zeppelin to a global sensation.
In 1971, during their rise to musical dominance, Led Zeppelin released an eight minute epic that I believe is the greatest song of all time in terms of musical mastery. That song is Stairway to Heaven.
First and foremost, I STRONGLY suggest you go listen to Stairway to Heaven before reading this, especially if you don’t know the song already. If possible, listen with headphones because the song is mixed to have different instruments coming from each headphone; trust me, it makes it much cooler.
One of the most prominent aspects you’ll notice is the surprising length of the song, which clocks in at just over eight minutes long. Usually I’m opposed to songs that drag on for too long, but Stairway to Heaven is a special case. What sets the song apart from other extended length songs is the slow, logical build to Led Zeppelin’s usual thrumming rock. This allows the song to progress naturally and still feel novel into the fifth, sixth, and seventh minutes, when most songs of similar length inevitably become repetitive.
After listening over the song many times, I came up with a breakdown of four distinct sections to illustrate what I mean. Complete with short descriptions and spotlights on my favorite elements of each section, I hope to give an overview of the complex musicality I see in Stairway to Heaven.
Section 1 – Mysterious folk (0:00 to 2:14)
This section is defined by the iconic acoustic guitar melody, which I think is probably the most recognizable part of the song. As the joke goes: “How many guitarists does it take to play Stairway to Heaven?” “All of them, apparently.” If the song had cut off after the first two minutes, you really would never guess how it develops.
Hero: The vocals
Robert Plant’s cryptic lyrics really set the tone for the folk-like intro. I feel like no matter how much I focus on them, there is meaning behind them evading comprehension. Intangible lines like “In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings / Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven,” always lend themselves to thought and contribute to the replay-ability of the song.
Sleeper: The recorder
I mean come on! Who puts recorder in a rock song? Led Zeppelin, apparently. The melodic whistling of the recorder just reinforces the whole vibe of this section. I particularly love how the recorder and guitar lines converge from differing tempos to mirror or harmonize in unison after each pair of lines, filling the pause to the next lyrics.
Section 2 – ??? (2:15 to 4:18)
I can comfortably say that this is the hardest section to characterize, hence the lack of a title. As far as I can tell, it exclusively features acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and distorted synthesizer, a bizarre mix of instruments. Something truly special was needed in this section to overcome the seemingly chasmic divide between the styles of sections 1 and 3, and while a critic could label this section a superfluous intermediary, I see it as Led Zeppelin pushing the envelope to solve their unique challenge.
Hero: Guitar synergy
Once again, Led Zeppelin pulls an untraditional move by overlaying two guitar parts: acoustic guitar strumming and a clean, undistorted e-guitar line. Neither is drowned out by the other, instead complementing each other surprisingly well, despite usually living in different areas of the music world. As the section progresses, the acoustic guitar gets progressively more restrained, the e-guitar ramps up, and both gradually increase in tempo, building the bridge to the later parts of the song.
Sleeper: The synthesizer
Only after the first couple of times listening through the song did I notice the subtle twangs of a synthesizer in the background of this section, which poke through during breaks in the singing. Particularly, it is nestled most prominently as deep additions in the offbeats of the guitar strumming motif. In the absence of a bass guitar, the synthesizer shoulders the burden of adding both stability and layered complexity to the melody. Continuing into the next section, the synth is also creatively utilized to harmonize above the exclusively middle-register guitar line.
Section 3 – Smooth rock (4:19 to 5:55)
I firmly believe that Led Zeppelin could start the song here, give it an edgier title, and slot it into the upper ranks of their impressive catalog. With the addition of drums, the song takes on a faster-progressing, more upbeat tone, while somehow still retaining the mysterious quality with lyrics like, “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run / There's still time to change the road you’re on.” Ever a story of controlling the steady build of energy in the song, section 3 culminates in what I can only describe as a triumphant “gearing up” of the e-guitar.
Hero: The drums
Simple and understated, John Bonham’s drumline does exactly what it needs to in this section. He opens with a crisp, classic kick/snare/closed hi-hat rhythm: well executed drum kit fundamentals. In the middle, he transitions to a “slushy” pattern dominated by light cymbals utilized without their characteristic (at least in rock) crash. After returning to the original pattern, Bonham cuts out all together, spotlighting the guitar toward the end of the section with silence and sparse, booming kicks. Finally, he joins back in with an escalating tempo and variety of drum kit elements to match the transition into the guitar solo.
Sleeper: The bass
Throughout the whole song, the bass goes more or less unnoticed. As far as I can tell John Paul Jones is inactive during the first two sections, and only really comes into play during this section, specifically in the instrumentals sandwiching the lyric “and it makes me wonder.” His under-the-radar walking bassline textures the song with ascending and descending three-note triads.
Section 4 – An archetypal Led Zeppelin climax (5:56 to 8:03)
Section 4 represents the anticipated hair-raising finale to the song. Following an electrifying guitar solo, Robert Plant enters with his characteristic high-register voice amidst a hammering tempo. To cap it all off, the Led Zeppelin machine fades out to spotlight Plant’s last line: “And she’s buying a stairway to Heaven.” As the first time these words are repeated since section 1, this conclusion brings the song full circle.
Hero: The electric guitar
What else could I pick for this section? Jimmy Page’s guitar solo is a perfect example of his style at its best. The rapid sections traverse up and down the guitar fluidly, culminating in three and four note cycles at the upper end of the guitar's range. Equally impressive, the “slower” sections (not slow by any stretch of imagination), make ample use of slides and string bending to accentuate the wailing guitar sound.
Maintaining the energy but shifting gears, Page ushers in the return of the vocals with gritty power chords that drum on for the remainder of the song. I use “drum” very intentionally here because of how rhythm-driven the guitar is. Especially with the addition of dead strums that don’t produce a placeable note but sound surprisingly similar to the sound JBL speakers make when they turn on, (anyone else hear this?) I’ll stand on my belief that the guitar acts like a second percussion instrument.
Sleeper: The drums
I think John Bonham’s contributions to this section are easily overlooked in favor of the dominant guitar, but play a vital role nevertheless. During the majority of the solo, his drumming is restrained. However, I can’t overstate how much I think his flourishes add to the two major finishing moves. In the first (6:16), he throws down five rolls on the toms after the ringing high note, echoing the cycling of the guitar. This crucially maintains the energy, and, in my opinion, outshines the weaker guitar line transitioning to the next phase of the solo. In the second (6:42), his snare-heavy motif interlaces masterfully with the shrieking guitar to add the final touch to a legendary solo.
My verdict
Suggested in my choices for the hero and sleeper of each section, one of the defining features of my argument for Stairway to Heaven’s musical supremacy is the variety of instruments and techniques woven together into a single song. It is a work of art to give guitar picking and strumming, recorder, synthesizer, e-guitar lines and power chords, bass, drums, and two styles of vocals their respective spotlights while avoiding the song devolving into a jumble of sound.
At the same time, Stairway to Heaven serves to showcase individual mastery across different styles of music. Jimmy Page’s guitar solo shows outstanding technical ability to mold the guitar to his will, fitting into a larger context of his consistent pushing of the envelope for what is possible on an electric guitar. Similarly, John Bonham displays a rock-solid (no pun intended) understanding of the role of drums in the band. As commended by the rest of the band, his drumming never took up more space than necessary, instead reinforcing and highlighting the work of the other band members with highly intentional rhythms, pauses, and flourishes.
As a group, Led Zeppelin exhibited their growing experience by crafting a genre-spanning, timeless anthem, throwing down the figurative gauntlet in terms of making mass-appeal hard rock music. The public response to the song says it all. On the radio, Stairway to Heaven quickly became the most frequently requested song of all time, causing stations to stop taking requests for the song and default to playing it a couple of times each day.
Lyrically, Led Zeppelin is no match for true poets like Bob Dylan, while artists like the Beatles or Michael Jackson have them beat for pure fame any day. However, I think the individual brilliance, collective harmony, and versatility of ability displayed in Stairway to Heaven sets it apart as the greatest song of all time, musically.
Need I say more?
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