The Wanton Song
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Wanton Song" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| from the album 'Physical Graffiti' | ||
| Released | February 24, 1975 | |
| Recorded | 1974 | |
| Genre | Hard rock | |
| Length | 4:06 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Writer(s) | Page/Plant | |
| 'Physical Graffiti' track listing | ||
| "Night Flight" (11) |
"The Wanton Song" (12) |
"Boogie with Stu" (13) |
"The Wanton Song" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. The song came about as the result of a jam session at rehearsals and features a riff from Jimmy Page. Lyrically it is all about sex, specifically sex with a "wanton woman".
For his solo Page employed a backwards echo, and also put his guitar through a Leslie speaker cabinet, as Jimi Hendrix had done on "Little Wing" and "Angel", to create a doppler effect with a Hammond Organ. This was a technique Page had himself used as far back as his work with The Yardbirds, and faced serious opposition from technicians when he tried it on the earliest Zeppelin recordings.
"The Wanton Song" was played live during some of the Led Zeppelin's European and American concerts in 1975, but was then dropped. The song was however played live a few times when Jimmy Page teamed up with The Black Crowes in 1999.
"The Wanton Song" was played live by one-off Led Zeppelin tribute band Hammer Of the Gods, featuring Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy.
[edit] Trivia
- This song is about sex. The band developed it during a jam session.
- The dictionary definition of "Wanton": Sexually indiscriminate: lacking restraint or inhibition, especially in sexual behavior.
- Jimmy Page used his "backward echo" on the guitar solo, where the echo is heard before the note.
- This is one of Robert Plant's favorites.
- Led Zeppelin played this live on some of their 1975 American and European dates, but it was soon dropped.
[edit] Sources
- Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
- The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page · Robert Plant · John Paul Jones · John Bonham |
| Discography - (Category) |
Studio albums: Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III ·  (Led Zeppelin IV) · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out DoorLive albums: The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won |
| Films |
| The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin DVD |
| Other |
| Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Swan Song Records · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Page and Plant · Strange Sensation · Bootlegs ∙ Concerts ∙ Songs |
