Ramble On

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"Ramble On"

Song by Led Zeppelin
from the album 'Led Zeppelin II'
Released	22 October 1969
Recorded	1969
Genre	Hard Rock
Length	4:24
Label	Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Page/Plant
Producer(s)	Jimmy Page
'Led Zeppelin II' track listing
"Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" (6)	"Ramble On" (7)	"Moby Dick" (8)

"Ramble On" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was co-written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and was recorded in 1969 at Juggy Sound Studio, New York, on the band's first concert tour of the United States.

The song's lyrics were heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The opening line ("Leaves are falling all around") is probably a paraphrase of the opening line of Tolkien's poem "Namarie". The poem may also be the inspiration for the entire first verse.

The Tolkien references later in the song refer to the adventures of the Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, as he travels to Mordor:

“

Mine's a tale that can't be told, / My freedom I hold dear; / How years ago in days of old / When magic filled the air, / 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.

”

Plant later admitted in an audio documentary that he was embarrassed by the Tolkien references. References to the work of Tolkien also exist in several other Led Zeppelin songs, such as "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp," "Misty Mountain Hop," and "The Battle of Evermore."

The guitar's jangly introduction employs a classic Jimmy Page technique: using regular open chords superimposed higher on the fretboard. Often mistaken for bongos, drummer John Bonham is actually hitting a plastic garbage pail throughout the song.

The song also serves as a classic illustration of the tight interplay between bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. Jones' light, melodic bass phrases give way to a clever ascending motif which follows Bonham's bass drum perfectly.

"Ramble On" was never performed live in its entirety at Led Zeppelin concerts. However, part of the song was performed by the band in the middle of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" at a concert at Toronto on November 2, 1969, as can be heard on the Led Zeppelin bootleg "Listen to my Bluebird".

"Ramble On" is one of the Led Zeppelin songs featured on Remasters Disc 1.

The group Train, whose lead singer was previously in a band which did entire sets of Led Zeppelin songs, covered "Ramble On". Producer Brendan O'Brien heard Train's version and agreed to produce their second album.

The song was also sampled by the Insane Clown Posse for the song "50 Bucks" on their rare album Psychopathics From Outer Space, and was also the single that accompanied The Pendulum #7, a 12-comic series of the group done by Chaos! Comics. In 2004, the song was ranked #433 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[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