The Ocean (song)

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"The Ocean"

Song by Led Zeppelin
from the album 'Houses of the Holy'
Released	28 March 1973
Recorded	1972
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:31
Label	Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant
Producer(s)	Jimmy Page
'Houses of the Holy' track listing
"No Quarter" (7)	"The Ocean" (8)

"The Ocean" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. "The Ocean" refers to the sea of fans seen from the stage at Led Zeppelin concerts, to whom this song was dedicated. It is one of the few Led Zeppelin songs where all four members shared the writing credit.

This song is done in a 15/16 beat through the verses of the song, and then transitions to a 4/4 beat in the choruses and the outro. The voice on the intro is drummer John Bonham. When he says, "We've done four already but now we're steady, and then they went 1, 2, 3, 4!" he is referring to the takes. They had tried to record it four times prior but couldn't get it right, so as a pep talk he said this famous line.

Led Zeppelin playing "The Ocean" at Madison Square Garden, 1973

At approximately 1:37-1:38 into the song and again at around 1:41, a telephone can be heard ringing in the background. Some speculate that this was intentional - the sheet music (printed after the fact) that accompanies the CD box set has the word "ring" printed twice above the percussion tab of this song. Others are of the opinion that while Led Zeppelin recorded the song a ringing phone was accidentally captured in the mix.

In the last line, the "Girl who won my heart" is a reference to Robert Plant's daughter Carmen, (born November 21, 1968), who was three years old at the time of recording. In concert, Plant always updated the lyric to reflect her current age, as captured on the Led Zeppelin DVD which features the band's performance of the song at Madison Square Garden in 1973.

This is one of the few Led Zeppelin songs in which it is possible to hear the squeak of John Bonham's bass drum pedal in the studio, the others being "Since I've Been Loving You" from 1970's Led Zeppelin III, "Ten Years Gone" from 1975's Physical Graffiti, and "Bonzo's Montreux" from 1982's Coda.

The song is also known for a lyric intentionally misprinted on the insert sleeve of the LP. A lyric referring to "The Hellhound" (a homage to Robert Johnson who, as legend has it, could not have received such talent without meeting the devil and his "hellhound" at the "crossroads") was deemed unfit to print in the lyric sheet and was changed to the nonsense phrase "high hopes hailla".

The hard rock song unwinds to a coda consisting of a guitar solo and a doo-wop homage. Though barely audible due to all the guitar overdubs, during the last minute or so John Paul Jones and John Bonham sing for one of the only times on a Led Zeppelin album, as they harmonize the "doo-wop" phrase.

The Beastie Boys sampled this song on "She's Crafty." This wasn't the Beastie Boys' first use of Led Zeppelin, as they also famously sampled some of Bonham's drums from "When The Levee Breaks" for their track "Rhymin' And Stealin'". Robert Plant used parts of this song (and other Led Zeppelin songs) for his solo song "Tall Cool One," reportedly in response to the earlier sampling by the Beastie Boys. Additionally, Fort Minor sampled this in their song, "Dolla."

[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