What Is and What Should Never Be
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "What Is and What Should Never Be" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| from the album 'Led Zeppelin II' | ||
| Released | 22 October 1969 | |
| Recorded | 1969 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 4:46 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Writer(s) | Page/Plant | |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |
| 'Led Zeppelin II' track listing | ||
| "Whole Lotta Love" (1) |
"What Is and What Should Never Be" (2) |
"The Lemon Song" (3) |
"What Is and What Should Never Be" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
This was one of the first songs on which Page used his soon-to-become trademark Gibson Les Paul for recording. The production makes liberal use of stereo as the guitars pan back and forth between channels. The vocals were phased during Robert Plant's choruses.
This was also one of the first songs recorded by the band for which Robert Plant received writing credit. According to rock journalist Stephen Davis, the author of the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, the lyrics for this song reflect a romance Plant had with his wife's younger sister.
"What Is and What Should Never Be" was performed live at Led Zeppelin concerts between 1969 and 1972. A live version taken from a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD.
Jimmy Page performed this song on his tour with The Black Crowes in 1999. A version of "What Is and What Should Never Be" performed by Page and The Black Crowes can be found on the album Live at the Greek.
The song inspired the name of an episode of the popular Teen Drama One Tree Hill.
[edit] External links
- Review: All Music Guide
[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
- Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, by Stephen Davis, New York: William Morrow & Co., 1985, ISBN 0-688-04507-3.
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page • Robert Plant • John Paul Jones • John Bonham
Studio albums: Led Zeppelin • Led Zeppelin II • Led Zeppelin III • Live albums: The Song Remains the Same • BBC Sessions • How the West Was Won Compilations: Box Set • Profiled • Remasters • Box Set 2 • Complete Studio Recordings • Early Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume One • Latter Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume Two • Coda The Song Remains the Same • Led Zeppelin DVD Peter Grant • Richard Cole • Swan Song Records • The Yardbirds • XYZ • The Firm • Page and Plant • Strange Sensation • Bootlegs • Concerts • Songs |
