Hey Hey What Can I Do
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| “Hey Hey What Can I Do” | |||||
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| Single by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin Boxed Set |
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| A-side | Immigrant Song | ||||
| Released | October, 1990 | ||||
| Recorded | 1970 | ||||
| Genre | Folk rock | ||||
| Length | 3:55 | ||||
| Label | Atlantic | ||||
| Writer(s) | Robert Plant Jimmy Page John Paul Jones John Bonham |
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| Producer | Jimmy Page | ||||
| Led Zeppelin singles chronology | |||||
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"Hey Hey What Can I Do" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin. It is one of the more famous Led Zeppelin songs never to be released on one of their albums during the band's existence, and it is the only non-album Led Zeppelin track released between 1968 and 1990. It did however appear on the Atlantic Records U.K. various artists LP, The New Age of Atlantic, released in 1972. Led Zeppelin's dedication to the idea of the album as a whole meant they released few singles. This track appeared on one such rare single, as the B-Side of "Immigrant Song". The song was first released on CD in October 1990 on the 4 CD Led Zeppelin boxed set collection. In 1992, "Immigrant Song"/"Hey Hey What Can I Do" was released as a "vinyl replica" CD-1970 single. In 1993, "Hey Hey What Can I Do" was included on The Complete Studio Recordings 10 CD boxed set, as one of four bonus tracks on the Coda disc. The song is not included on the individual version of Coda. In 2007 Led Zeppelin released the track on line along with the rest of their back catalogue.
The lyrics tell of a man's love for a woman who 'wants to ball all day', 'stays drunk all the time', and who 'won't be true.' In the second verse it becomes apparent to the listener that the woman is actually a prostitute. Men are "standin' in line" for her on Sunday morning (or Saturday night), but are not "praying." The singer emphasizes this further by saying that he is "Lookin' for [his] street corner girl." The first verse is a declaration of his love and his desire to tell her that she is the only one for him. The second verse describes her infidelity and his jealousy and frustration. In the third verse he comes to the conclusion that he must leave her 'where the guitars play', a sentiment reinforced by the vamp in which the lead singer, Robert Plant, is backed by the rest of the band repeating the two lines; 'Hey hey what can I do' and 'Oh no what can I say.'
Several bands have covered Led Zeppelin's song or played it live:
- A live version of the song was performed and recorded by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes during their 2000 tour, and is featured on the album Live at the Greek.
- The Hold Steady covered the song on a 2 song 7".
- Hootie & the Blowfish recorded a version for the 1995 Led Zeppelin tribute album Encomium. This version also appears on their covers album Scattered Smothered and Covered
- A Dread Zeppelin cover appeared on the band's first single, appropriately enough as a b-side to a cover of "Immigrant Song."
- The song is one of the handful of Led Zeppelin covers which Robert Plant sang on his live shows in USA and Europe with Alison Krauss during April and May 2008.
The music is also the inspiration of the theme music for the ABC television series, What About Brian.
[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
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