Rock of Ages (song)
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| “Rock of Ages” | |||||
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| Single by Def Leppard from the album Pyromania |
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| Released | 1983 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 1982 Park Gates Studios Battle, Sussex, England Battery Studios London, England |
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| Genre | Hard rock, Heavy Metal | ||||
| Length | 4:09 | ||||
| Label | Mercury | ||||
| Writer(s) | Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Robert John "Mutt" Lange | ||||
| Producer | Robert John "Mutt" Lange | ||||
| Def Leppard singles chronology | |||||
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"Rock of Ages" is a popular hard rock song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. It takes its name from the hymn Rock of Ages. When released as a single, the song reached #1 on Mainstream Rock and #16 on the Pop Singles charts.
It begins with a German-like nonsense phrase, “Gunter glieben glauten globen”, which was later sampled in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring and "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" by Puffy AmiYumi and also "Rape of ages" by The Mentors. According to the official Def Leppard FAQ,
These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean nothing in particular though, the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently". It's gibberish, said by producer Mutt Lange during the recordings of the song, instead of the regular one, two, three, four.
The song proceeds to reference "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" by Neil Young with the lyrics "It's better to burn out/Than to fade away."[citation needed]
The album's title is mentioned in this song, "Drive me crazier; no serenade, no fire brigade, just a pyromania."
According to the liner notes of the compilation release Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, the band was at a recording studio when lead vocalist Joe Elliott stumbled upon a hymn book left by a member of a children's choir that had just used the studio. In the book, he saw the words "Rock of Ages," which prompted him to write the lyrics of the song.
This song, along with a modified "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph", are on the 2007 movie Balls of Fury.
In the film Highlander, the opening lyrics -- "I got something to say, it's better to burn out than fade away" -- are recited by the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) following a verbal confrontation with Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert).
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[edit] Music video
The music video was directed by David Mallet[1] and shot on 8 December 1982 (Guitarist Phil Collen's 25th birthday), in Battersea, London, England.
Former Def Leppard co-manager Peter Mensch appears in this video as one of the monks.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 12": Vertigo / VERX6 (812 293-1) (UK)
- "Rock Of Ages"
- "Action! Not Words"
[edit] External links
- Def Leppard official FAQ: What does “gunter glieben glauten globen” mean?
- Songfacts.com on Rock of Ages
[edit] Notes
- ^ Def Video 2 Pyromania 1983/High 'n' Dry 1984, Def Leppard UK.com
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