“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (click here to listen)
There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven
There’s a sign on the wall,
but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes
words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook,
there’s a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
You know
There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
That’s you
And it’s whispered that soon,
if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn
for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
Remember laughter?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah…
And it makes me wonder
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now
It’s just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on
Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know
The piper’s calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all is one and one is all, that’s what it is
To be a rock and not to roll, oh yeah
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Robert Plant / Jimmy Page
Stairway to Heaven lyrics © Flames Of Albion Music, Inc.
COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS SELECTION –
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
“BBD” is about estrangement and the recognition that the road to success, security, wealth and power can let you down. This is the ‘broad’ or ‘easy’ way, often taken, and in Jesus’ words, the road that leads to destruction (see Mt. 7:14-24), The singer’s hopes have been crushed, and he finds himself very much alone, so we can imagine this could have been the state of mind of Jesus before he met John the Baptist.
The ‘singer’ of the song is the main character from Green Day’s song “Jesus Of Suburbia,” who leaves town, has one crazy first night and now it’s kind of like the hangover. He’s just walking, thinking about whether it was the right decision leaving where he used to live, not knowing what lies ahead.
Or perhaps this is Jesus in Gethsemane who, having done all that was expected of him, finds that all it has got him was this crisis moment, where he feels desperately alone on the path to the cross.
Either way, it is the song of someone who wants nothing more than ‘someone to find him’; someone to hear and understand him and take his message to heart.