I absolutely adore Led Zeppelin but positively hurl when I hear Stairway

[LynneSin]

It has to be the worst song of all time and not just for Led Zeppelin. It's obvious my dying admiration for all things Led Zeppelin but I wish we could make "Stairway to Heaven" cease to exist. I hate that song! I hate the fact that every time I see someone from LZ in concert (mainly Page or Plant) you can guarentee someone in the audience will scream Stairway the entire time. I hate that every fricking radio top #500 countdown of alltime greatest songs has "stairway to Heaven" as their top song (it shouldn't be - it sucks).

Am I alone in this world? I don't even think Robert Plant himself would argue with me about the absurdity of "Stairway to Heaven"

[coloradodem2005]

1. I like Stairway.

I like it a lot. It is a little overrated and I would say Kashmir was a superior song, but I still like Stairway, along with just about every song that Zeppelin ever did.

[Malikshah]

2. Even when Dolly Parton does it?

It was on her Halos and Horns album...interesting take to say the least.

[LynneSin]

4. I heard she did a remake but I don't have the stomach to listen to it...

...hell, I can't stand Dolly Parton's voice, do I want to hear her sing the worst song of all time?

[Malikshah]

18. Say it isn't so!

Dolly's voice is so much fun-- but I agree-- to be honest I prefer her version of stairway to the original-- but it's akin to preferring chewing tinfoil to bamboo shoots under the nails...;)

[Modem Butterfly]

30. I have that on MP3. It is interesting

I think Dolly missed the point of the song entirely. But it's nice to hear a truly original re-make.

[sundog]

3. I like it

:blush:

sawwy :(

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. not to mention some of the dumbest lyrics ever

what the hell is a bustle in your hedgerow? I don't think it is the worst song ever...I think MacArthur Park takes the cake (get it cake...lol) but it is quite possibly the most overplayed song ever.

[trotsky]

6. Whew, I thought I was alone in thinking it sucked.

I never understood how it was always on the "best EVER" rock songs list.

[LynneSin]

7. I don't either, especially with so other amazing LZ songs in this world

btw, Rock & Roll is being added to my list, but only because of that stupid Cadillac commercial

[BOSSHOG]

8. About a hundred years ago when I was a slim and handsome

Seaman Apprentice, standing a firewatch in an old wooden transient barracks at Naval Training Center, San Diego, I had to listen to Stairway for four straight hours. One of the borders had it on a record player that replayed and replayed and replayed. I almost set fire to the building myself.

[LynneSin]

9. when the local rock station got booted off of one station and moved

to another on the dial - their first 24 hours they played nothing but "Stairway to Heaven" and I'll confess that I actually listened to it most of the day that I could have the radio turned on.

But I was just 13-14 and starting the journey into my world of all things Led Zeppelin - what the hell did I know?

[Maestro]

10. Agreed

I love Zep, but that song just became too popular for its own good.

[tridim]

11. Not nearly the worst, but also not the best

But I still believe it's a classic track. I like it, goofy lyrics and all. I think all guitar players like it because it's usually one of the first (and easiest) tunes they learn to play.

[redqueen]

12. I think the song's okay.

But I'm sure sick to death of it from being overplayed.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. I don't care for it. And it's the basis of the urban legend..."three of my

friends were in a car and it drove off a bridge...into a tree...over a cliff...etc., and when the emergency vehicles showed up "Stairway to Heaven" was stuck playing in the tape player...:eyes:

[Ron Mexico]

14. I actually hurl at "Rock & Roll" and "Living Loving Maid," but

can tolerate "Stairway." "Rock & Roll" is the most overplayed and mediocre song in Zep's catalogue.

I know this isn't the world's greatest first post, but I just learned that you can't start new threads on first posts so I thought I'd get my feet wet in the lounge.

[LoZoccolo]

15. Yeah "Rock and Roll" is one of my least favorite.

It sounds too much like other songs that other bands have written or something. When I listen to Led Zeppelin, I want to hear Led Zeppelin-style rock!

[LynneSin]

19. Welcome to DU

:hi:

See, now I'll always remember you as the guy who had his first post in my Led Zeppelin thread

:bounce:

[Ron Mexico]

29. Thank you, LynneSin

And I'll always remember you as the person who started the first thread I ever posted in :)))

[BOSSHOG]

23. Welcome to DU Ron Mexico

We look forward to your posts.

[Ron Mexico]

28. Thank you, Boss (n/t)

[DelawareValleyDem]

16. Nah, not alone, it sucks

and is overrated, which makes it suck even more.

[NoSheep]

17. I agree with you LynneSin. I think the music has really stood the test of

time but Stairway gives me the creeps. Maybe it is because there are so many other great songs that didn't get the airplay. It's just worn out and doesn't hold up like many of their other songs. I've been a fan for 30 yrs! I think Stone Temple Pilots must be great fans too. Alot of their music pays homage to LZ.:thumbsup:

[LynneSin]

20. STP did a Zep song on Howard Stern once

I forget which song but it was fricking amazing. Every morning the Stern show will start off with one of the songs done by a group on their show and about once every other month you'll hear the LZ song done by STP.

Damn, I wish I remembered what song, I think it might have been Hey, Hey what can I do

[hfojvt]

21. I usually hurl when I hear any Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant's voice is like fingernails on a blackboard for me, and most of their songs drag, drag, drag. Stairway is one of a few Zeppelin songs that I can tolerate. Unlike most of the rest, I will not change the radio station if it comes on. It drags, but it is supposed to, it is a ballad, and it does not have Robert Plant going "oooooh".

[LynneSin]

22. Oh but that's the best part of an LZ song - when Robert Plant is getting

all sexual like that - he's such a hottie!!!

[hfojvt]

26. not a big turn-on for a hetero male

for me the best part of an LZ song is when I hit the "off" switch. Ah, the sounds of silence.

[LynneSin]

31. Ah but see, that's where you're wrong

LZ can play to your advantage when seducing said women of the opposite sex. Trust me on this one, slip on a little LZ (like "Since I've been Loving you") and then go for the left earlobe - it's almost a sure lock-in

:D

[hfojvt]

33. mixing sex and Led Zeppelin

seems like putting vinegar in your honey, or brocolli on your pizza. Imagine trying to make love when someone is standing there scraping their fingernails on a blackboard. Doesn't work. The relationship is doomed by musical incompatibility.

[indy_azcat]

24. It's better'n Moby Dick

Maybe it's cool in concert, but it's the least played part on my vinyl.

Achilles Last Stand was always my fave :)

[Dora]

25. Gilligan's Island Song fits Stairway's melody line.

Try singing the Gilligan's Island lyrics to the melody of Stairway.

It's scary.

[LynneSin]

27. Kinda like playing Pink Floyd's Dark SIde of the Moon to Wizard of Oz

I've done that and it's real!

[Dora]

34. Yeah, like that...

But the bar singalongs that Gilligan's Stairway inspires are truly awesome to behold!

[DelawareValleyDem]

40. You mean like this?

http://www.gilligansisle.com/stairway.html

[ellenfl]

32. I HATE 'STAIRWAY'!!!

lz seemed to lose their edge after the first 2 albums. i don't acknowledge anything after lzII. my brother loves 'stairway' but what does he know, he's just a kid.

same with the doors. half of the morrison hotel album is not up to their early standards.

ellen fl :headbang:

[sallydallas124]

35. It's so disappointing

when a radio dj says they will be playing Led Zeppelin and it ends up just being stinking Stairway to Heaven. Compared to many of their other songs, it seems so passionless. It's a "guy" song.

[Tom Kitten]

36. I know exactly why you don't like it...

It doesn't have a steady beat! You really need to hear the disco version in order to truly appreciate this song.

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/exclusives/record_collection/pop_up_areas/this_weekspick_stairway.shtml

[taught_me_patience]

37. Stairway to Heaven is a great song

starts slow with weird lyrics and builds to a nice crescendo (much like freebird). but it is by no means their best song.

The most underrated Zep song is "How Many More Times"... that song ROCKS!!!



taught.

[kick-ass-bob]

38. I don't see what the big deal with it is.

Its not the best, but its not bad.
Did you have a bad acid trip with it playing? Or was it during the Febreze incident?

[Zuni]

39. I ONLY like Zep I and II

the rest of their stuff turned into some weird occult jam band folk sitar crap. I am a bluesman, and when they played bluesrock, they rocked.

[mitchum]

45. Uh oh!

I always thought that Zeppelin was terrible when they were doing their blues rock moves (with the exception of Memphis Minnie's "When The Levee Breaks") and should have conceded the genre to more capable hands like the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and the Magic Band. i actually prefer their "weird occult jam band folk sitar crap" They finally did excel in that genre :)

[Mike Daniels]

41. I'm partial to "In my time of Dying"

but I can understand the appeal of "Stairway" as the introductory arrangement and lyrics were miles away from the cock-centric hard rock that formed most of Zep's more noted songs prior to that point.

That said, I could easily go a year or two without hearing the song and not miss it.

[mitchum]

42. I just concentrate on the arrangement and production...

The lyrics are certainly boneheaded and I have heard the progression enough times for several lifetimes, but the song IS put together in an immaculate way.

[Left Is Write]

43. Stairway to Heaven is the only Led Zeppelin song I never listen to.

I got burned out on it 25 years ago.

[Technowitch]

44. "Kashmir" is the cure for that, my friend.

*grins*

[BreweryYardRat]

46. Oh yeah.

There's like...2 minutes of good music at the end after 6 minutes of lead-in.

Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp is much better, as is When The Levee Breaks, Trampled Underfoot, and...well, just about anything else.