Darkest Depths of Mordor -- Led Zeppelin

[Bullgrit]

Listening to the radio yesterday while puttering around my office, I discovered something surprising. “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin was playing — a song I’ve heard a hundred times over the decades — and I noticed a line that sounded like, “in the depths of Mordor.”

“Mordor,” I thought, “like in Lord of the Rings? In a Led Zeppelin song?”

So I looked up the lyrics online. What I found surprised me. I even checked three different lyrics sites to be sure.

How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her…

Well, color me impressed. I don’t know what surprises me more, that Led Zeppelin so obviously referenced LotR in one of their songs, or that I never noticed it or knew it despite how many times I’ve heard the song.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HemKGDavw]YouTube - Ramble On - Led Zeppelin[/ame]

Bullgrit

 

[Stoat]

See also, The Battle of Evermore on Led Zeppelin IV.

 

[Dragonhelm]

And the Misty Mountain Hop!

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[D'karr]

I have it on good authority that they took their inspiration directly from this one:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04&feature=fvw]YouTube - Leonard Nimoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins[/ame]

 

[Bullgrit]

Apparently, my brother thinks I'm wrong -- Total Bullgrit

I wouldn't mind if someone knowledgeable wanted to say something in reply to him

Bullgrit

 

[SolitonMan]

Another good literature-based song is Blue Oyster Cult's Black Blade. Definitely worth a check, especially the version on Extraterrestrial Live.

 

[Klaus]

More than the quoted part is about LotR:

Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.
But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do...

This is a dead-on depiction of Rivendell, where the Fellowship stayed for weeks in the book.

*Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

"Sing my song" is something frequently done in LotR, specially by that damned Aragorn!

 

[Hand of Evil]

Apparently, my brother thinks I'm wrong -- Total Bullgrit

I wouldn't mind if someone knowledgeable wanted to say something in reply to him

Bullgrit

See Ramble On - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more info on it.

 

[Ourph]

I wouldn't mind if someone knowledgeable wanted to say something in reply to him

There is no question that Robert Plant was a Tolkien fan and often referenced Middle Earth in his lyrics. He also named his dog Strider.