A Look at Stairway To Heaven
Nov 1st, 2007 by Guitar MX Admin
| It was 36 years ago this month that Led Zeppelin released their album, Led Zeppelin IV, which contained their best known song, Stairway to Heaven. Although the song was never released as a single, it has been recognized as one of the most popular songs in rock history. It’s easily the most requested song on FM radio, and was ranked #31 on Rolling Stone magazines’ list of the Top 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time. |  |
It’s also the best selling piece of sheet music, selling an average of 15,000 copies a year and very popular on tablature web sites.
In honor of the 36th anniversary of the release of this great song, Guitar MX takes a look at Stairway to Heaven.
- The song is written in the key of Am, and is fairly easy to learn. Learn to play the song here.
- The beginning of the song bears a striking resemblance to the song ‘Taurus‘, recorded by Spirit. Although the Spirit song was never citied by Led Zeppelin as being an influence for STH, Led Zeppelin did use other bits of material by Spirit in their live performances. Spirit songwriter Randy California later said that he didn’t consider STH a rip-off of his song Taurus, but simply a “reworking” of it.
- The bulk of the lyrics were written at Headley Grange, a former poorhouse where the members of Led Zeppelin would retreat for songwriting. As Jimmy Page strummed the chords to the song, lyrics flowed from Robert Plant’s pen. “My hand was writing out the words….I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat.”
- The song has been parodied and referenced in popular songs and on the covers of albums.
- This kid is amazing. Watch him play the entire song in Part 2a, Part 2b, Part 3.
- Here’s a rendition on classical guitar by Peo Kindgren. Flawless as usual.
- Led Zeppelin is known for being a bit touchy about having their songs used in movies. So much so that it was not allowed to be played in the movie Wayne’s World, hence the line: No Stairway – Denied!
- Give me a break (it does sound creepy though).
Find out more about the song by clicking here.