We hebben het lang uitgesteld, maar het moest er natuurlijk een keer van komen. Stairway To Heaven heeft dezelfde route afgelegd als The Dark Side Of The Moon: in de jaren ’70 zó vaak gehoord dat je er doodziek van werd en je pas rond 2010 weer realiseerde hoe goed die song en dat album eigenlijk wel niet waren. De tekst handelt over een gepriviligeerde vrouw die denkt overal recht op te hebben, maar niets terug wil geven. Tekstschrijver Robert Plant bewonderde Tolkien en de tekst refereert verschillende keren aan The Lord of the Rings (All that is gold does not glitter/Not all those who wander are lost). Niet iedereen was overigens evenzeer onder de indruk. Lester Bangs noemde Stairway To Heaven “a monument of pretension” en de tekst “a thicket of misbegotten mush”, een mening die ik heel lang gedeeld heb. Lester heeft nooit de kans gehad zijn mening bij te stellen. Ík denk dat het tijd is voor eerherstel voor de “ur-song of classic rock”.
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
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder
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
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder
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
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
And it makes me wonder
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 are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
And she’s buying a Stairway to Heaven
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Andrew Smith – I took this photo from the very front of the stage during the brief moment I was able to squeeze in there while he (Jimmy Page) was playing Stairway to Heaven Previously published: I have posted it on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmeda/8243848813/in/photostream, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22999966
