Stairway to haven – lyrics, formation and analysis
The lyrics of the song:
Stairway to Heaven
(Page/Plant)
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.
"Stairway to Heaven" formation and lyrics' analysis:
"There's no specific meaning of this song. The song was written for that
purpose"- said Robert plant, the soloist of the band "led zeppelin" who
wrote the lyrics of this song.
Here is my analysis of this song:
The song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin has seven verses which
each of them is full of poetic characteristics such as internal rhymes,
onomatopoeia, and most importantly metaphors. The length of "Stairway
to Heaven" is about eight minutes. This song includes music genres like
folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock.
The atmosphere in this song is slow and depressing until the end. By the
end of this song the melody gets faster and lively to show happiness and
hope.
Verse 1 –
At the very beginning of this song we can see a metaphor – "There’s a
lady who's sure all that glitters is gold" - this metaphor related to a girl, a
girl which has over self-confidence and a lot of pretentiousness.
Moreover there is an internal rhymes in Line 3 – "When she gets there
she knows, if the stores are all closed" which gives the song a catchy
sound.
All the lines in this verse support the following idea:
The girl thinks she can have anything at any time as it says clearly "With
a word she can get what she came for."(Line 4)
Verse 2 "There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings."(Lines 6-7) –
Probably means that a lot of things happened to this girl in her life and
the sign on the wall indicate her upcoming death. (It's connected to the
last line in the first verse " and she's buying a stairway to heaven").
"In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven "(Lines 8-9) - people usually
think that songbirds symbolizes peace and harmony but in this context of
the line this particular bird is suspected by people for being unusual
songbird ("… our thoughts are misgiven") and even symbolizes the death.
It's support the idea that the girl will die.
Verse 3 – in this verse the writer probably speaks about the Western
world where people just can not understand the importance of life (in the
70's). People around gaze at the burnt trees and don’t do anything about it
and it's distressing the writer.
Verse 4 –
A hopeful verse with a favorable and optimistic atmosphere.
The whole verse if full of metaphors.
The main idea in this verse is: Follow your heart, believe in yourself, and
it will lead you to your destiny.
Verse 5 –
In verse 5 the writer continues with the favorable atmosphere.
"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen" – there are two meanings for
these lines:
The obvious meaning: if the bushes are rustling, don't worry; it's the new
wind of spring.
Between the lines we can see another meaning: if you have some
problems in life do not take it so hard and personal. It will be
disappeared.
"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." – even if you choose the
wrong way in life and you made a mistake there is still enough time to
change your way.
Verse 6 – "Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't
know" – the word humming is the only onomatopoeia in this song which
was used once and is also a metaphor like the other lines in this verse.
The main idea in this verse is: life is fleeting and you must follow your
heart and be a good person, because sometimes there is no enough time to
change your way and the death is waiting in the end.(" Dear lady, can you
hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.")
Verse 7 –
"And as we wind on down the road. Our shadows taller than our soul."- a
shadow is placed behind human being and the soul is placed inside a
human being, and that is why In this song the shadows which represent
the past are stronger than the soul which represents the present.
"There walks a lady we all know.
Who shines white light and wants to show.
How everything still turns to gold." - means that we all can have
anything we want if we try hard enough.
"And if you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last." -Means: if
you believe in yourself, the redemption will come to you at last. When all
are one and one is all." – means that we are all one. The world is like a
one unit.
"To be a rock and not to roll".-To stand tall and not run away.
The last line in this song – "And she's buying a stairway to heaven."
Declares the death of the girl.
Song summary:
In general the song "Stairway to Heaven" discusses a girl, A girl that
determines her fate (the motifs "oh it makes me wonder", "and she's
buying a stairway to heaven" almost in the end of every verse, support
this idea).However, in this song the writer acts as an instructor who
guide the girl to live a better life and tries to save her from the death, but
he is failed.
The first three verses in this song are in the light of pessimism. These
verses speak about the upcoming death of the girl and the wrong living in
the western world. The next three verses are in the light of optimism.
In these verses the writer tries to convince the girl to change her ways and
behavior.
In the last verse pessimism and optimism are combined together.
Although the girl has died , there is still hope for others to change their
ways in life and live a better life.