All right, I couldn't help myself. I HAVE to go there.

Besides being one of the greatest rock bands in music history, (and despite massive drug use) Led Zeppelin was a remarkably literate bunch. It's no secret that Led Zeppelin IV was a tribute to Tolkien.

Now, I'm not going to attempt in the least to suggest that this album is a deep treatise on Tolkien. There's still plenty of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll in here that have nothing to do with Lord of the Rings. However, it would seem that there is a definite underlying unity of theme that is, what I feel, the source of mysticism for the album and what has led to both its extreme popularity over the years and fascination with the meaning of the music.

There are enough references throughout the music of IV to convince me that, although not every song has explicit references, the album was designed more or less as a loose echo of the story's plot. As we move along, it would be helpful to have the lyrics handy. Take, for example, the first song on the album:

Black Dog
Jones/Page/Plant

Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.

Doesn't seem like much, does it? You could extrapolate that this anticipation of motion refers to the peace in Hobbiton about to be shattered, but that's too much. Let's move to the next line for something easier:

Oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing, gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting.

Led Zeppelin hasn't gone two lines and twenty seconds into the album when they drop a name that we all recognize. Although the song goes on to overtly be an advance to some girl, this song could also be identified as a song by the One Ring to Frodo, both tempting and taunting him as he begins his journey.

Rock and Roll
Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant

Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. Yes it has.

Uhhh... can we say Arwen and Aragorn? I think safely so. It has been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. The third verse, where it is explicitly stated that it "seem so long since we walked in the moonlight/making vows that just can't work right" helps this idea out too, evoking the thought of the two plighting their troth on the hill of Cerin Amroth.

The Battle of Evermore
Page/Plant

The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all.

This one is by far the most obvious and deliberate in its Tolkien references. Besides its explicit use of terms like Dark Lord and Ringwraiths, the overall tone is epic and highly poetic. This song could have been sung in the courts of Minas Tirith.

Although it represents the War of the Ring as a whole, it more specifically addresses Helm's Deep. Over and over the song prays for the morning light:

At long last, Gandalf arrives, and victory is asssured in the closing lines:

At last the sun is shining, The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes.

Stairway to Heaven
Page/Plant

The most frequently played and probably the most easily recognized Zeppelin tune, this one has been a source of debate for years. Personally, I'm inclined to think it's Galadriel's song. Hauntingly beautiful, meditative, and appropriately mysterious, Stairway contains multiple images of forests, indescribable beauty, and reverence. Nostalgic longings for the West and lyrics like "There walks a lady we all know/Who shines white light and wants to show/How everything still turns to gold" make this one pretty obvious.

I'm also inclined to believe that the "Stairway to Heaven" is less symbolic than one would think; to me, they are a reference to the winding stairs leading up the Mallorn trees of Lothlórien to her very heavenly home.

Misty Mountain Hop
Jones/Page/Plant

So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains

This is Gollum's song. Although it's also about getting high with hippies and run-ins with the law, the overall feel of the song is the haphazard tale of an outcast, who knows that they are a violator of the rules of society, but loving their crime, chooses to retreat to a place where they can enjoy their vice in peace.

Four Sticks
Page/Plant

Got to try to find a way, Got to try to get away,
'Cause you know I gotta get away from you, Babe.

If "Black Dog" was the Ring's song to Frodo, here is Frodo's answer. The repeated use of the word "Baby" seems an echo of the ring's ability to make people love it. The brief lyrics speak of nothing else but the strain and desperation of continuing on with something that must be gotten rid of. Whether it's an evil girlfriend or the One Ring, this is a song to something that is at once dearly loved and yet despised as a life-sucking burden.

Going to California
Page/Plant

Made up my mind to make a new start, Going To California with an aching in my heart.

This show's Frodo's feelings as he leaves for Valinor. Several times on the album references have been made to "the west." To an English band, it doesn't get any farther west than California.

The image extends even more beautifully; not only is California the paradise of the world, with its legends of bathing beauties, sunny skies, palm trees and record deals, the very source of its name is mythical. In Spanish legend, California was a mystical land across the sea where all woes vanished, and an endless bounty of food and lush plant and animal life charmed the senses. Is this not the very image of Valinor? The song's traveling pace and quiet voice make it a perfect journey song, contemplative and plaintive in its bittersweet departure from the painful past to a blank but beautiful future.

When the Levee Breaks
Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant/Memphis Minnie

Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home

This song is an odd way to end the album. Personally, I would have placed it right before or after the Battle of Evermore, because Going to California is such a nice ending note. Perhaps they just wanted to end with something firm and hard rocking. The obvious reference is to the Ents breaking the dam at Isen and flooding Saruman's fire pits. The lyrics are the warning of the ents and the lamentation of Saruman as Isengard is utterly destroyed.

An alternative interpretation is that the "levee" is not literal at all, but the "mountain man" is. This song could also be about the effect that the warriors from the paths of the dead in the mountains will have on the enemies of Men. The ominous tone and heavy march tempo both fit well with this interpretation. The threat is now not just for Saruman; it is for the forces of Sauron. They will have nowhere to go or hide, for an undead army can't be beaten.

Although not all may agree with my interpretations, I believe there are too many overt references to deny that the album as a whole is meant to allude and pay tribute to Tolkien. Even in the packaging, there is a painting of a very Gandalfish old man. Led Zeppelin's IV is just an example of how all-encompassing Lord of the Rings is, inspiring works in literally every artistic genre.