For nearly as long as the band has been around, there have been rumors about Led Zeppelin lead guitarist Jimmy Page and his penchant for the occult. For the British-born artist, who helped put together the supergroup that featured the likes of Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, his life seems to have always been connected to the dark arts.
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Here below, though, we wanted to explore one rumor in particular. And it comes from the band’s most famous song. Indeed, this is perhaps the most famous song in all of classic rock history. Yes, this is the possible “Stairway to Heaven” mind-blowing hidden message that may just prove Page’s true occult nature. But it also may be completely silly and bogus. You decide!
Fear Of Rock
The idea that certain classic rock songs have secret hidden messages, particularly dark or even Satanic ones, is not new. Even the plucky Liverpool-born group The Beatles couldn’t escape the accusation that some of their lyrics, played backwards, displayed messages about death or the devil.
Some of that came from a general sense in the middle of the 20th century that rock and roll music was the devil’s music. That sentiment was often perpetrated by those older, stodgy adults who feared that rock and its cultural power would influence the youth of America or the United Kingdom in negative ways. It was almost like people were looking for examples of this.
But just because people looked for it, doesn’t mean it was there.
“Stairway To Heaven” Lyrics
As with songs from The Beatles, rock fans (and faux music detectives) started to play songs from uber-popular groups backwards, trying to find any clue regarding the rockers’ possible satanic intentions. That practice is called “backmasking.”
When it comes to “Stairway To Heaven”, most people point to the “If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow” section. In fact, you can hear what that song would sound like played backwards in the video embedded above. If you listen closely to that replay, it does sound like Plant talks about Satan a few times. But it’s likely just a coincidence… right?
What The Band Says
Of course, Led Zeppelin’s band members have denied that this was intentional at all. Specifically, Plant has said that people who look for these sorts of things have too much time on their hands. He also added, “Who on Earth would have ever thought of doing that?”
Indeed, the whole thing seems like a silly coincidence…. Most likely…
Photo By Larry Busacca/Getty Images
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