If the battlefield had a theme song, it would be Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” From the band’s 1970 album, Led Zeppelin III, the track has transcended the band and stands on its own as the howling, brooding, repetitious representation of mythical conflict.
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Appearing in movies like School of Rock and, of course, in the trailer for the 2017 superhero film, Thor: Ragnarok, the song is simply a part of pop culture.
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But where did it come from, exactly, what’s the meaning and what is Robert Plant singing about? Let’s dive in.
What is Norse Mythology?
It is a way of understanding the world through stories of gods. In Norse mythology, which Plant references in “Immigrant Song,” there is the thunder-god Thor and other beings you’ve likely vaguely heard of. There is also the concept of Valhalla, where the god Odin rules. Half of those who die in battle go to Valhalla. Of course, the belief system is much more complicated, but that’s the source text from which Plant gets his concepts for this 1970 hit.
Sings Plant, as if on a battleship preparing his fellow troops for war,
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, sing and cry
Valhalla, I am coming
When Did the Band Write the Song?
In the summer of 1970, the band wrote the song while touring Iceland, Bath (England), and Germany.
The group’s string of shows began in Reykjavik, Iceland, of which Plant said in the 1994 book, Led Zeppelin, “We weren’t being pompous … We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. ‘Immigrant Song’ was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.”
In a way, of course, a rock band is at war, too. With their own inner fears, with the possibility the audience may boo. It’s metaphorical and artistic, but true.
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The band played the song live for the first time during a show at the Bath Festival.
The Song, Itself
With bashing percussion, the song hinges on the repetitive guitar riff for Jimmy Page. It’s a heartbeat, a collective one. It belongs to the soldiers. It’s also their feet running over land, axes above their hands. Then Plant’s voice comes in like a war cry, a battalion of banshees.
Led Zeppelin all of a sudden becomes an army of Vikings. And we join them.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
