Credit: Robert Plant
Wed 19 August 2026 16:30, UK
Led Zeppelin were a band who would frequently write songs about their surroundings and the journeys that they went on.
The style with which they played, and the strange folk ramblings which were injected into their songs, made them sound as though they were works of fiction, but the emotions which inspired such tracks came from a very real place. For instance, take their track ‘Immigrant Song’, a piece of music that many believe is the stuff of fantasy. That was actually influenced by a visit to Iceland.
“We weren’t being pompous; we did come from the land of the ice and snow,” said Plant, “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.”
The same can be said for the band’s track ‘Going To California’, which was written as a means to embrace the chaos that was turning out to be their career. Members of Led Zeppelin originally formed in England, and they were from different areas of the country. They knew that they had potential, but they had no idea just how chaotic things were going to get. Robert Plant wrote the song as a reflection of those first few years and how quickly everything seemed to happen.
Plant said the song is about “the first years of the group”.
Adding, “When I was only about 20 and was struggling to find myself in the midst of all the craziness of California and the band and the groupies.”
Craziness is certainly one word for it. Led Zeppelin were no strangers to the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle that so many bands from the ‘60s and ‘70s became accustomed to. For a lot of people, this kind of life on the road, surrounded by rockstars, drugs, alcohol and party animals, caught up with them quite a lot, as people were constantly pushed to the edge of their limits with such a chaotic life on the road.
Further reading: From The Vault
A lot of this chaos was merely the result of Led Zeppelin getting so excited over how forward-thinking their sound was. Jimmy Page said when they were on the road at the beginning of the ‘70s, it was one of the most spine-tingling times for the band because they were firing on all cylinders.
“By the time you see us in New York in 1973, we were simply a much better, more accomplished band,” said Page, “We were a very musical band, working together with almost a telepathy at times, playing comfortably together for three hours without any trouble at all. We really felt we could do it all now – play the music and put on a show. And we could. It was so exciting; it was hard to contain yourself after a while.”
However, this excitement certainly took its toll on the band at times, to the extent that Robert Plant sometimes found himself wishing he was surrounded by different fans and was a part of a different style of music altogether. I know, can you imagine making rock music and not wanting to be in a band like Zeppelin? Life as a rock star was fun, sure, but when touring felt like too much, he wished that he was a part of the Laurel Canyon scene, as he felt as though they had a very peaceful and productive way of life. Alas, when you’re writing the kind of music that Led Zeppelin made famous, the term “peaceful” is very rarely thrown around.
“The canyon scene was a continuation of the artistic will to create some sort of aesthetic and respectable role for pop music,” said Plant, “So that there was an intention beyond ‘Rock-a-Hula Baby’.”
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