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"When The Levee Breaks" - Led Zeppelin...

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AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Damn. I was just listening to APC's Emotive and remembered they covered Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks". Reading these lyrics is chilling. How true they ring...

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break, [X2]
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned, [X2]
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down....
 
PuertoRicanJuice said:
My dad sung this song immediately when he first saw the news about the levee breaking.
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Your dad is one fucked up person. :lol
 
robert plant didn't write those lyrics, of course. it's an old blues song. which zep probably took writing credit for anyway. still: massive riff. i had it in my head whenever i read anything about the flooding. :/
 
Yeah, the lyrics are from 'When the Levee Breaks' by Memphis Minnie - though the riff (Bonzo's drumming = oh shit bitch!) is completely ace.
 
I keep thinking about The Tragically Hip's song "New Orleans is Sinking". It's kind of a standard for them and a fav at their live shows, and I just read that radio stations are dropping the song left and right from their playlists. I wonder if they'll even perform it live anymore?



Bourbon blues on the street, loose and complete
Under skies all smokey blue-green
I can't forsake a dixie dead-shake
So we danced the sidewalk clean

My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking man and I don't wanna swim

Colonel Tom, What's wrong? What's going on?
You can't tie yourself up for a deal
He said, Hey north you're south shut your big mouth,
You gotta do what you feel is real

Ain't got no picture postcards, ain't got no souvenirs
My baby, she don't know me when I'm thinking bout those years

Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just to stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud that looked a little like me

I had my hands in the river
My feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the lord above
And said, Hey man thanks

Sometimes I feel so good, I gotta scream
She said Gordie baby I know exactly what you mean
She said, she said, I swear to god she said...

My memory is muddy what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking man and I don't wanna swim
 
When the Levee Breaks is such an amazing song, truly ahead of it's time production-wise, IMO. And is it me or does it sound like a template Aerosmith used for numerous songs? Yes, oh yes it does.

It does definitely directly relate to what just happened. Except most people that had to move didn't go to Chicago. :D
 
PuertoRicanJuice said:
My dad sung this song immediately when he first saw the news about the levee breaking.
Click to expand...

My sister started singing "Yellow Submarine" when she heard about that russian sub a few weeks back.

I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop laughing. :lol
 
Ninja Scooter said:
IM YOUR BACKDOOR MAN ALPHASNAKE!
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:lol








kablooey said:
This is LedZep's best song, easily. Too bad it's a cover...
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Shit, half the Zeppelin library are covers. :lol But not much sounds as good as the classic Zepp sound. I think Ten Years Gone is my favourite Zepp song, but Levee is incredible as is most of their stuff.

And yeah, the classic rock station here hasn't played either Leeve or the Hip's New Orleans song since this thing blew up. It's wierd how stuff like this goes...I got a slight chill watching the Ludacris video Pimpin' Around the World when he rapped about the Orleans Mardi Gras. There was another song I heard a couple days ago that talked about a flooding or something, but I forget the name of track. But yeah, some lyrics resonate a lot louder when certain things occur, where usually they're just background noise for me.
 
heavy liquid said:
I keep thinking about The Tragically Hip's song "New Orleans is Sinking". It's kind of a standard for them and a fav at their live shows, and I just read that radio stations are dropping the song left and right from their playlists. I wonder if they'll even perform it live anymore?
Click to expand...
A few stations here (Newfoundland) have been playing this after news segments.. :P
 
temp said:
I don't really know what you're talking about. I think they have like 7 covers in 8 albums.
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Zepp had a history of using a lot of prewritten lyrics without credit. It was discussed in a thread on this board a couple months ago.

* "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" - A folk song by Anne Bredon, this was originally credited as "traditional, arranged by Jimmy Page," then "words and music by Jimmy Page," and then, following legal action, "Bredon/Page/Plant."
* "Black Mountain Side" - uncredited version of a traditional folk tune previously recorded by Bert Jansch.
* "Bring It On Home" - the first section is an uncredited cover of the Willie Dixon tune (as performed by the imposter Sonny Boy Williamson).
* "Communication Breakdown" - apparently derived from Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown."
* "Custard Pie" - uncredited cover of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down," with lyrics from Sleepy John Estes's "Drop Down Daddy."
* "Dazed And Confused" - uncredited cover of the Jake Holmes song (see The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes).
* "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" - uncredited version of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down."
* "How Many More Times" - Part one is an uncredited cover of the Howlin' Wolf song (available on numerous compilations). Part two is an uncredited cover of Albert King's "The Hunter."
* "In My Time Of Dying" - uncredited cover of the traditional song (as heard on Bob Dylan's debut).
* "The Lemon Song" - uncredited cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" - Wolf's publisher sued Zeppelin in the early 70s and settled out of court.
* "Moby Dick" - written and first recorded by Sleepy John Estes under the title "The Girl I Love," and later covered by Bobby Parker.
* "Nobody's Fault But Mine" - uncredited cover of the Blind Willie Johnson blues.
* "Since I've Been Lovin' You" - lyrics are the same as Moby Grape's "Never," though the music isn't similar.
* "Stairway To Heaven" - the main guitar line is apparently from "Taurus" by Spirit.
* "White Summer" - uncredited cover of Davey Graham's "She Moved Through The Fair."
* "Whole Lotta Love" - lyrics are from the Willie Dixon blues "You Need Love."

I'm not listing covers that the band credited to the actual authors ("You Shook Me") or the less blatant ripoffs (the "Superstition" riff in "Trampled Underfoot"). If you have anything to add to this list, please tell me. (DBW)
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http://new.ga-forum.com/showpost.php?p=1758018&postcount=44

Keep in mind, it doesn't take anything away from Zepp in my eyes for what they produced...in my view they're the definitive rock act of all time, with only the Stones getting close to them. But Zeppelin really should've been more forthright with the crediting, heh.
 
That list has a lot of bullshit. Take for example "Nobody's Fault but Mine". No doubt it was inspired by the blues artist, but it's freaking far from a straight cover, hell the lyrics aren't the same either(oh teh noes, they used "nobody's fault but mine". MUST BE A TOTAL RIPOFF!). Or Black Mountain Side, it's a goddamn traditional folk song, nobody owns the right to it, so Zep didn't "steal" it. Or Moby Dick, that thing's melody is only 1 minute long, the rest of the song is pretty much a drum solo(which is stretched to 10 minutes live). I'm tired of seeing that crap list when it's never backed up. Sure, Zep borrowed a couple of lines a few times, but some of the choices in that least are either reaching or exaggerated. Yeah, they are at fault for not crediting the original people, but it really annoys me when some people call them ripoff artists.
 
jett said:
That list has a lot of bullshit. Take for example "Nobody's Fault but Mine". No doubt it was inspired by the blues artist, but it's freaking far from a straight cover, hell the lyrics aren't the same either(oh teh noes, they used "nobody's fault but mine". MUST BE A TOTAL RIPOFF!). Or Black Mountain Side, it's a goddamn traditional folk song, nobody owns the right to it, so Zep didn't "steal" it. Or Moby Dick, that thing's melody is only 1 minute long, the rest of the song is pretty much a drum solo(which is stretched to 10 minutes live). I'm tired of seeing that crap list when it's never backed up. Sure, Zep borrowed a couple of lines a few times, but some of the choices in that least are either reaching or exaggerated. Yeah, they are at fault for not crediting the original people, but it really annoys me when some people call them ripoff artists.
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Well I never went that far...besides what they produced sounds so different to the original stuff (or anyone else's stuff for that matter) that it's kinda rendered moot in some ways.
 
I mentioned this in #ga about a week ago. I suppose we all know now why Maynard dusted this one off. Next up, Joni Mitchell's Fiddle and the Drum.
 
Bataman said:
I mentioned this in #ga about a week ago. I suppose we all know now why Maynard dusted this one off. Next up, Joni Mitchell's Fiddle and the Drum.
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Yeah, but the Emotive cover is utter trash (like 95% of the CD)
 
Diablos said:
When the Levee Breaks is such an amazing song, truly ahead of it's time production-wise, IMO. And is it me or does it sound like a template Aerosmith used for numerous songs? Yes, oh yes it does.

It does definitely directly relate to what just happened. Except most people that had to move didn't go to Chicago. :D
Click to expand...

That drumbeat has been ripped off by so many...I love how the song almost "breaks down" towards the end, as if it's bursting with RAWK or some such.
 
jett said:
That list has a lot of bullshit. Take for example "Nobody's Fault but Mine". No doubt it was inspired by the blues artist, but it's freaking far from a straight cover, hell the lyrics aren't the same either(oh teh noes, they used "nobody's fault but mine". MUST BE A TOTAL RIPOFF!). Or Black Mountain Side, it's a goddamn traditional folk song, nobody owns the right to it, so Zep didn't "steal" it. Or Moby Dick, that thing's melody is only 1 minute long, the rest of the song is pretty much a drum solo(which is stretched to 10 minutes live). I'm tired of seeing that crap list when it's never backed up. Sure, Zep borrowed a couple of lines a few times, but some of the choices in that least are either reaching or exaggerated. Yeah, they are at fault for not crediting the original people, but it really annoys me when some people call them ripoff artists.
Click to expand...


blues songs save for like in my time of dying and maybe a few more, aren't folk songs at all. most all blues songs shared a vernacular (region based) but the songs are singular. i don't really care for zep, though i don't really think they ripped off old blues artists. they should have credited the lyrics - regardless however, because that's the tradition of playing folk and blues songs, artists both then and now would preface a cover with "i first heard this by" which gives credit for the song and the tune to a person. it also gives history and a bunch of other important stuff that's lost by just say (trad.)
 
just dropped here to say Physical Graffiti is Zeppelin's best album and No Quarter their best song.
 
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