Ramble On

{{Listen|type=music

| filename = Ramble On by Led Zeppelin.ogg

| title = "Ramble On"

| description = Page explained that he achieved the smooth, sustaining violin-like tone on the solo (as heard here) by using the neck pickup on his Les Paul guitar with the treble cut and utilising a sustain-producing effects unit built by Roger Mayer.

}}

The song's genre has variously been described as folk rock,{{cite magazine |url=https://rollingstone.uol.com.br/edicao/edicao-74/ultima-valsa/ |title=A Última Valsa |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=12 November 2012 |magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=Universo Online |language=pt-br |access-date=24 March 2019 |quote=Translation: Jones stitching the rampant folk-rock of 'Ramble On' with bass counter-melodies; |archive-date=24 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324185602/https://rollingstone.uol.com.br/edicao/edicao-74/ultima-valsa/ |url-status=dead }} hard rock,{{cite book |last=Popoff |first=Martin |title=The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjRcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |date=15 August 2014 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=978-0-7603-4546-7 |page=11}} and blues rock by different critics.{{cite web |title=Led Zeppelin Biography |url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/led-zeppelin/bio/ |publisher=The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629100259/http://rockhall.com/inductees/led-zeppelin/bio/ |archive-date= 29 June 2016 |quote=Led Zeppelin II found them further tightening up and modernizing their blues-rock approach on such tracks as "Whole Lotta Love," "Heartbreaker" and "Ramble On." |access-date=14 August 2016}} The song is 4 minutes 35 seconds long as recorded on the album.{{Cite AV media notes |year=1969 |title=Led Zeppelin II |type=Album notes |others=Led Zeppelin |location=New York City |publisher=Atlantic Records |id=SD 8236 |at=Side two label}} "Ramble On" was co-written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant; the lyrics were mainly written by Plant.{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Dave |chapter='Ramble On' |title=Led Zeppelin: A Celebration |publisher=Omnibus Press |orig-year=1995 |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-85712-819-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzgDAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22ramble+on%22+%22juggy+sound%22&pg=PT122 |page=pt 122}}{{cite web |last1=Iscan |first1=Melissa |title=Jimmy Page's Explanation On The LOTR-Influenced Led Zeppelin Songs |url=https://rockcelebrities.net/jimmy-pages-explanation-on-the-lotr-influenced-led-zeppelin-songs/ |website=Rock Celebrities |access-date=25 October 2023 |date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327151341/https://rockcelebrities.net/jimmy-pages-explanation-on-the-lotr-influenced-led-zeppelin-songs/ |archive-date=27 March 2022 |url-status=live }} The song was recorded in Groove Studios, New York City on 1 June 1969, and Juggy Sound Studio on 2 June.{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2018|p=132}} Page explained that he achieved the smooth, sustaining violin-like tone on the solo by using the neck pickup on his Gibson Les Paul guitar with the treble cut and utilising a sustain-producing effects unit built by the audio engineer Roger Mayer.{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/led-vault-jimmy-page-talks-first-three-led-zeppelin-albums-gibson-and-harmony-guitars-and-more |title=Led Vault: Jimmy Page Talks First Three Led Zeppelin Albums, Gibson and Harmony Guitars and More |website=Guitar World |date=11 June 2014 |access-date=26 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222233805/https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/led-vault-jimmy-page-talks-first-three-led-zeppelin-albums-gibson-and-harmony-guitars-and-more |archive-date=22 December 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{further|Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien}}

The song's lyrics, particularly in the first line and the third verse, were influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, mentioning among other things "the darkest depths of Mordor", Gollum, and "The Evil One" (Sauron).{{cite news |last=Whatley |first=Jack |title=How 'Lord of the Rings' inspired one of Led Zeppelin's best songs |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-lord-of-the-rings-inspired-one-of-led-zeppelins-best-songs/ |access-date=25 October 2023 |work=Far Out Magazine |date=26 April 2021}} Its first line, "Leaves are falling all around", is an adaptation of Tolkien's "Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind", the English translation of the first line of his Quenya (Elvish language) poem "Namárië".{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Stephen C. |last2=Yri |first2=Kirsten |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdbODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA732 |year=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-065844-1 |page=732}} The musicologist Caitlin Vaughn Carlos suggests that in the song's references to The Lord of the Rings, Led Zeppelin was relying on its audience's cultural memory "to actively participate in a dialogue of urban criticism and a romanticized vision of rural Britain".{{citation |last=Carlos |first=Caitlin Vaughn |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism |chapter="Ramble On": Medievalism as a Nostalgic Practice in Led Zeppelin's Use of J. R. R. Tolkien |editor-first1=Stephen C. |editor-first2=Kirsten |editor-last1=Meyer |editor-last2=Yri |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=5 March 2020 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190658441.013.48 |pages=529–546|isbn=978-0-19-065844-1 }} Andy Greene, writing in Rolling Stone, commented that "the narrator of [Led Zeppelin's] 1969 classic "Ramble On" finds himself in a very bizarre version of Middle Earth – a land where Mordor appears to be a great place to meet beautiful women, and Gollum and Sauron are more interested in fighting over the narrator's girlfriend than getting their hands on the One Ring".{{cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |title=Ramble On: Rockers Who Love 'The Lord of the Rings' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ramble-on-rockers-who-love-the-lord-of-the-rings-100787/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=13 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029191808/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ramble-on-rockers-who-love-the-lord-of-the-rings-100787/ |archive-date=29 October 2018 |url-status=live }}

In his book Led Zeppelin: A Celebration, Dave Lewis wrote that "Ramble On" was "the highlight" of the Led Zeppelin II album, "slip[ping] effortlessly from quiet mournful passages into an uplifting chorus", and demonstrating the "light and shade dynamism" that became a hallmark of the band.

Martin Popoff, in his book Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs, commented that while the song starts off with a nod to "idyllic West Coast acoustic rock" with Plant playing the "romantic troubadour", its location is seen to be the dark land of Mordor in Middle-earth, though with un-Tolkienesque events. Popoff calls it "a strange reference", but notes that the music backs it up with the "near-Renaissance feel" of Page's guitar playing in the key of E major.

On American Songwriter, Jacob Uitti agreed that Page's acoustic guitar is stirring and Plant's vocals are electrifying, but emphasized that John Paul Jones's less-noticed bass playing is sublime. Uitti called the song "one of the band's best", because of "its dual-pronged sonic attack".{{cite web |last1=Uitti |first1=Jacob |title=Behind the Well-Traveled Led Zeppelin Song, "Ramble On" |url=https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-well-traveled-led-zeppelin-song-ramble-on/ |website=American Songwriter |access-date=25 October 2023 |date=June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713184049/https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-well-traveled-led-zeppelin-song-ramble-on/ |archive-date=13 July 2023 |url-status=live }} In a retrospective review of Led Zeppelin II (Deluxe Edition), Michael Madden of Consequence of Sound praised the remastering of "Ramble On," commenting that the track now sounds "especially mellow and well-balanced".{{cite web |last=Madden |first=Michael |title=Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II [Reissue] |url=https://consequence.net/2014/06/album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-ii-reissue/ |website=CoS |access-date=13 August 2017 |date=4 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415230033/https://consequence.net/2014/06/album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-ii-reissue/ |archive-date=15 April 2021 |url-status=live }} Madden wrote that the track "gets a boost from John Paul Jones' garter snake bass playing." Madden called the rough mix of "Ramble On" the best of all the bonus tracks in the Deluxe Edition, finding Page's acoustic strums "particularly driving".

The song was not released as a single in the 20th century, but the album reached number 1 in both the US and the UK, and over 12 million copies have been sold.{{cite web |last=Springer |first=Mike |title=Deconstructing Led Zeppelin's Classic Song 'Ramble On' Track by Track: Guitars, Bass, Drums & Vocals |url=https://www.openculture.com/2013/10/deconstructing-led-zeppelins-classic-song-ramble-on-track-by-track.html |website=Open Culture |access-date=25 October 2023 |date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014195857/https://www.openculture.com/2013/10/deconstructing-led-zeppelins-classic-song-ramble-on-track-by-track.html |archive-date=14 October 2013 |url-status=live }} In 2007, "Ramble On" reached number 66 on the Billboard Canadian Digital Song Sales chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=346&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Canadian+Digital+Singles&ci=3088339&cdi=9518234&cid=12%2F01%2F2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211054939/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=346&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Canadian+Digital+Singles&ci=3088339&cdi=9518234&cid=12%2F01%2F2007 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 February 2009 |title=Hot Digital Singles – 1 December 2007 |work=Billboard |access-date=19 January 2009 |df=dmy-all}} In 2010, the song was ranked number 440 on the list of Rolling Stone{{'s}} 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/led-zeppelin-ramble-on-20110526 |title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time – May 2010 |access-date=14 April 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the song number 5 on its list of the 40 greatest Led Zeppelin songs.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-40-greatest-led-zeppelin-songs-of-all-time-154694/ramble-on-1969-169518/ |title=The 40 Greatest Led Zeppelin Songs of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=13 January 2019 |accessdate=28 January 2022}}

During Led Zeppelin’s original run before 1980, "Ramble On" was only played as a tease, but never as a complete song.{{cite book |last=Popoff |first=Martin |title=Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs |year=2018 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=978-0-76036-377-5 |page=55 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_dmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |chapter=Ramble On: Page/Plant/4:35}} The full song was first performed live at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007, at the O₂ Arena in London; Page ended the song with a brief section of the bridge from "What Is and What Should Never Be".{{cite web |last=Handler |first=Shane |url=http://www.glidemagazine.com/10803/good-times-bad-times-led-zeppelin-reunion-show/ |title=Good Times, Bad Times - Led Zeppelin Reunion Show |work=Glide Magazine |date=11 December 2007 |access-date=23 June 2016}}

According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2018|p=132}}

• Robert Plant – vocals
• Jimmy Page – electric and acoustic guitars
• John Paul Jones – bass
• John Bonham – drums, percussion

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Led Zeppelin|title=Ramble On|award=Silver|relyear=2007|certyear=2023|id=18629-2162-1|access-date=6 January 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

• {{slink|List of cover versions of Led Zeppelin songs#Ramble On}}

Other Led Zeppelin songs which similarly allude to The Lord of the Rings, both from Led Zeppelin IV:

• "The Battle of Evermore"
• "Misty Mountain Hop"

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Guesdon |first1=Jean-Michel |last2=Margotin |first2=Philippe |year=2018 |title=Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |publisher=Running Press |isbn=978-0-316-448-67-3}}

• [http://humanitiesmoments.org/moment/ramble-on-zeppelin Frank Lacopo describes the song's impact] on Humanities Moments
• {{YouTube|gUgLu84ApAw|"Train - Ramble On (Audio)"}}

{{Led Zeppelin songs}}

{{Lord of the Rings}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1969 songs

Category:Led Zeppelin songs

Category:Music based on The Lord of the Rings

Category:Songs written by Jimmy Page

Category:Songs written by Robert Plant

Category:Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page

Category:Atlantic Records singles