# Led Zeppelin IV favorite song & rank 'em **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775 "2011-08-15T13:05:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/21 "2011-08-15T19:19:26Z")
1.) “Misty Mountain Hop” – Appeals to the rebel to me, but it is very hard to choose between it and “Stairway to Heaven.” 2.) “Stairway to Heaven” – One of the greatest songs of the past 50 years. I didn’t participate in the Great Moments of Rock thread but one of them is when Jimmy Page begins those suspended chords. 3.) “When the Levee Breaks” – a magnificent cover 4.) “Goin’ to California” – a beautiful ballad 5.) “Rock and Roll” – very energetic, but nothing original here 6.) “Battle of Evermore” – a good song – I find Zep did few bad songs on their first five albums combined – but I don’t see the love some have for it. 7.) “Four Sticks” – minor. 8.) “Black Dog” – this is one of the bad songs, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/22 "2011-08-15T19:21:19Z")
1. When The Levee Breaks 2. Going To California 3. Rock and Roll 4. Black Dog 5. Stairway to Heaven 6. Battle of Evermore 7. Misty Mountain Hop 8. Four Sticks ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/23 "2011-08-15T23:10:04Z")
[ol][li]When the Levee Breaks[_]Stairway to Heaven[_]Rock and Roll[_]Black Dog[_]Going to California[_]Misty Mountain Hop[_]Four SticksBattle of Evermore[/ol][/li] I’d agree that _Stairway to Heaven_ is one of the greatest songs in Rock history, but for my own taste, nothing beats the pure power of the thundering bass on _When the Levee Breaks_. For what it’s worth, my friends and I used to qualify the question “What’s your favorite Zep song?” with “Besides _Stairway_!” (Mine is _The Ocean_.) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/24 "2011-08-15T23:30:28Z")
Sorry for the double post, but just had this half-remembered Page quote echoing through my mind that [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairway_to_Heaven) has preserved for us - according to an interview by Cameron Crowe, Page felt “Stairway to Heaven” > [@](#): > > crystallized the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best… as a band, as a unit. Not talking about solos or anything, it had everything there. We were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up for a long time and I guess we did it with “Stairway”. Pete Townshend probably thought that he got it with Tommy. I don’t know whether I have the ability to come up with more. I have to do a lot of hard work before I can get anywhere near those stages of consistent, total brilliance. No idea where that was originally published, but I’m sure I remember reading it at least twenty-five years ago (Wiki says it was originally published in '75, so I probably saw it in some liner notes or a magazine article somewhere). Anyway, that’s how I’ve always felt about “Stairway” - it’s the song that most completely identifies the band Led Zeppelin, the essence of their capabilities. There are other Zep songs I might like better, but there are no others that encapsulate the sound of the band as well. Those of you who feel it’s overplayed or played out probably feel closer to how Plant felt about it (he refers to it as “that bloody wedding song”). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/25 "2011-08-16T00:04:47Z")
I’m surprised by how many people agree with me that Four Sticks is the weakest song on the album. I’ve always found it kind of boring and uninspired, but the classic rock stations I listen to all treat it like a classic. My list: 1. Rock and Roll 2. Stairway to Heaven 3. Black Dog 4. The Battle of Evermore 5. When the Levee Breaks 6. Misty Mountain Hop 7. Going to California 8. Four Sticks ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/26 "2011-08-16T00:16:27Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > But they’re really not the same melody at all. The phrasing is the same and the general melodic arc is similar. Like I said, the average listener would regard them as the same song, I would think. > [@](#): > > You’re taking my snark way too literally. I’m not _really_ saying they’re the same song, but Zep’s was clearly a borrowing of Fleetwood Mac’s concept. Sure. Zep borrowed the start-stop from that song, at least according to what I’ve read. But riffing on that idea isn’t “ripping off” in my book. And I still say, play both pairs of songs to the average listeners, and I would bet you large sums of money that far more would recognize similarities in the Levee songs than Fleetwood Mac and Black Dog. Even with nonsense syllables, I think the Levee similarities would be more apparent than any similarities between “Black Dog” and “Oh Well.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/27 "2011-08-16T01:36:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The phrasing is the same and the general melodic arc is similar. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/28 "2011-08-16T01:42:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’m not _really_ saying they’re the same song, but Zep’s was clearly a borrowing of Fleetwood Mac’s concept. [And Fleetwood Mac borrowed the concept from Mose Allison,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTSVy3yzts) but who’s keeping score? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/29 "2011-08-16T02:04:22Z")
“When the Levee Breaks.” Memphis Minnie’s original came out in 1929. Before Katrina had the people of New Orleans learned NOTHING? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/30 "2011-08-16T03:08:22Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > :rolleyes: That comment deserves rolleyes exactly, why? The phrasing _is_ pretty much exactly the same and so much so that, I contend, any casual listener will recognize it as the same goddamned song. Unlike “Oh Well” and “Black Dog.” ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/31 "2011-08-16T13:53:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That comment deserves rolleyes exactly, why? The phrasing _is_ pretty much exactly the same and so much so that, I contend, any casual listener will recognize it as the same goddamned song. Unlike “Oh Well” and “Black Dog.” I have to agree with **pulykamell** here. Maybe **Biffy** is a Bonzo fan and can’t get past the lack of drums in the Memphis Minnie and Joe Mccoy’s version. That there’s the same song, folks. As for the “Oh Well” & “Black Dog” discussion…long ago I filled in on bass for a band that played both in the same night. It never occurred to me that they sounded similar…because they don’t. Saying “Black Dog” ripped off “Oh Well” because it has a start-stop style is like saying “Landslide” Ripped of “Going to California” because they’re both mellow acoustic ballads. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/32 "2011-08-16T14:03:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I suppose it depends on how you qualify “musically,” … Exactly…as you two have demonstrated so ably. Interesting little discussion, there. You’d both enjoy a couple of essays I once read somewhere, one showing exactly how Paul McCartney was inspired (consciously or not) by “Georgia On My Mind” when he wrote “Yesterday” (the Ray Charles version, in particular), and how he and Lennon were earlier inspired by “When the Saints Go Marching In” when they wrote “I Saw Her Standing There”. No aspersions are cast in either essay. Inspiration is almost always an essential part of how art gets made. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/33 "2011-08-16T14:14:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > No aspersions are cast in either essay. Inspiration is almost always an essential part of how art gets made. I absolutely agree. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/34 "2011-08-16T15:46:04Z")
I shoot videos of the School of Rock. Last year, the Kansas City School of Rock did a tribute to Led Zeppelin, and did IV in full. Here’s their version of [_The Battle of Evermore_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCGvM_aYNuU). ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/35 "2011-08-16T16:08:37Z")
Looks as if I am one of those rare \*\*Four Sticks \*\*fans. Could have put it top another day. \*\*Stairway to Heaven \*\*is just way overplayed and overpraised. \*\*Battle of Evermore \*\*is just drippy Tolkienesque tweeness - by far the weakest song on the record. 1. When the Levee Breaks 2. Four Sticks 3. Black Dog 4. Rock and Roll 5. Stairway to Heaven 6. Misty Mountain Hop 7. Going to California 8. The Battle of Evermore ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/36 "2011-08-16T18:45:09Z")
1. Black Dog 2. When the Levee Breaks 3. Going to California 4. Rock and Roll 5. Stairway to Heaven 6. The Battle of Evermore 7. Misty Mountain Hop 8. Four Sticks It was a tie between Black Dog and Levee, so I flipped a coin. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/37 "2011-08-16T18:49:56Z")
1. Stairway to Heaven 2. Black Dog 3. The Battle of Evermore 4. Going to California 5. Misty Mountain Hop 6. Four Sticks 7. When the Levee Breaks 8. Rock and Roll ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/38 "2011-08-17T10:03:32Z")
I am rather surprised at the weird orderings of the songs you people have. If I rank an album with my friends or siblings, or compare to the critics, we mostly more or less agree. The lists here are pretty much all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/39 "2011-08-17T13:34:12Z")
Too difficult to rank them all, but I put Misty Mountain Hop at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775/40 "2011-08-17T13:59:51Z")
_“If it keeps on ray-ee-nen, levee’s goinna breaaaak.”_ 1. When the Levee Breaks 2. Black Dog 3. Misty Mountain Hop 4. Going to California 5. Stairway to Heaven 6. Rock and Roll 7. Four Sticks 8. The Battle of Evermore [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv-favorite-song-rank-em/592775.md?page=3)