# Led Zeppelin song
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 14, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149 "2007-02-14T05:01:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mommy1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mommy1)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/1 "2007-02-14T05:01:41Z")
i want toknow if anyone knows the story behind the song “No Quarter” sung by Led Zeppelin
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/2 "2007-02-14T05:07:56Z")
\
Let’s move this over to our forum for music and the arts, **Cafe Society**.
Welcome to the SDMB, we’re glad to have you. If you take a look at our forum descriptions, you’ll know better where to post next time.
\
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/3 "2007-02-14T09:40:47Z")
> **[No Quarter by Led Zeppelin - Track Info | AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/no-quarter-mt0003743797)**
>
> Explore No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. Get track information, read reviews, listen to it streaming, and more at AllMusic.
Maybe more than you even wanted to know.
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### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/4 "2007-02-14T17:56:23Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal]
> **[No Quarter - Led Zeppelin | AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/no-quarter-mt0003743797)**
>
> Explore No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. Get track information, read reviews, listen to it streaming, and more at AllMusic.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the link **Lib**. In the linked review, this is asserted:
> [@AMG](#):
>
> Here he dramatizes his band, likening himself and his mates as warrior Vikings battling Thor’s winds.
Did I miss something? How did the reviewer get from A to B? It seems a likely explanation, but I don’t see anything that even suggests it, not to mention supports it.
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### Author:  [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/5 "2007-02-14T18:00:33Z")
Also from the link -\>
> [@](#):
>
> But, of course, the heavy-handed allusions to Norse mythology and J.R.R. Tolkien’s work are just too obvious, and the lyrics are tainted for some listeners, contributing to Zeppelin’s reputation as sometimes-gnome-rockers.
I love it - gnome rockers - heh! I personally love their use of Tolkien stuff ad Norse Sagas..
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/6 "2007-02-15T01:49:22Z")
Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record for songs about hobbits.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/7 "2007-02-15T02:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus]
Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record for songs about hobbits.
[/QUOTE]
There’s Ramble On, and then . . . ???
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/8 "2007-02-15T02:10:53Z")
Come on, it was a joke. But “The Battle of Evermore” and “Misty Mountain Hop” come to mind quickly, and Tolkienesque imagery is certainly abundant in their corpus.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/9 "2007-02-15T03:01:45Z")
Viking Kitties!
[http://users.wolfcrews.com/toys/vikings/](http://users.wolfcrews.com/toys/vikings/)
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/10 "2007-02-15T03:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco]
There’s Ramble On, and then . . . ???
[/QUOTE]
Well, do any bands have _two_ songs about hobbits?
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/11 "2007-02-15T03:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P]
Well, do any bands have _two_ songs about hobbits?
[/QUOTE]
Maybe Rush. And they’re just as silly.
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### Author:  [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/12 "2007-02-15T07:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus]
Maybe Rush. And they’re just as silly.
[/QUOTE]
Hey, this isn’t the pit.
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### Author:  [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/13 "2007-02-15T13:09:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record for songs about hobbits.
I think you meant to type “Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record\* stealing old blues songs and repackaging them for a younger white audience without giving credit (or cash) to the originators of said music”.
\*Second place would be Elvis.
(ETA Elvis dig)
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/14 "2007-02-15T19:53:10Z")
[QUOTE=RumMunkey]
I think you meant to type “Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record\* stealing old blues songs and repackaging them for a younger white audience without giving credit (or cash) to the originators of said music”.
\*Second place would be Elvis.
(ETA Elvis dig)
[/QUOTE]
There’s that too. Plus, they were horrible live. I’m a witness.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/15 "2007-02-15T20:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus]
Plus, they were horrible live. I’m a witness.
[/QUOTE]
I’m not a witness, but I heard a bootleg or two in record stores back in the day. My _god_, Page’s extended free-form solos were a bore.
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### Author:  [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/16 "2007-02-15T20:28:56Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew]
My _god_, Page’s extended free-form solos were a bore.
[/QUOTE]
Well, he was strung out on smack for all those years. Maybe _he_ thought they were _brilliant_.
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### Author:  [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/17 "2007-02-16T00:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=RumMunkey]
I think you meant to type “Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record\* stealing old blues songs and repackaging them for a younger white audience without giving credit (or cash) to the originators of said music”.
\*Second place would be Elvis.
(ETA Elvis dig)
[/QUOTE]
Yes to the first, flat assed no to the second.
Please point out where Elvis didn’t give credit to both black and white performers? This was back in '56 he was giving them credit. Also, let me know just exactly Presley ripped off given that no-one sounded or moved like him before.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/18 "2007-02-16T00:34:44Z")
[QUOTE=RumMunkey]
I think you meant to type “Ah, yes, Led Zeppelin—the band with the career record\* stealing old blues songs and repackaging them for a younger white audience without giving credit (or cash) to the originators of said music”.
[/QUOTE]
I wish I had two more hands so I could give this post FOUR THUMBS DOWN.
I suppose you think Lance Armstrong owes money to whoever invented the bicycle, Orson Welles owes money to those who pioneered film, and all of our politicians owe money to the British and the Greeks?
And apart from the base-level of ridiculousness, your post is more than a little racist. I don’t like to throw around the term White-Guilt, but, Jesus . . . (unless of course you’re black in which case your post has in all likelihood vacated Ignoranceville and taken up residence in Hatetown.)
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/19 "2007-02-16T01:06:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco]
And apart from the base-level of ridiculousness, your post is more than a little racist. I don’t like to throw around the term White-Guilt, but, Jesus . . . (unless of course you’re black in which case your post has in all likelihood vacated Ignoranceville and taken up residence in Hatetown.)
[/QUOTE]
Bullshit. We’re not talking about influences, or borrowing the concepts of the blues. Everybody knows that Zeppelin ripped off _specific_ blues songs and gave themselves the composing credit…and were occasionally taken to court for it, which is how cowriting credits for Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf that were not on the original LPs ended up on later releases of _Led Zeppelin II_. Even so, credits like “Plant/Page/Jones/Bonham/Dixon” or “Plant/Page/Jones/Bonham/Memphis Minnie” still mean that the band is getting 4/5 royalties for their arrangement of someone else’s song.
Mind you, they _were_ equal opportunity thieves, also ripping off the likes of Jake Holmes (“Dazed and Confused”), Bert Jansch (“Black Mountain Side”), and Spirit (allegedly–I’m not actually familiar with the Spirit song that was reputedly the source for “Stairway to Heaven”).
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-song/392149/20 "2007-02-16T01:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lochdale]
Yes to the first, flat assed no to the second.
Please point out where Elvis didn’t give credit to both black and white performers? This was back in '56 he was giving them credit. Also, let me know just exactly Presley ripped off given that no-one sounded or moved like him before.
[/QUOTE]
You’re right. I chose to ignore that claim.
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