# What's Def Leppard singing at the beginning of "Rock of Ages"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089 "2001-06-08T19:01:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/1 "2001-06-08T19:01:25Z")
Sounds like “gluta, gleeta, glotten, globen”. Way back when, some kid told me that they were counting in German. Of course, that’s not even close to the answer. Are they just pure nonsense words? Or is there some meaning somewhere? Has Joe Elliot or anyone else ever commented on this? ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/2 "2001-06-08T20:04:21Z")
“Gunten glieben glauchen globen” (sp) is supposedly German for “Running through the forest quickly.” Mutt “Mr. Shania Twain” Lange, the producer, is the one who speaks the words. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/3 "2001-06-08T20:17:15Z")
Bordelond-- this has been asked before here and I think the consensus was that it was german-sounding gibberish. Montfort-- where did you get that? I don’t think I agree that any of those words sound much like that (at least not with all those G sounds). ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/4 "2001-06-08T20:29:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capybara \* > \*\*Montfort-- where did you get that? I don’t think I agree that any of those words sound much like that (at least not with all those G sounds). \*\* Where did I get the translation? I remember learning that back in the 80s, when men were women and Def Lep ruled. I may have read it in an interview with DL, or read it in the Historia biography/seen it on the home movie of the same name. I’m sure a German-speaking Def Lep fan will come along soon to correct me, but I believe these facts are correct: 1. The speaking is in German. 2. Mutt Lange is the speaker. I don’t sprachen Deutche, so I might be imagining the “running through the forest” bit. But, I think I’m close. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/5 "2001-06-08T20:42:06Z")
**Montfort** , that’s the best explanation I’ve heard yet. Thanks! I know the German word for wood is _holtz_ (sp?), and for some reason, I thought a cerived word from that was the word for “forest”. But I really have no clue. Heck, there’s a billion Nederlanders on this board, but I have yet to see a German, Swiss, or Austrian (AFAIK). **Coldfire, Aghris** , sprechen Sie Deutch? Got any German buddies tooling around that can pitch in? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/6 "2001-06-08T21:58:16Z")
I speak German, and I don’t hear it; I’m not a god, and I’m not trying to be authoritative or say your theory is patently false, but if it is true it must be phrased in an unusual/archaic way that sounds like gibberish to me, and my German isn’t all that bad. The usual word for woods is Wald. To run is usually laufen-- that could be heard in there, perhaps, but I don’t hear anything in the schnell, durch, or dem Wald family (when I was a young tyke and tried to figure out the Def Leppard, I thought I heard “Gunter glieben glauben globen.” Which, is to say, nonsense). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/7 "2001-06-08T22:05:04Z")
I’ve always heard is was just nonsense. At least that’s what my German teacher told us back in High School. ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/8 "2001-06-08T22:08:16Z")
We have some Metalheads around here ? I dont speak German either, but I have asked numerous people who are both German natives and people fluent in German and every time I have been told it is gibberish. I still sure does sound cool though, dont it ? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/9 "2001-06-08T22:15:13Z")
Got it! from the [http://www.defleppard.com](http://www.defleppard.com) FAQ > [@](#): > > 5.1 - What does “Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen” mean? > > Nothing in particular (although the band sometimes jokingly claims it means “running through the forest silently”). It’s gibberish said by producer Mutt Lange during the recordings of “Rock Of Ages”, instead of the regular one, two, three, four. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-def-leppard-singing-at-the-beginning-of-rock-of-ages/68089/10 "2001-06-08T22:45:51Z")
See, look! Even the band thinks it’s about running through the woods! Anyway… I was right about it being Germanic and spoken by Mutt “Mr. Lucky” Lange. Do I get some credit for that? 🙂