You know how sometimes you hear a song you’ve heard a million times, and suddenly – it’s like you hear it for the first time, and you can’t believe how great it is?
I have just discovered “Kashmir”, by Led Zeppelin.
My neighbors must be so OVER the Kashmir thing.
I actually have a bunch of Led Zeppelin in my collection … and you know, whatever, “Kashmir” is part of it, I like it.
But yesterday – suddenly I HEARD it.
That underlying chord that they do throughout, that theme that they keep coming back to throughout the song – and yet each time they come back to it, it’s like it gets deeper, harder, rougher –
This is the part that reaaaaaalllly gets me:
All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find out where I’ve been ……
What he does with his voice on “been” – how he draws it out, going down a sharp, back up to the main note, but always with complete control – argh. Don’t know how to describe it. But what he does with his voice there, and what the music is doing beneath his voice – just slices me open like a grapefruit, man. I think it’s because that part is one of the “verses” – where they move away from that insistent chord thing going on beneath the whole song – and through the course of his long-held note on “been” – they move back into that theme – it reappears beneath his voice. Day-um, it’s just exciting, whatever it is.
This song makes me want to trash a hotel room. Have anonymous liaisons in smoky corners. Do something insane. Get all nuts. It’s a primal song. I don’t even know what the hell they’re talking about, I don’t know why it’s called Kashmir … I don’t need to know. Frankly I don’t care.
I. Can’t. Stop. Listening. To. It.
“Get all nuts. It’s a primal song. I don’t even know what the hell they’re talking about, I don’t know why it’s called Kashmir … I don’t need to know. Frankly I don’t care.”
Indeed. And I’m glad you’ve found it.
Great wonderfully ominous soound. On Physical Graffiti.. for those who are interested.
I prefer Metaphysical Graffiti, personally.
When NO was hit I was inspired to get out my Canadian Brass Red Hot Jazz CD and put it in my car. My car has a better sound system than the one in my house, as it turns out, and I heard things I hadn’t heard before. I kept playing Kitten on the Keys and Mamie’s Blues over and over, but the one that I really got stuck on was 12th Street Rag. The rhythms get more and more complex as it goes and I found myself tapping them out with my pen while I was trying to work and humming them while I was getting ready to go to bed. I finally had to start listening to some Neil Diamond to get it to let go.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000004140/qid=1129417722/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/002-5403230-3655245?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
I should have done a link thing, sorry.
peteb – yes. it does have an ‘ominous’ sound. that’s the perfect way to describe it.
Laura – I love that – yes, you get “stuck” on certain songs – they strike you in different ways at a certain moment in time, for whatever reason.
cullen and peteb – I love your two links, viewed side by side. very cool.
If you have time, burn a CD or make a tape with “Kashmir” playing back-to-back with Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” and listen to the two songs over and over again in the car – you may never pull over again.
That is my absolute favorite LZ song. There truly is SOMETHING about that song. And once you GET it, you just GET it.
I’m glad you got it, Sheila.
BTW, I found this online (sorry, I closed the window before I got the link):
“The inspiration for Plant’s lyrics arose from a long drive he took in an area in Southern Morocco once known as the Spanish Sahara. A frequent visitor to Morocco, Plant found himself on an endless, desolate, desert road that was confined by ridges of sandstone on either side. The lyrics, along with the bands high degree of interest in Indian & Arabic music provided the necessary influence for the blending of orchestra and mellotron with duplicating guitar parts. This resulted in a song which provided a mixture of sounds that lose their individuality and become wholly unique as a form of musical expression. Here is “Kashmir” a perfect blend of lyricism, innovation, and tradition that culminated in the musical individuality of a band called Led Zeppelin.”
And, I believe Kashmir also means “paradise”.
So FYI, now you know…
Amanda – thank you for that!! I guess I was assuming that Kashmir referred to the place being fought over by India and Pakistan – I didn’t know it meant paradise as well – that makes a lot of sense.
At this point in time, I really feel like it’s one of the most exciting songs I’ve ever heard.
That and “Lose Yourself”, Jeff! So perfect to put those two together …
Yeah – those strings or whatever they are going on underneath, ominous and relentless while Plant is just howling “Oooooooohh” like a drawn out orgasmic Ohm. It is glorious. You’ve made me hear it fresh.
Liz – yeah – they’re violins or something – chopping away at those chords – just an amazing sound!!
When Physical Graffiti first came out my friends and I were very upset. We worried Zep had gone soft but that Kashmir is heavier than a…well a lead zeppelin. Ten Years Gone is amazing as well Jimmy Page cites it as his best guitar solo.
I totally know what you mean about finding it interesting, although you’ve heard it before. Like it’s someone you always saw in passing, but never stopped to chat.
I got hit with ‘Whole Lotta Love’ earlier this week. Incredible stuff. People saw me jamming to it at the red-lights, I didn’t care. :D
http://www.sentex.net/~dva/midi/Kashmir.ledZeppelin.mid
I’m finding that Soooo much of the music from my past comes back to me these days. Like ANYTHING by Bronski Beat. No one in my area even KNOWS what that’s about, but I’m thrown into the past remembering every little detail of what I was doing when I heard the songs.
I can see myself in Record & Tape Traders bingeing(sp?) on old titles. I think it’s a right of being….thirtysomething, so I should contain myself. Running into a record store and buying ALL of the music from your formative years. I dunno if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Anyway….kickass song. Definitely ominous. Obsessive, in fact. makes you want to swagger up the street, purposefully, with your bottom lip out, looking like something terrible, something, or something terribly funny is about to happen, and no one but you know about it.
Enjoy it. Really. It’s meant to be enjoyed.
Cullen, you have truely excellent taste in music.
You have all totally inspired me to bust out my Led Zeppelin box set.
When I first got my hands on a Led Zeppelin tape, I listened to it non-stop. I took my mint green radio/cassette player into the bathroom so that I could listen to it while I showered. I cranked “Black Dog” so loud that my mother pounded on the bathroom door and yelled until I turned down the music. She didn’t understand why Led Zep must be listened to LOUD.
Hey, didn’t Jimmy Page play the guitar with a violin bow in “Kashmir”?
“Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin; amazingly great song.
“Kashmir” rendered on generic MIDI: amazingly cheesy song.
Actually, Sheila, Kashmir IS a reference to the place fought over by India and Pakistan. My hubby is a major LZ buff, he’s got all those biography CD’s and DvD’s. They mention that Led Zeppelin, particularly Page and Plant, would go to that place when they were on break from tours and recording, and that a lot of their inspiration came from there, and they did much writing there too.
(Just a bit more info for ya…I’m full of LZ info, thanks to the hubby! =)
Sheila,
I should do the bored hippie routine here that I got in college when I first discovered Led Zepplin. My roommate and all her friends were like “oh, we are just sooooo over Zepplin. We’ve known about this stuff for years.” You’d think if they were such ENORMOUS, long time fans, they’d actually be enthusiastic about someone discovering, or like you said, really *hearing* them for the first time. Nope. Just the “been there, done that, you’re late to the party” attitude.
Anyway, not to spoil your enthusiasm for the song, but if you haven’t seen The Bad Lieutenant, don’t. You won’t be able to listen to “Kashmir” for a year. At least I know I couldn’t.
“oh, we are soooooo over Zeppelin” hahaha What a way to ruin enthusiasm!
Uhm … I did see Bad Lieutenant – but I believe I blocked it out. Is it the scene where the nun gets raped? That’s in that movie, right? Some awful nun-rape scene?
Yeah, with a very obvious “Kashmir” rip-off playing in the background. That song literally made me PUKE for ages after seeing the movie, if only for recalling the horrible images.
Keep it blocked out. Enjoy the song.