30

When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin
1971

Last week I told you about my Counting Crows obsession. Now it’s time to talk about a previous obsession. 

Led Zeppelin is a band that was built for high school boys. And I was all in. I had all the albums on CD (including Coda, which was absolute dreck). But then I got turned on to the B-side “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do,” which at that point in time was very difficult to own *unless* you owned the Boxed Set. So what did I do?  I bought the two box sets and sold all the studio albums to Lacy Carter, of course. (Lacy, if you're reading this, I hope you are still enjoying those CDs.)

But I didn’t stop at the music. I had the obligatory Led Zep t-shirt, which I think I wore about every three days. I also dove in and had multiple books. In fact, one of the memories I have of going to Hawaii with my family after graduating from high school is reading one of the Zeppelin books I dragged over from the mainland (one of the other memories I have from that trip is going to the movie theater to watch “Clueless” by myself.  I’m sure my parents are grateful they spent all that money for those two memories to endure). I remember staying up late one weeknight my senior year of high school to watch the legendary Page and Plant MTV Unplugged reunion with my brother on a small tv in my bedroom. 

The obsession continued into freshman year of college, where I would blast the Sony 5-Disc CD changer with 5 CDs worth of Led. I went with my aunt to see said Page and Plant at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. 

So yeah, I was all into these guys. I knew every. Single. Song. And these days….I probably only listen to three songs on a remotely regular basis. I don’t know!  I just lost that lovin’ feeling!  There was just nowhere else to go with my fandom, I guess.

But this is one of the all-time gems. It was between this and Over the Hills and Far Away, and I’m going with the less safe choice. This is an epic track, blues rock at its absolute best. The drum solo from John Bonham at the beginning of the song, Robert Plant’s wailing vocals (and harmonica solo), this thing is gold. I also loved how Adam McKay used it at the end of The Big Short. 

Long story short, I don’t listen to Led Zeppelin much these days. But when I do, chances are it’s this one. 

Other Songs Considered:
Over the Hills and Far Away, Hey Hey What Can I Do, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, Ramble On, Kashmir, Whole Lotta Love