There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misleading
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder


There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
and it makes me wonder
really makes me wonder


And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter


GUITAR SOLO


If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean from the May Queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, Ooh, it makes me wonder


Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can't you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind


GUITAR SOLO


And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all is one and one is all, yeah
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying the stairway to heaven

  One of the most well known songs of all time is Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. As the most requested song of FM radio in the United States, Stairway to Heaven runs just over eight minutes in length. The song is comprised of several sections which increase in speed and volume along with various creative and imaginative poetic devices throughout the course of the song.


The opening line represents imagery with “all that glitters is gold” and sets a tone full of optimism and positive energy. “Building a stairway to heaven” is a hyperbole which exaggerates the possibility of achieving the impossible. The song’s lyrics and music were written in an impromptu dinner meeting between guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant. There is not meant to be any deep hidden meaning behind the lyrics which leaves the song open to personal interpretation.

Nature and natural beauty is personified in the lines “when the songbird who sings,” the “forest will echo with laughter” and the “whispering wind.” An allusion of the “piper leading to reason” evokes the mental picture and reference to the Pied piper of Hamlin. Onomatopoeia is used with the line “your head is humming.”

In the last stanza, assonance sounds with the words “road, soul, know, shows and gold” finish off this imaginative and artistic set of lyrics. The song’s last line, “and she’s buying a stairway to heaven,” reiterates the message of hope and promise as the song ends it progression from a slow acoustic folk song into a high temp hard rock song. The listener is mesmerized, satiated and rewarded with explosive poetic devices, energy and adrenaline.