Led Zeppelin 's most iconic songs and a staple of 70s rock, "All My Love" is laden with emotion, regret, and discord. Enveloped in a sad yet gentle melody, it's often mistaken for a love song. But the meaning and inspiration behind this classic are far from something that can be shared between two lovers.
Composed by Robert Plant and John Paul Jones , "All My Love" is part of Led Zeppelin's eighth album, In Through the Out Door , released in 1979. Led Zeppelin recorded "All My Love" at Polar Studios, located in Stockholm, Sweden. The song was inspired by a family tragedy experienced by Plant.
The story behind "All My Love" by Led Zeppelin
In July 1977, Led Zeppelin was touring the United States. While preparing for the shows, Plant received a call from his wife, Maureen Wilson, about their son, Karac Pendragon Plant, who was only six years old. Maureen informed her husband that Karac was ill, and just two hours later she called Plant again with the tragic news that their son had died from an unidentified viral infection. Immediately, the musician returned home, and the band suspended the shows.
At the funeral, which took place in Birmingham, England, only Led Zeppelin's manager Richard Cole and then-drummer John Bonham came to support their friend. Without his other bandmates, Plant felt alone and began to question the friendship that had existed between them.
Months after leaving the band, John Bonham convinced him to return, and Plant soon used music to cope with the loss of his son. Alongside bassist John Paul Jones, the musician wrote "All My Love," drawing inspiration from his own experience and grief.
Lyrics to “All My Love”
In the song, vocalist Robert Plant expresses pain, anguish, and doubt, as in the following excerpt:
I fall out of love, my fire in the light ?
To chase a feather in the wind.
Within the glow that weaves a cloak of delight,
there moves a thread that has no end .
After losing his son, Plant questioned whether the time he spent away from him due to work was worth it.
For so many hours and days that pass so quickly,
the tides have caused the flame to dim .
At last, the arm is straight, the hand to the loom.
Is this to end or just begin?
Finally, the singer reflects on the loneliness left behind by Karac's departure.
I get a bit lonely, just standing up . Just
standing up .
Just standing up lonely .
Just I get a bit lonely.
The band's opinion on "All My Love"
When Jimmy Page and Bonham heard the song, they considered it too slow, especially compared to other Led Zeppelin songs.
“I was a little worried about the chorus [of 'All My Love'],” Page said in an interview published in 's Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page .
After some disagreements between the members, the song ended up on the album. “I kept imagining people making fun of all this. And I thought, 'This isn't us. This isn't us.'” However, Page didn't want the song removed from the album because it was an important track for Plant. “Considering its context, it was all right, but I didn't want to go in that direction from there on,” Page concluded.
Led Zeppelin ended their activities shortly afterwards, in 1980, following the death of drummer John Bonham.
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