Song Review: Ramble On, Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

One Zeppelin’s early acoustic/electric folk ballads remain a favourite for many fans although unlike other songs of the ilk (Over The Hills And Far Away, Bron-Yur-Stomp etc) it was never performed live. It comes from Led Zeppelin II as one of the more complex and thought provoking songs. It tells of a wanderer who laments of his struggles to find his one true love. It has very Tolkien inspired lyrics. "t’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.” There are a couple of other songs such as Misty Mountain Hop and The Battle of Evermore that make Tolkien references suggesting that the novelist had given some inspiration the band. Page even said once that after reading Tolkien he knew that he had to move to the country.

Ramble On is wonderfully well mixed by Page who blends some complex acoustic chord changes with some nice electric melody. John Paul-Jones bass lines are quite inventive and become quite quick at the end of the song. The drums are quite simple but it is rumored that Bonham plays a garbage can on the song. A really nice song and defiantly an all time classic.