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Led Zeppelin - Kashmir Copyright - 1975 Swan Song "Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. It was ranked 140 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "Kashmir" is considered to be one of Led Zeppelin's most successful songs; all four band members have agreed that it is to date one of their best musical achievements. John Paul Jones suggested that it showcases all of the elements that made up the Led Zeppelin sound, while Robert Plant cites it as his favorite Led Zeppelin song overall. In an interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine in 1988, Plant stated that "Kashmir" was "the definitive Led Zeppelin song." He also said in an audio documentary that he loved this song not only because of its intensity but also because it was so intense without being considered "heavy metal", a label no one in the band liked. During a television interview in January 2008, Plant named "Kashmir" as his first choice of all Led Zeppelin songs that he would perform, commenting "I'm most proud of that one". The song is centered around a signature chord progression guitar riff, which first appeared on Page's home-studio work tapes. It was initially a tuning, an extension of a guitar-cycle that Page had been working on for years. This was the same cycle that would produce "Black Mountain Side", "White Summer" and the unreleased track, "Swan-song". As bass player and keyboardist John Paul Jones had been late for the recording sessions, Page used the time to work on the riff with drummer John Bonham. The two demoed it late in 1973. Plant later added the middle section and in early 1974 Jones added all the string parts. The guitar was played in an alternative guitar tuning: the strings are tuned to 'Open Dsus4' or DADGAD. The body of the song also has a different beat between the guitars and the drums. The drums play the standard 4/4 time signature with a double stroke on the bass drum, while the guitars create tension by playing against it in [implied] 3/4 time. Drummer John Bonham has been cited as the source for the main 3/4 riff and has an official credit as co-songwriter. Bonham's drums feature a phasing effect courtesy of an early Eventide phaser supplied by engineer Ron Nevison. Plant has stated that Bonham's drumming is the key to the song: "It was what he didn't do that made it work." The song also includes many distinctive musical patterns of classical Moroccan, Indian, and Middle Eastern music. Orchestral brass and strings with electric guitar and mellotron strings are used in the song. This is one of the few Zeppelin songs to use outside musicians. Session players were brought in for the string and horn sections. According to Jones, "The secret of successful keyboard string parts is to play only the parts that a real string section would play. That is, one line for the First Violins, one line for Second Violins, one for Violas, one for Cellos, one for Basses. Some divided parts [two or more notes to a line] are allowed, but keep them to a minimum. Think melodically." Originally called "Driving to Kashmir", the lyrics to the song were written by Plant in 1973 while driving from Goulimine to Tantan in the Sahara Desert, Morocco, immediately after Led Zeppelin's 1973 US Tour. This was despite the fact that the song is named for Kashmir, a region in the northernmost part of the Indian subcontinent. Lyrics: Oh let the sun beat down upon my face Stars to fill my dream I am a traveler of both time and space To be where I have been To sit with elders of the gentle race This world has seldom seen They talk of days for which they sit and wait All will be revealed Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace Whose sounds caress my ear But not a word I heard could I relate The story was quite clear Oh, I been flying... mama, there ain't no denyin' I've been flying, ain't no denyin', no denyin' 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 where I've been. Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon I will return again Sure as the dust that floats high in June When movin' through Kashmir Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails Across the sea of years With no provision but an open face Along the straits of fear When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah When I see, when I see the way, you stay-yeah Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down... Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there Let me take you there. Let me take you there