What Is and What Should Never Be

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What Is and What Should Never Be
Led Zeppelin
publication October 22, 1969
length 4:46
Genre (s) Psychedelic rock , blues rock , hard rock
Author (s) Jimmy Page , Robert Plant
Label Atlantic
album Led Zeppelin II

What Is and What Should Never Be is a song by the British rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II .

General

The song was one of the first Jimmy Page used his later trademark Gibson Les Paul for recording. During the production, the stereo sound was freely used, so that the guitar switches back and forth between the channels.

The song is also one of the first from the band Robert Plant was named as the author. According to rock journalist and Led Zeppelin biographer Stephen Davis, the text is about a romance Plant had with his wife's younger sister.

Page himself saw this number as "a change for the band". Page certifies that Robert Plant has developed into a serious songwriter based on the chorus . For John Paul Jones , the focus of the piece is on its good bass melody.

What Is and What Should Never Be was performed live at the band's concerts from 1969 to 1972 and once in 1973. A live version of a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 is included on the Led Zeppelin DVD . Another is part of the live album How the West Was Won .

Record producer Rick Rubin said of What Is and What Should Never Be :

“The descending riff is amazing: It's like a bow is being drawn back, and then it releases. The rhythm of the vocals is almost like a rap. It's insane - one of their most psychedelic songs. "

“The descending reef is incredible: it's like an arch that is drawn and then released. The rhythm of the singing is almost like a rap. It's crazy - one of their most psychedelic songs. "

- Rick Rubin

occupation

Cover versions and other uses

The song was covered by Haley Reinhart during the tenth season of the American casting show American Idol . It is also part of the score for the film Silver Linings from 2012, but was not released on the soundtrack .

The name of the song was used as a title for episodes of various series, such as One Tree Hill , Supernatural or Covert Affairs .

literature

  • Dave Lewis: The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin . Omnibus Press, 2004, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
  • Chris Welch: Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song . Carlton, 1998, ISBN 1-56025-818-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dave Lewis: The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin . Omnibus Press, 1994, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9 .
  2. ↑ Stephen Davis: Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga . William Morrow & Co., New York 1985, ISBN 0-688-04507-3 .
  3. ^ Ritchie Yorke: Led Zeppelin - Biography of a Band . Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-8025-2287-7 .
  4. ↑ Rick Rubin: Led Zeppelin. (No longer available online.) Rollings Stone, archived from the original on July 15, 2011 ; Retrieved June 5, 2014 .