Led Zeppelin: Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp

Led Zeppelin performing "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, 1975:


Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp is a song on Led Zeppelin’s 3rd album, Led Zeppelin III- it was released in 1970. Similar to the song Black Mountain Side Zeppelin’s Debut Album, the music of "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" came to Jimmy Page through guitarist and folk singer Bert Jansch. Though the lyrics of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp are original to Led Zeppelin, the song is taken from "The Waggoner's Lad," an old English folk song. Led Zeppelin also recorded the song as an electric instrumental, "Jennings Farm Blues", which later surfaced as a studio out-take on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings. 'The stomp' was originally recorded at Headley Grange in 1970, using a mobile studio belonging to the Rolling Stones. It was finished off at Island, London and Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee. The song is named after Bron-Yr-Aur, a house in Gwynedd, Wales, where the members of Led Zeppelin retreated in 1970 to write much of Led Zeppelin III after having completed a grueling concert tour of the United States. The cottage had no electricity or running water, but the change of scenery provided inspiration for many of the songs on the album, including "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”. "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp", is a country music-inflected hoedown, singer Robert Plant refrences lyrics about walking in the woods with his blue-eyed Merle dog. Plant reportedly named his dog Stryder after Aragorn from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, since one of the aliases of this character is "Strider". References to Tolkien’s work also exists in some Led Zeppelin songs, such as "Ramble On", "Misty Mountain Hop" and "The Battle of Evermore." There are no explicit references to Tolkien works in "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp". When performing the song drummer John Bonham played spoons and castanets on the recording. Bassist John Paul Jones played an acoustic five-string fretless bass. Jimmy Page's guitar for this song had an open tuning. When the band performed the song live at Led Zeppelin Concerts, John Paul Jones played an upright bass and Bonham displayed a rather under-rated talent in singing harmony vocals with Plant. This can be seen in the footage from the Earls Court concerts in May 1975, (See video above) featured on the Led Zeppelin DVD.



Lyrics to Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp:
That's the way it should be,
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine.

Ah all the good times we had,
I sang love songs so glad
Always smiling, never sad, so fine.

As we walk down a country lane,
I'll be singing a song,
Hear me calling your name.
Hear the whisper in the trees,
Telling Mother Nature 'bout you and me.

Well if the sunshines so bright,
Or on our way it's darkest night
The road we choose is always right, so fine.

Ah can your love be so strong
When so many loves go wrong
Will our love go on and on and on and on and on and on?

As we walk down a country lane,
I'll be singing a song,
Hear me calling your name.
Hear the whisper in the trees,
Telling Mother Nature 'bout you and me.

My, my la de la come on now it ain't too far,
Tell your friends all around the world,
Ain't no companion like a blue eyed merle.
Come on now well let me tell you,
What you're missing, missing, 'round them brick walls.

So of one thing I am sure,
It's a friendship so pure,
Angels singing all around my door so fine.
Yeah, ain't but one thing to do
Spend my nat'ral life with you,
You're the finest dog I knew, so fine.

When you're old and your eyes are dim,
There ain't no old Shep gonna happen again,
We'll still go walking down country lanes,
I'll sing the same old songs,
Hear me call your name.


*** Purchase Plant & Krause Tickets HERE ***
Eric Clapton Tickets
The Police Tickets
Bon Jovi Tickets
Led Zeppelin T-Shirts
Led Zeppelin CD’s
Led Zeppelin DVD’s

CLICK HERE to view all previous articles on LedZeppelinLives.com