Which nation is the subject of Led Zeppelin’s song “Immigrant Song”?
“Immigrant Song,” a Led Zeppelin song with an instantly recognizable opening shriek over a driving rhythm of guitar, bass, and drums in unison, is instantly recognizable like few others. The band’s third album, which tells fast-paced stories of “Valhalla” and the “tides of war,” plunges the listener into the action.
Jimmy Page, the guitarist, subsequently stated to The Guardian that he thought the song’s opening seconds, with their “hypnotic riff” and vocalist Robert Plant’s “bloodcurdling scream,” would be the ideal way to begin an album. And, it appeared, a live show.
Zeppelin performed the song at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music at the end of June 1970, almost immediately after writing it. During a tour of Germany, it opened their next shows and quickly won over the crowd. An endless number of other bands were inspired to swing the hammer in search of sonic lightning by their allusion to the “hammer of the gods,” which came to symbolize both Page’s guitar sound and metal music in general.
But precisely what—or where—is singer Robert Plant singing about? And how did the group come up with the title, which initially seems out of place given the mythological content of the song?
“The land of snow and ice”
There is a specific cultural foundation in Norse and Viking mythology for the numerous references to folklore found in “Immigrant Song.” Inspired by the story of Viking immigration to Britain a millennium ago, Robert Plant wrote the song’s lyrics.
On June 22, 1970, Led Zeppelin traveled to Iceland to perform at the Laugardalshöll exhibition center in Reykjavík. While there, the band’s singer paid a visit to the Viking artifacts that had been conserved in the nation. He remarked, “You can’t be anything else but moved by the place,” recalling how he had seen the “huge boats” the Vikings had used to cross the Atlantic.
Plant was particularly impressed by these expeditions. “Whoa! “These guys came to Stranraer from here?” he wondered. After that, he made the decision to write a song about his experience as a Viking immigrant, using imagery from Iceland and Norse mythology. As a result, phrases like “ice and snow,” “midnight sun,” and “hot springs” are used in the song.
The mythologizing of Led Zeppelin and metal music in general would be greatly influenced by Plant’s artistic depictions of Iceland and its Viking past. Since that initial trip, the singer has made “a few more” trips back to the island, where she met with one of Iceland’s prime ministers.
He told Plant, “I was in that room!” referring to the original performance that served as the song’s inspiration. Before the four band members headed back to the western shore with their new song in hand, he and the other five thousand people witnessed history.
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