Led Zeppelin's version
“When the Levee Breaks”
Album Led Zeppelin IV
Released November 8, 1971
Recorded December 1970 – March 1971
Length 7:08
Label Atlantic
Writer Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Memphis Minnie
Producer Jimmy Page
Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin had the original McCoy and Minnie recording in his personal collection. He removed and rearranged lines and line parts from the original song and added new lyrical parts (again, the lyrics focused on the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927), and combined it with a revamped melody. Recording for the song took place in December 1970 at Headley Grange, where the band used the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. It had already been tried unsuccessfully by the band at Island Studios at the beginning of the recording sessions for their fourth album.[
The Led Zeppelin version features a distinctive pounding drum beat by John Bonham recorded in a three-story stairwell, driving guitars and a wailing harmonica, all presumably meant to symbolize the relentless storm that threatens to break the levee, backing a powerful vocal performance by Robert Plant. The vocals were processed differently on each verse, sometimes with phasing added.
According to Page, the song's structure "was a riff that I'd been working on, but Bonzo's drum sound really makes a difference on that point." The famous drum performance was recorded by engineer Andy Johns by placing Bonham and a new drumkit at the bottom of a stairwell at Headley Grange, and recording it using two Beyerdynamic M160 microphones at the top, giving the distinctive resonant but slightly muffled sound. Back in the Rolling Stones' mobile studio, Johns compressed the drum sound through two channels and added echo through guitarist Jimmy Page's Binson echo unit The performance was made on a brand new drum kit that had only just been delivered from the factory. The drum break has long been popular in hip hop and dance music circles for its "heavy" sound, and has been sampled for many tracks. At one time the remaining band members took legal action against Beastie Boys for their use of this drum sample on "Rhymin & Stealin" from Licensed to Ill.
Page recorded Plant's harmonica part using the backward echo technique, putting the echo ahead of the sound when mixing, creating a distinct effect.
The song was recorded at a different tempo, then slowed down. Plant then sang in the sort-of-in-between key the song was now in (approximately F minor), which explains its sort of flat and sludgy sound, particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos. Because this song was heavily produced in the studio, it was difficult to recreate live. The band only played this song a few times in the early stages of their 1975 U.S. Tour.
This song was the only one on the album that was not remixed after a supposedly disastrous mixing job in the US (the rest of the tracks were mixed again in England). The original mixing done on this song was kept in its original form.
When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
Lord mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh well, oh well, oh well
When you're tryin' to find your way home
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They got no work to do
If you don't move to Chicago
Cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
Now cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
When the levee breaks mama you got to move
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' 'bout me baby and my happy home
Going to Chicago
Going to Chicago
Sorry but I can't take you
Going down, going down now, going down
Going down now, going down
Going down, going down, going down
Going down now, going down
Going down now, going down
Going down now, going down
Going d-d-d-d-down
Woo, woo
The song "When the Levee Breaks" was originally written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929 as a blues song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Led Zeppelin covered the song in 1971 and made it a powerful and iconic blues rock tune. The song begins with the singer expressing concern about the weather and the possibility of the levee breaking due to excessive rainfall. The levee represents a barrier or a stronghold, and if it breaks, the singer will have no place to stay, leaving him feeling lost and helpless. The second verse paints a picture of a bleak situation where the singer is trying to find direction and coming up short. Going down south implies a search for work, but it's implied that there are no jobs to be found.
The third verse suggests that there is no amount of crying or praying that can prevent the impending disaster that the levee breaking represents. The singer is resigned to the fact that they must leave their home and move on. The fourth and final verse is a lamentation for what's been lost. The singer thinks about his happy home and the spouse he must now part with. The song has been interpreted as an allegory for the social and political upheavals of the time, with the broken levee symbolizing a breakdown of social order, and people being displaced and forced to leave their homes.
Line by Line Meaning
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
If the rain continues, the levee will eventually overflow
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay
If the levee does overflow, the singer will be left with nowhere to go
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
The singer is personifying the levee as a cruel, oppressive force that has caused them emotional pain
It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
The levee is so threatening that even someone who is used to living in harsh conditions like a mountain man would be forced to abandon their home
Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home
You don't know which way to go?
The artist is expressing a feeling of being lost and directionless, which is compounded by the threat of the overflowing levee
If you're goin' down South
They got no work to do
If you don't know about Chicago
The singer is suggesting that there are limited options for work or safety in the South, and that they may need to seek refuge in Chicago
Cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
Now cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
When the levee breaks mama you got to move
The singer is emphasizing that simply feeling scared or praying for help won't be enough to survive if the levee breaks - you need to take action and move to safety
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' 'bout me baby and my happy home
The artist is stuck waiting on the levee, feeling sad and worried about the loved ones and home they may lose
Going to Chicago
Going to Chicago
Sorry but I can't take you
The artist has decided to leave for Chicago, but cannot or will not bring someone else with them
Going down, going down now, going down
Going down now, going down
Going down, going down, going down
Going down now, going down
Woo, woo
The repeated phrase 'going down' perhaps refers to the idea that the levee is breaching and water is rapidly descending, and the 'woo woo' is possibly representative of a train getting ready to depart for Chicago
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Robert Anthony Plant, James Patrick Page
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jonfavreau5154
When The Levee Breaks - Lyrics
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
When the levee breaks, I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, Lord
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh well, oh well, oh well
Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down south
They got no work to do
If you're going down to Chicago.
A-ah, a-ah, a-ah.
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
No, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move, ooh.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home
Ah-oh.
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Goin'
I'm goin' to Chicago
Goin' to Chicago
Sorry, but I can't take you, ahhh
Goin' down, goin' down now
Goin' down, goin' down now
Goin' down, goin' down
Goin' down, goin' down.
Goin' down, goin' down now
Goin' down, goin' down now
Goin' down, goin' down now
Goin' down, goin' down-down-down-down-down.
@josemourinho2810
This is one of the best Instrumental intro of the History. PERFECT SONG.
@ivancedillotorres7422
Totally agree
@wildernesstraining1957
It’s beyond brilliant isn’t it!!!
@beardedclecker
Praise indeed from the special one.
@markvickroy6725
Bonzo is halfass my hero.
And I'm really a guitarist.
Beats Loony Moony in my book.
No disrespect to Keith, he was great too.
I play bonzo style behind the kit is all.
This song is why I do.
@seankillackey7470
Be Champion Zeppelins
@patricksasser9840
It’s not a complete day until we hear some Led Zeppelin.
@Advaitamanta
bumping this over here in the Indian Himalayas.
@kingjellybean9795
Gotta get the led out
@krane97
This song is so heavy and badass