When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin 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
If you're goin' down South
They got no work to do
If you don't know about 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
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Robert Anthony Plant, James Patrick Page
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. According to the When The Levee Breaks Songfacts, African-American plantation workers were forced to work on the levee at gunpoint, piling sandbags to save the neighboring towns. Hence the lyrics, "I works on the levee, mama both night and day, I works so hard, to keep the water away." Read Full Bio"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. According to the When The Levee Breaks Songfacts, African-American plantation workers were forced to work on the levee at gunpoint, piling sandbags to save the neighboring towns. Hence the lyrics, "I works on the levee, mama both night and day, I works so hard, to keep the water away."
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.
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.
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Jacob Johnsen
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 don't know about 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
😉
whattheHell Morty
If it keeps on rainin' levees going to break
If it keeps on rainin' levees going to break
When the levee breaks, have no place to stay
Mean ol' levee taught me to weep and moan
Lord Mean ol' levee taught me to weep and moan
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh well oh well oh well
Don't it it make you feel bad when your tryin' to find your way home, you don't know which way to go?
If your goin' down south, they got no work to do, if you don't know 'bout 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 my baby and my happy home
Going go'n' to Chicago
Go'n' 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 going down now, going down going down now, going g down going down now, going down going d-d-d-d-down
Woo Woo
Weapons Education
The band was recorded at 3 quarter speed and plants voice was not changed. This gives the cool effect of the song. The drums were special as it was recorded in an old mansion with a 5 story stairwell, drums at the bottom. AMAZING
rex mundi
Glad they didn't do the opposite.
Jeremy Merrifield
If it's true about the speed, how on earth did they perform this tune live,????
sniper161718
Please watch Rick Beato for how the drums were recorded
Jodi Monahan
Kashmir
Laurie Outlaw
They have never played this song live because of the way it was recorded. It could never be reproduced on stage. I also read that Plant's harmonica was treated by playing it backward but that might be bullshit. But that drum sound could never be duplicated.
Josef Grosch
Listen to John Bonham. He hits those drums like they owe him money.
bLOCKbOYgAMES
Hitting drums too hard actually weakens the sound in recording. Engineers know that the size of the sound has little to do with the hardness of the hit, and everything to do with the ambience and the compression and the mics used. Andy Johns, the guy responsible for Mr Bonham's sound, did some extraordinary things in recording these drums, and it is those things that made it sound so huge. This detracts nothing from Mr Bonham's powerful and inspired playing. Andy Johns did not create the huge drums sound, but he did do more than anyone else to capture it. :) Cheers to all you Zeppelin fans out there. :)
Steve Ashley
He had a style like no other drummer. He was one of the best
Nippesmeister
He also created a drumloop which will still be used in 2420