The Song Remains The Same was initially a contentious part of the legacy of Led Zeppelin. As it stands now, the concert film contains the clearest and most vital live footage of the band during the peak of their powers, playing Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1973. But the film’s hastily thrown-together footage, pretentious fantasy sequences, and glaring musical omissions made it something of an albatross for Led Zeppelin after its release in 1976.
Jimmy Page was given a particular spotlight in the film, with his wizard-like abilities on the guitar being a major feature of the live performances. Page’s reputation had grown immensely by 1973, and The Song Remains The Same captures him at a high point in his performative career. So, which song did Page think was the best in the film?
“I thought ‘The Rain Song’ was really good,” Page proclaimed in Brad Tolinksi’s book Light & Shade. “I bet you didn’t expect me to say that, but it has a real drama to it. It’s not as good as the studio version, but I think it has its own character. I also like the bowed section on ‘Dazed and Confused’, which really went well with the fantasy sequence.”
Originally featured on Led Zeppelin’s fifth studio album, Houses of the Holy, ‘The Rain Song’ became a delicate signature track for Page, one that allowed him to show off his skills at alternate tunings and his prowess on the double-neck guitar. Page claimed to have written the song after George Harrison reportedly complained that the band never played any ballads.
Speaking of the fantasy sequence, Page later came to regret some of his decisions for that particular scene. Filmed in and around Page’s estate, the former home of occultist Aleister Crowley, the guitarist’s sequence saw him dawn a costume similar to ‘The Hermit’ found on the inside of Led Zeppelin IV. For Page, the biggest drawback of the sequence came from the weather that it was filmed in.
“We shot it in December, so there was snow on the ground, and these great clouds were going past the full moon,” Page explained. “We created this scaffold for filming the shot, and everything was perfect and ready to go, but I’d forgotten the most obvious thing — that I was going to have to do multiple takes climbing up and down. I kept thinking, ‘What have I done!’ It was bloody cold up there, too, I know that much!”
Ultimately, Page was dissatisfied with The Song Remains The Same. “The Song Remains The Same is not a great film, but there’s no point in making excuses,” Page told NME a month after the movie’s release. “It’s just a reasonably honest statement of where we were at that particular time. It’s very difficult for me to watch it now, but I’d like to see it in a year’s time just to see how it stands up.”
Check out footage from The Song Remains The Same down below.
