Writers: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant
Producer: Jimmy Page
Recorded: 1972 at Stargroves, Berkshire with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, and Electric Lady, New York
Released: March 28, 1973
| Players: | Jimmy Page—guitars Robert Plant–vocals John Paul Jones–bass John Bonham–drums |
| Album: | Houses Of The Holy (Swan Song, 1973) |
The bulk of the Houses Of the Holy album was recorded at Stargroves, which is Mick Jagger's country estate.
Houses Of The Holy was actually finished in 1972 but was delayed due to complications with the sleeve design. The design and delays actually caused more discussion than the music within some circles.
The elaborate multi-printed photo of two nude children mysteriously climbing up ancient stones is based on a science fiction book called Childhood's End. The printing (there were detailed color schemes to be implemented) itself delayed the album's release for nearly three months.
Like Led Zeppelin's fourth album, the cover of Houses Of The Holy contained not a single word. The band felt this added to its mystique and sense of expectation of the music contained within. Manager Peter Grant did allow a wraparound title to be included on the U.K. version of the album, apparently not wanting to invoke the same record company outrage as the previous album's verbally-bereft cover did.
The song's title refers to an image lead singer Robert Plant envisioned as he stared out across crowd-filled stadiums. By this time, the band's fan base had ballooned into extraordinary proportions and there was indeed a sea of heads waving back and forth to the song's descending/ascending riff in concert.
The thickly accented voice that introduces the song with “We've done four already but now we're steady, and then they went …” belongs to drummer John Bonham.
In the song's final verse, Plant refers to a “girl who's won my heart/She is only three years old but that's a real fine place to start.” Wipe out the images of Plant the pedophile–he's singing about his then-young daughter Carmen.
