That's the Way (Led Zeppelin song)

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"That's the Way"
Song by Led Zeppelin
from the album Led Zeppelin III
Released5 October 1970 (1970-10-05)
RecordedMay–June 1970 (?); 30 May 1970 [1]
Studio Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, Headley Grange, Hampshire; Olympic Sound Studios, London [1]
Genre Folk rock
Length5:37
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s) Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Producer(s) Jimmy Page

"That's the Way" is a folk rock ballad by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their third album, Led Zeppelin III , released in 1970. As with several of the tracks on the album, it is an acoustic song.

Contents

Composition

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote the piece in 1970 on a retreat at Bron-Yr-Aur cottage, Wales. [2] Page noted that the two developed it and recorded a rough demo after a long walk before they returned to the cottage. [3]

The original working title of the song was "The Boy Next Door". [4] On the surface, the lyrics are about one boy's parents being against a friendship with another boy due to his long hair and coming from the wrong side of town. [5] It also reflects on the group's early American tours, when they were sometimes harassed for their appearance. [2]

Instrumentation for the song is spare, consisting of a strummed twelve-string acoustic guitar, with overdubbed mandolin and steel guitar fills; percussion and bass are absent from much of the song until the instrumental outro. [4] According to Page, "And right at the end, where everything opens up, I played a dulcimer." [6] [7] He also plays the bass heard at the conclusion: "I was doing a bunch of overdubs and got excited. [Bassist] John Paul Jones went home, so I put the bass part on it as well! [laughs] That didn't happen often, believe me!" [6] [7]

Personnel

According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin (except for pedal steel): [1]

Reception

In a contemporary review of Led Zeppelin III, Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone describes "That's the Way" as the first Led Zeppelin song that has ever truly moved him. [5] Bangs praises the understated, but effective acoustic guitar and vocal approach. [5] In a later review for AllMusic, Denise Sullivan calls it "one of Led Zeppelin's most beautiful ballads (in the true tradition of the folk ballad)". [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Guesdon & Margotin 2018, p. 198.
  2. 1 2 Lewis 1994.
  3. Welch 1994, p. 53.
  4. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Denise. "Led Zeppelin: 'That's the Way' Review". AllMusic . Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Bangs, Lester (26 November 1970). "Led Zeppelin III". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 Tolinski, Brad (23 December 2010). "Jimmy Page Discusses Led Zeppelin III". Guitar World . Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Guesdon & Margotin 2018, pp. 198–201.

Sources