Day by day, February moves away,
Slow, too slow, makes me want to
Get the Led out, listen to a classic
Song that harmonizes with winter
Doldrums, yet somehow fans dormant
Embers in the spirit, igniting the home
Fires-- and all is well. The greatest blues
Song in rock history, Led Zeppelin’s
“Since I’ve Been Loving You,”
Has always had this profound effect.
I never tire of hearing this masterpiece.
“Since I’ve Been Loving You”
Led Zeppelin III, 1970.
Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones
Working from seven to eleven every night,
It really makes life a drag, I don't think that's right.
I've really been the best, the best of fools, I did what I could.(Yeah)
'Cause I love you, baby, How I love you, darling, How I love you, baby,
My beloved little girl, little girl.
But baby, Since I've Been Loving You (yeah). I'm about to lose my worried mind, oh, yeah.
Everybody trying to tell me that you didn't mean me no good.
I've been trying, Lord, let me tell you, Let me tell you I really did the best I could.
I've been working from seven to eleven every night, I said It kinda makes my life a drag
Lord, that ain't right...
Since I've Been Loving You, I'm about to lose my worried mind. (Watch out!)
Said I've been crying, yeah. Oh, my tears they fell like rain,
Don't you hear them, Don't you hear them falling?
Don't you hear, Don't you hear them falling?
Do you remember mama, when I knocked upon your door?
I said you had the nerve to tell me you didn't want me no more, yeah
I open my front door, hear my back door slam,
You know, I must have one of them new fangled, new fangled back door man.
I've been working from seven, seven, seven, to eleven every night, It kinda makes my life a drag...
Baby, Since I've Been Loving You, I'm about to lose, I'm about to lose, lose my worried mind.
Just one more, just one more, oooh, yeah,
Since I've been loving you, I'm gonna lose my worried mind
In the first verse, he’s been working so hard,
“from seven to eleven every night.”
It’s making his life “a drag.” He does the best he can,
“the best of fools,” because he loves her so much.
But she’s a “beloved little girl;” she’s not his woman.
“Since I’ve been loving you,
I’m about to lose my worried mind.”
Everybody tried to tell him she “didn’t mean [him] no good.”
He’s been trying, Lord knows, but he’s uneasy.
He’s been working long hours, giving her plenty of free time.
He doesn’t trust her. “Since I’ve been loving you,”
“I’m about to lose my worried mind.”
Page’s guitar wails in an unequaled moving solo,
followed by Plant’s unsurpassed vocal wails, shouts,
and screams. “Said I’ve been crying, oh, my tears
they fell like rain. Don’t you hear them falling.”
He knocks on her door; she has “the nerve”
to not want him anymore; he’s incensed.
He wails his anguish when, “I open my front
door, hear my back door slam.” She will be
his undoing; he is certain of that and predicts,
“Since I’ve been loving you, I’m gonna lose
my worried mind.”
“Since I’ve Been Loving You” is one of Led Zeppelin’s
finest efforts, a dramatic, powerful song in which
each musician contributes his own special touch
to make this song a timeless masterpiece.
In the writing of this analysis, I read many listeners’
reviews. My main purpose was to try to determine
if it’s just me, or does it hit everyone the same way:
“Since I’ve Been Loving You,” the consummate
torch song, is a total turn-on. I realize from my
readings that this song inspires “the mood” in a listener,
and in that spirit we should find the one we love and
warm this February night.
YOU ARE READING
Rock Poetry Line by Line
PoetryIf the words are unimportant, all music would be instrumentals.
