I had a dream
Oh, yeah
Crazy dream, uh-huh
Anything I wanted to know
Any place I needed to go
Hear my song
Yeah, people don't you listen now?
Sing along
Oh
You don't know what you're missing, now
Any little song that you know
Everything that's small has to grow
And it's gonna grow, push push, yeah

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, California sunlight
Sweet Calcutta rain
Honolulu starbright
The song remains the same
Ooh, ooh, oh, oh

Here we go, here we go
All you gotta do, now
All you gotta do, now
Ooh-ee
Sing out Hare-Hare
Ooh, dance the Hoochie-Koo
City lights are oh so bright, as we go sliding, sliding
Sliding, sliding, sliding, sliding, sliding, sliding
Oh


Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher

The Song Remains the Same Lyrics as written by Robert Anthony Plant James Patrick (jimmy) Page

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Song Remains the Same song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

50 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +6
    General Comment

    Plant has spoken often about what this song is all about, and I'm a collector of their live recordings, so I've heard it often. In his words (per his intros from the 1973 shows in New Orleans, Mobile, and Salt Lake City), it's "about how you can travel half way around the world and people are pretty much the same..." That's a quote. They had just gone through India, Australia, etc, early in 1972, prior to the song's recording. They had experienced many cultures and societies, but the song - being music - was the same world wide. People of all languages and cultures could communicate as one with music, and that no matter where in the world we might go, we'd still see the same people.

    mikeydhhon August 07, 2008   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    one of led zeppelin's best. i can't believe no one's commented on it. i think it's actually about a dream plant had. where he went to different parts of the world, and the "song" was always the same. i think song is metaphorical, but i don't have a clue what it could represent.

    staleph1shon September 16, 2002   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    My take on this is that as time passes they will die but the song will remain the same. Thus as long as people listen they are forever immortalized through their wonderful music.

    teleski13on July 31, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Plant said this song was inspired by his actual travels to the Asia and the Indies where even though the cultures and people were different, "to keep a long long story short, the song remained the same."

    Zavieron April 15, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I heard it was about Plants belief that all music came from the same root, and melody

    and are alll basically the same

    Burtoniteon January 01, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Zeppelin's tribute to world music, and the varieties they experienced on their travels

    JakdamanJudekon May 23, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    i think its about music being a global language, the song remains the same, and still understood, anywhere.

    aldrrian lunsfelton May 30, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song was originally going to be an instrumental, but then Robert came up with these lyrics. He says that someone pushed the pen for him. I think it's all about living together... but the lyrics can have many interpretations. They're incredible.

    Pukson June 26, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Plant's voice seems to be sped up, and that goes for some other songs as well on the Houses Of The Holy album. It's the album where his voice starts to sound battered. The price to pay after 5 years of screaming, I guess, but it never lost it's greatness.

    Kaztoron January 23, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think it's "Honolulu star LIGHT", but no biggie either way.

    I live in California, and about once a week I see the sun and get this song in my head.

    "Hare Hare" is a line from the song of the Hare Krishnas. Hoochie Koo is probably from the Rick Derringer song and represents a very different kind of mysic from the Krishnas. Here, the Hares are asked to dance to this very different kind of music because, hey, the song remains the same.

    rikdad101@yahoo.comon December 13, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms. “Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.