Gallows Pole

I have been listening to this today because I think the lyrics are wrong here. The last line, I believe says "She's swingin' on the Gallows Pole." The sister gave herself sexually to the hangman in exchange for freedom for her brother. So the final line is "she's swinging on the gallows pole." Meaning either figuratively (by prostituting herself) or figuratively (the hangman actually hanged her after he "did" her). Personally, I believe it is figurative...that the hangman's desire for sex was greater than the money and finally won the brother's freedom (at the expense of the sister). My two cents.

ToOlHoLiO was close but also not colse...the song does talk about friends and family coming and trying to help, but in the end it doesn't work...the person talking ends up being hung. "Swingin' from te gallows pole!" the song tells us that if you do something bad take it like a man and dont drag your family and friends down with you.

Gallows Pole is actually a very AMERICAN tune. It is an old Delta Blues (as with many of LZ's songs) song originally recorded by Lead Belly. Plant references this on one of the newer recordings of the song, either a bootleg or the "Walking into Clarksdale"

This song comes from a VERY old folk song. It has many many many different versions. This one being the most popular. It most of the versions the accused actually lives though. Zeppelin is the only one that kills him. Also, in the original version, it was a woman who was being hanged. She kept begging her family to bribe the hangman, but they had just came to watch her die. Eventually, her lover comes and saves her, and she puts a curse on her family. Led Zeppelin got this song from Huddie Ledbetter. His version is KICK ASS. He called it Gallis Pole though. Dylan also did a version of it called Seven Curses.

This song is about how you can try to whore your own sister to save yourself. That's the British for you.

This is actually an old british folk-style sort of song, just redone by Led Zeppelin. It is pretty odd, bbut like you said, that`s the British for you.

I love it when the drums come in!!

The practice of paying provincial hangmen was very common in England up to the early 18th C. I think that the lyrics have been embellished a little but it's a deliciously dark little number that they have taken right out of medieval history and brought it back to us with a fusion of folk and heavy rock. Fantastic stuff!

look, ive read all your "definitions"..... its about the meaning of the song, not the origin, and analysing every detail, just listen to it, theres this guy about to be hung, desperate to survive, and he tries everything to save himself including whoring his sister (Whether intentional or not)... and the guy still hangs him, its about life, its about the struggle to survive, there are people out there doing it tough, trying to get themselves out of shit day by day, but theres always a guy above them pulling them by the chain...... thats what the song is about, so yeh, in summary. a song about betrayal, and the human will to survive... thinking about that just reminded me of the song by the verve "bitter sweet symphony"... 'try to make ends meet try to make some money then you die'........

This song is more of a cover of an old blues song of the same name by the blues singer "leadbelly", with a few more improvised lyrics.