As I've said so often before, the truest meaning of this song comes from listening to it under the influence of psychedelics. Zeppelin is a creature of the late 60's early 70's acid rock culture and many of the lyrics are metaphors for things that may not be apparent to the unstoned listener. Part of Zeppelin's mystique is their being kind of mysterious and mystical but with a tinge of true evil built in by Crowleyan magical beliefs of the bands mastermind: Jimmy Page.
Many of Zeppelin's tunes are cool, happy, positive, etc. But there's a sadistic and mocking side of Zeppelin that's evidenced in some of their songs like Dazed and Confused, Celebration Day (IMHO), In My Time of Dying, Friends, Gallows Pole, Whole Lotta Love, Since I've been Loving You, No Quarter and even Stairway to Heaven where Robert sings of words having two meanings. Houses of the Holy as seen through the lens of of a tripping Zep fan who's aware of their dark side could interpret the song thusly: The first two lines are Robert saying "let's have some fun tripping". It's entertainment, partying, etc. "Let me take you to the show". Same vibe - lets have some tripping fun with Zep. "Let me be yours ever truly, can I make your garden grow? More of the same vibe like "trust us. we're zeppelin. We'll make your garden grow." Now anybody who's tripped know what Robert means whenever he says "growing". When you trip, everything seems to breathe or "grow" as you stare longer. The breathing/growing will typically get stronger and more extreme as your trip ascends towards peaking. Now here's where it starts to get dicey: "From the houses of the holy, we will watch the white doves go, from the door comes Satan's daughter, and it only goes to show, ya know." A white dove is the symbol of the holy spirit. Why would they flying from or away from the houses of the holy? Because the houses of the holy are really unholy as only Satan's daughter would come forth from such a dwelling. What does this "go to show"? It shows the Zeppelin is singing about or showing something that is unholy. Then we have Robert walking through your "garden" with an angel on his shoulder and a sword of gold in his hand sowing seeds of love. He's saying that his unholy way is right and that he's the master who will make your love "grow" - that is, make you trip harder and presumably more scared as you realize what Zep is up to. This"dove"tails nicely with the next lyrics about the world spinning and being dizzy when your stoned. Let Robert and Zep take over the trip and be your master of your unstable, scared trip. Satan (Zeppelin) is the master and man is the slave. Then Robert says they're ain't no use in crying, cuz it will only drive you mad. He's saying that yes, Zep is revealed as unholy master of the the houses of the holy and are subtly pushing you towards a bad trip and/or an uncomfortable unchristian reality. Yes they are! Once you realize this, "Does it hurt to hear them lying?" Does it hurt to see see Zeppelin as liars now purposefully unmasking themselves as agents of a different force? "Was this the only world you had or planned?" Zep is saying there is more than one reality and now they've shown a different, uncomfortable one to you. So they laugh and say HAHA you want me to wander in your garden and help make it grow now you stupid-ass? Listen to Robert's voice as he sings the last couple line of the song. It's in kind of a vicious scolding mode, saying you thought I was taking you to the movie metaphorically for fun but there's more than one reality, one with which you may be uncomfortable (i.e Zeppelin being agents of a sinister force). Short and sweet. A brilliant song nonetheless pulled off with style and subtlety per usual. Also look at the album cover and inside gatefold. Cover: See all the psychedelic kids (the flower children) ascending to some glowing peak. That's us - the fan. The inside cover shows some sinister guy offering up one of these flower children to some mysterious force emanating from the castle above. WTF is that? Certainly not all rainbows and cupcakes. All will be revealed. Are these the non-sensical ravings of a lunatic mind afflicted by the general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament? Could be. But should you ever find yourself tripping, take a listen and report back. My mind is certainly bent towards mysterious, sinister interpretations of Zeppelin - probably too much so I'm easily suggestible. Jimmy knows this and that's why he's my overlord. If you're really brave, take two hits of acid and listen to the violin bow solo in the middle of the live version of Dazed and Confused on The Song Remains the Same album. Or better still find it on youtube and play the violin bow solo at 25% or 50% speed. That's kind of what it sounds like on acid.
As I've said so often before, the truest meaning of this song comes from listening to it under the influence of psychedelics. Zeppelin is a creature of the late 60's early 70's acid rock culture and many of the lyrics are metaphors for things that may not be apparent to the unstoned listener. Part of Zeppelin's mystique is their being kind of mysterious and mystical but with a tinge of true evil built in by Crowleyan magical beliefs of the bands mastermind: Jimmy Page.
Many of Zeppelin's tunes are cool, happy, positive, etc. But there's a sadistic and mocking side of Zeppelin that's evidenced in some of their songs like Dazed and Confused, Celebration Day (IMHO), In My Time of Dying, Friends, Gallows Pole, Whole Lotta Love, Since I've been Loving You, No Quarter and even Stairway to Heaven where Robert sings of words having two meanings. Houses of the Holy as seen through the lens of of a tripping Zep fan who's aware of their dark side could interpret the song thusly: The first two lines are Robert saying "let's have some fun tripping". It's entertainment, partying, etc. "Let me take you to the show". Same vibe - lets have some tripping fun with Zep. "Let me be yours ever truly, can I make your garden grow? More of the same vibe like "trust us. we're zeppelin. We'll make your garden grow." Now anybody who's tripped know what Robert means whenever he says "growing". When you trip, everything seems to breathe or "grow" as you stare longer. The breathing/growing will typically get stronger and more extreme as your trip ascends towards peaking. Now here's where it starts to get dicey: "From the houses of the holy, we will watch the white doves go, from the door comes Satan's daughter, and it only goes to show, ya know." A white dove is the symbol of the holy spirit. Why would they flying from or away from the houses of the holy? Because the houses of the holy are really unholy as only Satan's daughter would come forth from such a dwelling. What does this "go to show"? It shows the Zeppelin is singing about or showing something that is unholy. Then we have Robert walking through your "garden" with an angel on his shoulder and a sword of gold in his hand sowing seeds of love. He's saying that his unholy way is right and that he's the master who will make your love "grow" - that is, make you trip harder and presumably more scared as you realize what Zep is up to. This"dove"tails nicely with the next lyrics about the world spinning and being dizzy when your stoned. Let Robert and Zep take over the trip and be your master of your unstable, scared trip. Satan (Zeppelin) is the master and man is the slave. Then Robert says they're ain't no use in crying, cuz it will only drive you mad. He's saying that yes, Zep is revealed as unholy master of the the houses of the holy and are subtly pushing you towards a bad trip and/or an uncomfortable unchristian reality. Yes they are! Once you realize this, "Does it hurt to hear them lying?" Does it hurt to see see Zeppelin as liars now purposefully unmasking themselves as agents of a different force? "Was this the only world you had or planned?" Zep is saying there is more than one reality and now they've shown a different, uncomfortable one to you. So they laugh and say HAHA you want me to wander in your garden and help make it grow now you stupid-ass? Listen to Robert's voice as he sings the last couple line of the song. It's in kind of a vicious scolding mode, saying you thought I was taking you to the movie metaphorically for fun but there's more than one reality, one with which you may be uncomfortable (i.e Zeppelin being agents of a sinister force). Short and sweet. A brilliant song nonetheless pulled off with style and subtlety per usual. Also look at the album cover and inside gatefold. Cover: See all the psychedelic kids (the flower children) ascending to some glowing peak. That's us - the fan. The inside cover shows some sinister guy offering up one of these flower children to some mysterious force emanating from the castle above. WTF is that? Certainly not all rainbows and cupcakes. All will be revealed. Are these the non-sensical ravings of a lunatic mind afflicted by the general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament? Could be. But should you ever find yourself tripping, take a listen and report back. My mind is certainly bent towards mysterious, sinister interpretations of Zeppelin - probably too much so I'm easily suggestible. Jimmy knows this and that's why he's my overlord. If you're really brave, take two hits of acid and listen to the violin bow solo in the middle of the live version of Dazed and Confused on The Song Remains the Same album. Or better still find it on youtube and play the violin bow solo at 25% or 50% speed. That's kind of what it sounds like on acid.