I love this song so much. As a Tolkien reader (my grandad himself was a huge Tolkien fan), here is my take on the song:
The lady who's sure = Galadriel, from Fellowship of the Ring
The stairway to heaven = admission back into Valinor, where Galadriel is from. In the books, being one of the Noldor who rebelled, Galadriel was banned from Valinor, so when Ann (Wilson) sings "And she's buying a stairway to heaven", she means that Galadriel is trying to find a way to gain readmission to her home city, even if she has to pay a price for it.
"If the stores are all closed / With a word she can get what she came for" = if all avenues are closed to Galadriel, the word is "No"; "what she came for" pertains to her readmission to Valinor (see above)
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west / And my spirit is crying for leaving" = Ann now switches to the first person narration, these lines are from Galadriel's PoV; she (Galadriel) is sad because she misses Valinor and wants to return.
"In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke thru the trees / And the voices of those who stand looking" = The rings of smoke are (who else?) Gandalf the Grey. "Those who stand looking" are the Valar, the high-ranking spirits, who shaped and ruled Middle-Earth.
"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune / Then the piper will lead us to reason" = the "piper" is likely Aragorn, who led the war against Sauron. Aragorn has been depicted smoking a pipe intermittently, especially during the journey to Rivendell.
"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long / And the forests will echo with laughter" = after the war against Sauron, peace will return to Middle Earth, and those who stood strong shall be happy.
"Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run / There's still time to change the road you're on" = you can always choose to be good, instead of taking the seemingly "easy" route to evil. This is a common theme throughout LotR.
"And as we wind on down the road / Our shadows taller than our soul / There walks a lady we all know / Who shines white light and wants to show / How everything still turns to gold" = this is a very famous part of LotR, I doubt any Tolkien readers would not recognize this. Frodo and Sam Gamgee are now heading east towards Mordor (the Shadow is therefore in front of them). "Who shines white light" is the famous scene when Galadriel takes the Ring from Frodo, and cries out, "And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" And finally, "How everything still turns to gold" pertains to the Ring that Galadriel took from Frodo, and how in spite of all the temptation the heroes had to face, the Phial of Galadriel kept them strong.
"And if you listen very hard / The tune will come to you at last / When all are one and one is all" = this is basically a re-wording of "One ring to rule them all"
"To be a rock and not to roll" = to be strong and resist evil, another common theme we see throughout LotR.
So there you have it, the TRUE interpretation of this famous song. Need I say more?
I love this song so much. As a Tolkien reader (my grandad himself was a huge Tolkien fan), here is my take on the song:
The lady who's sure = Galadriel, from Fellowship of the Ring
The stairway to heaven = admission back into Valinor, where Galadriel is from. In the books, being one of the Noldor who rebelled, Galadriel was banned from Valinor, so when Ann (Wilson) sings "And she's buying a stairway to heaven", she means that Galadriel is trying to find a way to gain readmission to her home city, even if she has to pay a price for it.
"If the stores are all closed / With a word she can get what she came for" = if all avenues are closed to Galadriel, the word is "No"; "what she came for" pertains to her readmission to Valinor (see above)
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west / And my spirit is crying for leaving" = Ann now switches to the first person narration, these lines are from Galadriel's PoV; she (Galadriel) is sad because she misses Valinor and wants to return.
"In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke thru the trees / And the voices of those who stand looking" = The rings of smoke are (who else?) Gandalf the Grey. "Those who stand looking" are the Valar, the high-ranking spirits, who shaped and ruled Middle-Earth.
"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune / Then the piper will lead us to reason" = the "piper" is likely Aragorn, who led the war against Sauron. Aragorn has been depicted smoking a pipe intermittently, especially during the journey to Rivendell.
"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long / And the forests will echo with laughter" = after the war against Sauron, peace will return to Middle Earth, and those who stood strong shall be happy.
"Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run / There's still time to change the road you're on" = you can always choose to be good, instead of taking the seemingly "easy" route to evil. This is a common theme throughout LotR.
"And as we wind on down the road / Our shadows taller than our soul / There walks a lady we all know / Who shines white light and wants to show / How everything still turns to gold" = this is a very famous part of LotR, I doubt any Tolkien readers would not recognize this. Frodo and Sam Gamgee are now heading east towards Mordor (the Shadow is therefore in front of them). "Who shines white light" is the famous scene when Galadriel takes the Ring from Frodo, and cries out, "And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" And finally, "How everything still turns to gold" pertains to the Ring that Galadriel took from Frodo, and how in spite of all the temptation the heroes had to face, the Phial of Galadriel kept them strong.
"And if you listen very hard / The tune will come to you at last / When all are one and one is all" = this is basically a re-wording of "One ring to rule them all"
"To be a rock and not to roll" = to be strong and resist evil, another common theme we see throughout LotR.
So there you have it, the TRUE interpretation of this famous song. Need I say more?