82. Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin

"Over the Hills and Far Away" by Led Zeppelin

Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Produced by Jimmy Page
Released on Houses of the Holy (March 23, 1973)
Released as single on May 24, 1973
Peaked at #51 on Billboard Hot 100
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I have fallen in love with many songs over the years. Some I have fallen out of love with, and some I continue to love through it all. At some point I have been in love with each song on this list, and many others that didn't make it. I'm not sure that I'm still head over heels for all 100 anymore, but the songs here are all still special to me in some way.

That love can manifest itself in many ways. Many songs I love are simply songs that I am extremely happy to hear when they come on the radio. Once, when I was 10, I fell in love so hard with a song that I literally wore out the cassette tape single from listening to it so much ("Life Goes On" by Poison). Sometimes I have been embarrassed to share my love for a song (i.e. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes) and have labeled those songs as guilty pleasures. Ultimately I have tried to come to terms with my love for music and who I am as a fan of music. I don't have guilty pleasure songs anymore. If I like it, I like it.

It became too tiring to try to be seen as someone who has "good" taste in music, or to be seen as someone who is "cool" because of the music they like. Music is too diverse and fractious anyway. While one group may think your music is cool, others will think it is terrible. Eventually it won't matter because you grow too old and can't understand modern music and young people (who are the only people that matter anyway) won't care about the fact that you liked a band before they were cool or loved a song that was super uncool. Love what you love and like what you like and let everyone else do the same.

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is the first Led Zeppelin song I fell in love with. I am not sure whether I am still in love with it, but it's still a great song. It's also the first of three Led Zeppelin songs on my top 100, which makes Led Zeppelin the most represented band on my top 100.

I don't know if Led Zeppelin are my favorite band of all time, but they certainly make the short list. I seriously considered having more Zeppelin songs on my top 100. There are at least 5 of their songs I strongly considered and a couple more that could have been in the conversation. The cuts were hard, but ultimately I stuck with three.

Here are a few of the reasons I initially fell in love with "Over the  Hills and Far Away" and why I still at least like this song (well, not really just like, if I'm being honest, I still very much like like this song):

1. I was first introduced to Led Zeppelin as being the godfathers of heavy metal. "Over the Hills and Far Away" starts out as anything but heavy. Here was a "heavy metal" band creating sweet, beautiful music. It went against my expectations in a glorious way.
2. The song also rocks hard. Zeppelin, probably better than any other band, were able to mix soft and hard, quiet and loud, subdued and powerful. It's why they are more than just a great heavy metal band. They are simply a great band.
3. The ending is really cool. The electric guitars are set aside again for the acoustic. It begins to fade out as so many other songs do, but then it comes back. I remember hearing that for the first time on the radio and thinking the DJ had screwed up, started the fade out too soon, and then brought it back up when they realized their mistake. But then it was the same again the next time. I don't know if it's the best way to end a song, but it was different and interesting and felt cool. Led Zeppelin didn't just writing great music, they produced great music.

Right now, "Over the Hills and Far Away" by Led Zeppelin is, probably, my 82nd favorite song of all time.