Do you hear a faint.... bustling? It's coming from your hedgerow. It's not just a spring clean for the May queen... it's a new episode of Strong Songs, straight from the Internet to your eardrums!

Yes, Strong Songs is back from the holidays and ready for a lush new year of thumps, pops, sizzles, and higgada-buggadas. On the first episode of 2020, Kirk goes deep into Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," a song that develops with unusual subtlety, from those quiet opening guitar arpeggios to that howling, rocking culmination.

Band/Artist: Led Zeppelin

Album: Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Composed by: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify

------

ALSO DISCUSSED:

• "Black Dog" also from Led Zeppelin IV
• Clips from Wayne's World, 1992, and a Billboard magazine retrospective with director Penelope Spheeris
• "Taurus" by Spirit from Spirit, 1968
• "The Mandalorian" by Ludwig Göransson from The Mandalorian soundtrack, 2019
• "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen from A Night at the Opera, 1975
• "Grace" by Jeff Buckley from Grace, 1994
• A clip from Jeff Buckley Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition), 1993, which is a really incredible live compilation and you should listen to it

------

OUTRO SOLOIST: Kirk Hamilton

Kirk is, well, the host of Strong Songs. He realized he'd never actually done an outro solo, so he figured he'd kick off year two by recording one. He's playing tenor sax, and there's actually a video of him recording the solo here: https://twitter.com/kirkhamilton/status/1214319584959877123

'GRAM BY 'GRAM

If you're interested in occasional music and Portland-related photos and videos, follow Kirk on Instagram @kirk_hamilton. https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/

NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST

Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://kirkhamilton.substack.com/subscribe

STRONG MERCH!

Visit the Strong Songs merch store for some very cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.com

STRONG PLAYLISTS

You can find playlists containing every Strong Song as well as all of Kirk's weekly music picks from his other podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, on both Spotify and Apple Music.

SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!

The biggest of thank-yous to all of Strong Songs's Patreon patrons, especially all the new folks who signed up in December! If you want to support Kirk making the show, do so here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs

JANUARY 2020 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

AccessViolation andrew walters CALEB ROTACH Chad Barnard Dan Apczynski Dave Florey Glenn Jared Norris Mark Schechter Merlin Mann Ryan Torvik

JANUARY 2020 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Adam Georgandis Alex Singer Alexander Polson Amanda Furlotti Andre Bremer Andrew Baker Andrew Lee Arjun Sharma Bill Thornton Brett Douville Brian Amoebas Brooke Wilford Chas Lednicky Chris Brown Cyrus N. White David Stroud Earl Lozada Eero Wahlstedt Elliot Jay O'Neill Emily Williams FlSHBONES Forrest Chang Gavin Doig Jacob Dye Jaehoon Jeong James Johnson Jasmine Fellows Jeffrey Olson Jennifer Bush Jeremy Dawson John and Sharon Stenglein Jon O’Keefe joujou Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua Jules Bailey Justin Liew Justin McElroy Kate Albury Kevin Morrell Kevin Pennyfeather Mark Steen Matt Gaskell Max Schechter Melanie Stivers Michael Blackwell Miriam Juskowicz Mueller Nate from Kalamazoo Nicholas Schechter Richard Toller Robbie Ferrero samuel gardner Shane DeLeon Shaun Wiese SP Tanner Morton Tom Clewer Tom Lauer