10 Craziest Musical Urban Legends
3. Stairway to Hell?
The journey for Led Zeppelin into the realm of rock gods lies in Stairway to Heaven. Though Jimmy Page had already carved his name into rock history with the Yardbirds, this monumental 8 minute journey of a track is so compact that it almost seems to be part of the DNA of rock and roll itself. Now if only people knew it was just about a journey...and nothing more.
Across its runtime, Stairway's build is absolutely beautiful, from a lone acoustic guitar to a pastoral opening to one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. However, some concerned parents were starting to question what the lyrics really meant. In another case of backwards recording, people starting coming out of the woodwork suggesting that the backmasked lyrics were actively encouraging children to worship Satan. While this would be laughed out of the room for any other rock band, Jimmy Page's known fixation with the occult has given this rumor legs for years now.
Despite it making the rounds both on the Internet and by word of mouth, the silence on Page's part has kept the debate going, adding just another level of mystique to Zeppelin's aura. While Stairway might have the power to outlive any other rock and roll out there, we'll probably never know whether or not its immortality actually lies in some form of dark magic.