This week's finale centers around a classic rock tune from the 1970's, getting new life from yet another movie trailer. This has been a running theme lately in the advertising industry. But sometimes even the formula works when the elements come together perfectly. Shakespeare may have used iambic pentameter a lot, but he used it well.
The movie trailer in question is for "Thor Ragnarok", which is coming out in November. The trailer was released this week, to much fanfare for very good reason:
The song in the trailer is Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, from 1970 and arguably one of the band's best songs.
But it is the lyrics of the song's first stanza that make it absolutely the perfect song for a movie about the Norse god Thor:
Ah, ah,Naturally, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were inspired to write this viking-themed song during a tour where they played in Reykjavík, Iceland.
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying,
Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore
As for covers of the song, most people tend to stay respectful to Led Zeppelin's version, which is kind of silly since the Led Zeppelin version has proven impossible to top. Strangely, the one band I might expect to cover it well never played it: Heart. However, Heart's lead singer Ann Wilson did do a decent cover:
But what it needs is Nancy Wilson's guitar. Fortunately, there have been live performances by Heart, but the videos for them aren't that good (here is one example).
By the way, this isn't the only example of Heart successfully covering Led Zeppelin. Their cover of Stairway to Heaven at a Led Zeppelin tribute is classic:
That is all for this week. May your Easter weekend be heartwarming, and I shall return Monday for more.
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