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Revision as of 03:56, 11 November 2005 by K0hlrabi (talk | contribs) (added song infobox)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| "The Ocean" | ||
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| From the album Houses of the Holy | ||
| Album released | 28 March 1973 | |
| Recorded | 1972 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Song Length | 4:31 | |
| Record label | Atlantic Records | |
| Producer | Jimmy Page | |
| Houses of the Holy Album Listing | ||
| No Quarter (Track 7) | The Ocean (Track 8) | N/A |
"The Ocean" is a song by Led Zeppelin, from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. "The Ocean" refers to the sea of fans seen from the stage. This song was always dedicated to the audience at concerts. Drummer John Bonham counted-in the song on the original album version. This count-in was absent during early live performances of the song, but was present during later performances, as well as Bonham harmonizing with Plant during the "doo-wop" section.
The "girl who won my heart" is a reference to Robert Plant's daughter Carmen, who was three years old at the time.
At approximately 1:38 into the song, a phone can be heard ringing in the background. Some speculate that this was intentional - the sheet music (printed after the fact) that accompanies the CD-box set has the word `ring' printed twice above the percussion tab of this song. Others are of the opinion that while Led Zeppelin recorded the song a ringing phone was captured in the mix.
The song is also known for a lyric intentionally misprinted on the insert sleeve of the LP. A lyric referring to "the hellhound" (an homage to Mississippi bluesmen who, as a legend has it, could not have received such talent without meeting the devil and his 'hellhound' at the 'crossroads') was deemed unfit to print in the lyric sheet and was changed to the nonsense phrase "high hopes hailla".
The hard rock song unwinds to a coda consisting of a doo-wop homage. The band therefore jokingly dedicated this song to an imaginary doo-wop band "Rosie and the Originals".
The Beastie Boys infamously sampled this song on "She's Crafty".
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