Matisyahu: "Jerusalem" and "One day" (subtitled) @UN against BDS summit,...

Matysiahu peforms at UN summit against BDS, May 2016 (lyrics in closed captions and below)
"Jerusalem" [Chorus]

Jerusalem, if I forget you,
fire not gonna come from me tongue.
Jerusalem, if I forget you,
let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do.

In the ancient days, we will return with no delay
Picking up the bounty and the spoils on our way
We've been traveling from state to state
And them don't understand what they say
3,000 years with no place to be
And they want me to give up my milk and honey
Don't you see, it's not about the land or the sea
Not the country but the dwelling of his majesty

[chorus]

Rebuild the temple and the crown of glory
Years gone by, about sixty
Burn in the oven in this century
And the gas tried to choke, but it couldn't choke me
I will not lie down, I will not fall asleep
They come overseas, yes they're trying to be free
Erase the demons out of our memory
Change your name and your identity
Afraid of the truth and our dark history
Why is everybody always chasing we
Cut off the roots of your family tree
Don't you know that's not the way to be

[chorus]

Caught up in these ways, and the worlds gone craze
Don't you know it's just a phase
Case of the Simon says
If I forget the truth then my words won't penetrate
Babylon burning in the place, can't see through the haze
Chop down all of them dirty ways,
That's the price that you pay for selling lies to the youth
No way, not ok, oh no way, not ok, hey
Aint no one gonna break my stride
Aint no one gonna pull me down
Oh no, I got to keep on moving
Stay alive

[chorus]
_______________________

One Day

Sometimes I lay
Under the moon
And thank God I'm breathing
Then I pray
Don't take me soon
'Cause I am here for a reason

Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around because...

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [6x]

It's not about
Win or lose
'Cause we all lose
When they feed on the souls of the innocent
Blood-drenched pavement
Keep on moving though the waters stay raging

In this maze you can lose your way (your way)
It might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you, no way (no way)

Sometimes in my tears I drown (I drown)
But I never let it get me down (get me down)
So when negativity surrounds (surrounds)
I know some day it'll all turn around because...

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [6x]

One day this all will change
Treat people the same
Stop with the violence
Down with the hate

One day we'll all be free
And proud to be
Under the same sun
Singing songs of freedom like
One day [4x]

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [6x]

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  • • "Jerusalem" by Matisyahu (iTunes)

  • • 
      Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979),known by his Hebrew and stage name Matisyahu(/mætɪsˈjɑːhuː/; "Gift of God"), is a Jewish American reggae vocalist, beatboxer, and alternative rockmusician.
      
      Known for blending Orthodox Jewish themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing sounds, Matisyahu's 2005 single "King Without a Crown" was a Top 40 hit in the United States. Since 2004, he has released four studio albums as well as two live albums, two remix CDs and two DVDs featuring live concerts. In addition, Matisyahu played the role of Tzadok in The Possession, a supernatural horror film directed by Ole Bornedal and co-produced by Sam Raimi. Through his career, Matisyahu has worked with Bill Laswell, reggae producers Sly & Robbie, and Kool Kojak.
      Biography[edit]
      Early life[edit]
      
      Matthew Paul Miller "Matisyahu" was born on June 30, 1979, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His family eventually settled in White Plains in Westchester County, New York.[2][4] He was brought up aReconstructionist Jew, and attended Hebrew school at Bet Am Shalom, a synagogue in White Plains. He spent much of his childhood barely learning the tenets of Judaism, but by the time he was a teenager, Matisyahu began to rebel against his rigid upbringing.[5] He started taking drugs and dropped out of White Plains Senior High School. He became a self-professed "Phish-head", takinghallucinogens and following the rock band Phish on tour.[6]
      
      In the fall of 1995,[citation needed] Matisyahu took part in a two-month program at the Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon, Israel, a program which offers students first-hand exploration of Jewish heritage as a way of solidifying Jewish identity. After he finished Muss, he returned to New York, where he subsequently dropped out of high school after the first day of his senior year and traveled around the country. A stint in a rehabilitation center in upstate New York followed, and he then went to Oregon on a wilderness expedition trip for teenagers. "It was not necessarily for drug rehabilitation, but that was part of the reason I was out there," he explained to a journalist of The Jewish Daily Forward in 2008.[7] He finished high school at a wilderness program in Bend, Oregon.[8]
      
      In Oregon, he identified himself as "Matt, the Jewish rapper kid from New York." In Oregon (unlike in New York City), Matisyahu said, "I was suddenly the token Jew. This was now my search for my own identity, and part of Judaism feeling more important and relevant to me." He moved back to New York and started developing his reggae, spending hours in his room, writing and practicing his style to the accompaniment of hip-hop tapes. Around that same time, he says, he started to become more interested in Judaism, taking classes on Jewish spirituality at The New School. Matisyahu approached Eli Cohen, a rabbi at New York University, about learning. He recounts that at the same time, he started praying, getting himself a siddur (prayer book) and tallit (prayer shawl). He learned of the Carlebach Shul (synagogue), located on the Upper West Side, and started going there every Sabbath, as well as wearing a yarmulke (head covering) and tzitzit (fringed undergarment). It was then that he met NYU's Chabad rabbi, Dov Yonah Korn, someone he could relate to.[7]
      2001–2007[edit]
      
      
      
      Matisyahu performing at theRoskilde Festival in 2006
      
      From 2001 through July 2007, Matisyahu was affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community inCrown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. However, as of July 17, 2007, he told the Miami New Times in an interview that he no longer "necessarily" identifies with the Lubavitch movement. In the interview he stated that "...the more I'm learning about other types of Jews, I don't want to exclude myself. I felt boxed in."[9]Additionally, in the fall of 2007, while on a family vacation spent primarily in Jerusalem's Nachlaotneighborhood, he expressed interest in another Hasidic sect, that of Karlin.[10] As of November 2007 he had confirmed a preference to pray at the Karliner synagogue in Boro Park where the custom is to ecstatically scream prayers; however he continued to reside in Crown Heights because of his wife's affinity for the community.[11]
      
      Soon after his adoption of Hasidism, Matisyahu began studying Torah at Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva for returnees to Judaism where he wrote and recorded his first album. He counts Bob Marley, Phish,[12] God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations and gives credit to Rabbi Simon Jacobson's book Toward a Meaningful Life for the lyrical inspiration to Youth's title track. As part of his faith, he strictly observed the Jewish Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Friday; thus he did not perform in concert on Friday nights. An exception to this rule occurred at a 2007 concert in Fairbanks, Alaska; since the sun did not set until 12:00 a.m., performing in the late hours was not a violation of Jewish observance.[13] As of 2014, he performs on Friday nights.[14]
      Career[edit]
      
      Miller performed for over a year as MC Truth in Bend, Oregon. In 2004, after having signed with JDub Records, he released his first album, Shake Off the Dust...Arise. At Bonnaroo 2005, Trey Anastasio of the band Phish invited him for a guest spot on his set.[15] His next album, Live at Stubb'swas produced for Or Music by Angelo Montrone. It was distributed to Or Music by Sony/RED, and later up streamed to Sony/Epic. Live at Stubb's, released in 2006, was recorded at a concert in Austin, Texas, was followed by the studio album Youth which was produced by Bill Laswell, with minor contribution by pop producers Jimmy Douglass and the Ill Factor.
      
      In 2005 and 2006 he toured extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe; and made a number of stops in Israel, including a performance as the supporting act for Sting in June 2006. In late 2006, he released No Place to Be, a remix album featuring re-recordings and remixes of songs from all three of his earlier albums, as well as a cover of "Message in a Bottle" by The Police. The live version of the song King Without a Crown, broke into the Modern Rock Top 10 in 2006. The accompanying video and album, Youth, produced by Bill Laswell, was released on March 7, 2006. On March 16, Youth was Billboard magazine's number-one Digital Album. In 2006, he appeared once again at Bonnaroo, this time performing a solo set.[16]
      
      On March 1, 2006, right before the release of Youth, he informed JDub that he no longer needed its management services. He has since been represented by former Capitol Records president Gary Gersh. JDub claims the artist has three years remaining on a four-year management contract. JDub managed his act, but was not his record label.[17] Since his debut, Matisyahu has received positive reviews from both rock and reggae outlets. In 2006, he was named as Top Reggae Artist by Billboard[18] as well as being named a spokesperson for Kenneth Cole.[19] In 2006, Esquire magazine awarded Matisyahu the "Most Lovable Oddball" award in their "Esky" Music Awards, calling him "the most intriguing reggae artist in the world."[20]
      
      At the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, the film Unsettled, in which Matisyahu appears, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature. While attending the festival, he performed in an impromptu concert at the Park City Film Music Festival in Park City, Utah. In the summer of 2007 he joined 311 on their Summer Unity Tour. He also performed in the 2008 documentary Call + Response.[21] His third studio album, Light, was released on August 25, 2009, along with the live EP Live at Twist & Shout. From July 10–30, 2010, Matisyahu (along with The Dirty Heads) supported Sublime with Rome (the new version of the band) on their US tour.[22]
      
      In November 2009, NBC used Matisyahu's song "One Day" as background music for their advertisement of the Olympic games. This stirred up speculation that "One Day" may become the theme song for the 2010 Olympics. However, it remained only NBC's top pick, and was not announced to be the theme song.[23] On August 2, 2010, Matisyahu revealed to OC Weekly that he has been writing new songs for his next album, which was expected to be recorded within weeks of his statement.[24] On November 26, 2010, Matisyahu released a special editionRecord Store Day Black Frida] 7" vinyl called, "Two" for independent record stores. Matisyahu recorded the Sephardic music-influenced hip hop song "Two Child One Drop" for the Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 1 compilation album released by Shemspeed, alongside artists such as Hasidic rapper Y-Love, Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash, and psychedelic rock/Sephardic fusion group Pharaoh's Daughter.[25]
      
      
      
      Matisyahu at Republik Music Festival 4, Honolulu, Hawaii
      
      June 9, 2014
      
      On August 18, 2010, Matisyahu returned to Stubb's in Austin, Texas, for another live recording for Live at Stubb's, Vol. 2. He released the album on February 1, 2011.[26] In 2011, he embarked on a concert tour. In March 2011, Matisyahu took part in clip "Pure Soul". The song is of DeScribe, Hasidic Jewish singer. On May 8, 2012, Matisyahu released a new single featuring a new version of his song "Sunshine" as one of his singles of his new album Spark Seeker, which was released on July 17, 2012, in the United States.
      
      On June 3, 2014, Matisyahu released Akeda, which is slightly different from his previous work. Matisyahu himself described it as a "stripped back sound" and in a style as he describes as "less is more."[27] Akedawas in the iTunes Top 10 a week later, ranking at No. 6 which was the same week he began his new tour. The tour started at Kakaako Waterfront Park in Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of the Repulik Music Festival 4.[28]
      
      On August 17, 2015 the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Spain canceled Matisyahu's scheduled appearance, at the request of the BDS Movement, due to his refusing to sign a letter stating he supports a Palestinian state, and would not bring up Israeli politics on stage.[29] This led to many organizations around the world criticizing the organization of showing racism toward Jews.[30] Two days later the Spanish government condemned the decision to cancel his appearance.[31] On August 19, the festival apologized to Matisyahu and re-invited him to perform as original scheduled, following outrage around the world.[32] The organizers released a statement saying they "made a mistake, due to the boycott and the campaign of pressure, coercion and threats employed by the BDS."[33] Matisyahu performance went through peacefully with some Palestinian flags waved by the audience,[34] however Matisyahu later said the racism he experienced was worse than anything else before.[35]
      
      On October 10, 2015, Matisyahu performed in Israel at the Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem against the backdrop of escalating stabbing attacks in the city. Matisyahu stated that it is important for “American Jews like [him]self to come to Israel no matter what’s happening here.”[36] Jerusalem Mayor,Nir Barkat, thanked Matisyahu and spoke before the performance and said that “Everyone who came here today and is maintaining their regular routine is a partner in fighting terror."[37] Before singing his ode to the city, Jerusalem (Out of Darkness Comes Light), Matisyahu said, “Jerusalem, I’m home."[38]
      Collaboration[edit]
      
      
      
      Matisyahu, July 2007, Mansfield, Massachusetts; on tour with 311
      
      Matisyahu has performed with Kenny Muhammad, a Muslim beatboxer. He also recorded the song "One Day" along with Akon, who is also Muslim.[39] Matisyahu is featured on Trevor Hall's single "Unity" from his self-titled album. Matisyahu is also featured on "Roots in Stereo" and "Strength of My Life" from P.O.D.'s album Testify. Matisyahu collaborated with Shyne on the song "Buffalo Soldier" from his 2012 release,Spark Seeker.
      
      Matisyahu collaborated with J. Ralph on the song "Crossroads feat. J. Ralph" from his 2012 release,Spark Seeker. Matisyahu collaborated with Infected Mushroom on the song "One Day", as well as during various live sets. Matisyahu collaborated with Moon Taxi on the song "Square Circles" off the band's 2012 release Cabaret. He has also collaborated with The Crystal Method in their single "Drown in the Now." He is featured on The Dirty Heads's album Cabin by the Sea on the single "Dance All Night". Matisyahu also collaborated with Boston-based rapper Nosson Zand on his 2013 release, "Believers." Matisyahu is featured on the 19-track compilation album, Songs for a Healthier America, a collaborative project by the Partnership for a Healthier America, whose honorary chair First Lady Michelle Obama, and Hip Hop Public Health. His song "U R What You Eat" also features Travis Barker, Ariana Grande, and Salad Bar. In 2014, Matisyahu was featured on Cisco Adler's song "Hypnotize," which was included on his Coastin album. In 2015, Matisyahu collaborated with Avicii in his album "Stories", where he sang alongside Wyclef Jean in "Can't Catch Me"
      Artistry[edit]
      Musical style[edit]
      
      
      
      Matisyahu performance in 2005
      
      Matisyahu fuses the contemporary styles of reggae, rap, beatboxing, and hip-hop in general, with the more traditional vocal disciplines of jazz's scat singing and Judaism's hazzan style of songful prayer. TheNew York Times' Kelefa Sanneh wrote that "His sound owes a lot to early dancehall reggae stars likeBarrington Levy and Eek-a-Mouse."[40]
      
      The Chicago Tribune's Kevin Pang described a Matisyahu performance as "soul-shaking brand ofdancehall reggae, a show that captures both the jam band vibe of Phish and the ska-punk of Sublime."[41]Coming from his Jewish beliefs and compounding his use of the hazzan style, Matisyahu's lyrics are mostly English with more than occasional use of Hebrew and Yiddish.
      
      In 2006, Matisyahu stated that "All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings that inspire me. I want my music to have meaning, to be able to touch people and make them think. Chassidus teaches that music is 'the quill of the soul.' Music taps into a very deep place and speaks to us in a way that regular words can't."[42]
      
      In 2009, he said about his recently released album Light, "I think the vast majority of people that respect what I do are willing to move with me. I think it's not so much about genres or styles of music as it is about expressing the emotion or the idea. ... Whatever allows you to do that, whatever style, as long as it's authentic." In 2010 he also confirmed his first speaking date at the University of Central Florida.[43]
      Personal life[edit]
      Family[edit]
      
      Matisyahu met NYU film student Talia when she interviewed him for a documentary about men and women not touching. They were set up by Rabbi Dov Yonah Korn, NYU's Chabad chaplain,[44] and they married in August 2004.[45] Together they have sons Laivy (2005), Shalom,[46] and Menachem Mendel (2011).[47]
      
      In 2014, Matisyahu confirmed that he divorced from his wife approximately two years prior, but they remain on good terms and share parenting duties.[48]
      
      Matisyahu has also fathered a child named Sasha Lillian, who was born while he was on tour with Adel Tawil in Germany. Former girlfriend Toma Danley gave birth to their daughter on April 2, 2014 in Portland, Oregon where the newborn was diagnosed with a rare heart defect. Sasha underwent open heart surgery in May 2015 and reportedly recovered well. Sasha has lived with Danley since her birth. Matisyahu and Toma met while he was attending a wilderness program in Bend, Oregon in 1997.[49]
      Origin of his name[edit]
      
      Matisyahu is an Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation of a Biblical Hebrew name (מתתיהו – Mattithyahu; Israeli Hebrew pronunciation: Matityahu); Greek: Mattathias/ Matthaios, meaning "Gift of YHWH"), the name of the 2nd century BC Jewish leader of the Maccabees' revolt.
      
      In an interview in Kosher Spirit Magazine (a publication by OK Kosher Certification), Matisyahu explained the origin of his use of the name as follows: while he, like most Jewish boys, received a Hebrew name at his brit milah (circumcision ceremony), when he was eight days old, Miller's family lost track of the names given. In Hebrew school, it was assumed to be Matisyahu because of the connection between Matthew and Matisyahu. The original certificate of brit was later located and Miller discovered that the actual name given at the brit was the Yiddish name "Feivish Hershel". He was advised by his rabbis to continue using the Hebrew name that he had grown up with.
      AppearanceOn December 13, 2011, Matisyahu posted a beardless picture of himself on Twitter, explaining on his website,""No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me...no alias.When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey: to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity...to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry...you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.""
      In June 2012, Matisyahu appeared in an online video to promote his new single "Sunshine" with his hair bleached and appeared to be without ayarmulke,[52] causing a big stir within the Jewish blogosphere.
      Veganism[edit]
      
      Matisyahu is a veganand a board member of the Jewish vegan organization, the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute.Touring members[edit]

      Current
      • Matisyahu – vocals (2000–present)
      • Tim Keiper - drums (2015)
      • Aaron Dugan - guitar (2015)
      • Stu Brooks - bass (2015)
      • Rob Marscher - keyboards (2015)
      Dub Trio
      • Stu Brooks – bass guitar (2009–present)
      • Joe Tomino – drums (2009–present)
      • D.P. Holmes – guitar (2009–present)
      Former
      • Borahm Lee – keyboards (2006–07)
      • Skoota Warner – drums (2007–08)
      • Jason Fraticelli – bass (2007–09)
      • Rob Marscher – keyboards (2008–2012)
      Roots Tonic
      • Aaron Dugan – guitar (2004–10)
      • Jonah David – drums (2004–07)
      • Josh Werner – bass (2004–07)

      Discography[edit]

      Main article: Matisyahu discography
      Studio albums
      • Shake Off the Dust... Arise (2004)
      • Youth (2006)
      • Light (2009)
      • Spark Seeker (2012)
      • Akeda (2014)

      Filmography[edit]

      • A Buddy Story (2010) as Chassid
      • The Possession (2012) as Tzadok
      • Awake Zion – a documentary that compares Rastafarians and Jews
    • 
      
  • 
    

Alice Cooper unleashed in the Holyland ..... another Iconic Pop Stars says''Ïn Your Face'' to BDS in Zion

Alice Cooper – Elected Lyrics
I'm your top prime cut of meat, I'm your choice,
I want to be elected,
I'm your Yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce,
I want to be elected,
Kids want a savior, don't need a fake,
I want to be elected,
We're all gonna rock to the rules that I make,
I want to be elected, 
Elected, elected
Respected, elected

I never lied to you, I've always been cool,
I want to be elected,
I gotta get the vote, and I told you 'bout school,
I want to be elected, elected, elected,
Hallelujah, I want to be selected,
Everyone in the United States of America.

We're gonna win this one, take the country by storm,
We're gonna be elected,
You and me together, young and strong,
We're gonna be elected, elected, elected,
Respected, selected, call collected,
I want to be elected.

"And if I am elected
I promise the formation of a new party
A third party, the Wild Party!
I know we have problems,
We got problems right here in Central City,
We have problems on the North, South, East and West,
New York City, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles,
Detroit, Chicago,
Everybody has problems,
And personally, I don't care."

Songwriters: BUXTON, EDWARD / BRUCE, MICHAEL / DUNAWAY, DENNIS / SMITH, NEAL / COOPER, ALICE
Elected lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Alice Cooper will perform on June 16 at the Raanana Amphitheater

The image the mind conjures up is a little jarring – a boawrapped, masacara-wearing, ghoulish-looking Alice Cooper traipsing across the solemn sites of the Holy Land.

But the legendary shock rocker will be making his pilgrimage to Jerusalem as Vincent Furnier, a Phoenix, Arizona, golf-playing practicing Christian instead of his subversive onstage alter ego.

“I’m coming to Israel early because I want to see the Holy Land,” the 68-year-old Cooper enthusiastically told The Jerusalem Post in a recent phone interview. “Being Christian, I want to see where all of this history actually happened. My wife’s father is a Baptist pastor and he organized Holy Land tours, so my wife has been to Israel three times. She told me, ‘You’re going to love it there.’” The same could be said of fans planning to attend Cooper’s debut performance in Israel on June 16 at the Ra’anana Amphitheater. The career overview called Raise the Dead combines the classic 1970s hard rock hits of Cooper’s legendary 1960/70s self-named band such as “School’s Out” “18” and the timely “Elected” with a stage production worthy of Broadway.


“Oh yeah, the audience is going to love the show. We designed it so that even if you hate Alice Cooper, you’re still going to love the show,” Cooper said with a good-natured cackle.

Years before Kiss, The Tubes and other visually minded acts jolted rock out of the navel-gazing era by its spandex, Cooper was creating vehicles to make his evocative, funny and sinister lyrics come to life onstage, with lavish props, choreography and routines that brought showbiz values to contemporary music. It would have been an empty vehicle, however, if the pummeling Detroit street rock made by guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, bassist Denny Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith hadn’t matched the humor and fury of the show.

“I guess you could say we were somewhat notorious. And that’s why it took a long time for people to accept that we were a band first and then a great theatrical experience – you know, ‘Here’s this band that does all these outrageous things’ and this and that. But [1970’s] Love It to Death and [1971’s] Killer were considered by critics to be two of the best ever rock albums,” said Cooper.

“Look at it this way – you have to have the cake before you put the icing on it. The cake was the songs. We would spend 90 percent of the time working on music and 10% of the time on theatrics. My theory was if you’re going to say ‘Welcome to my nightmare’ [the title of his debut solo album from 1975], then give them the nightmare,” said Cooper. “What made us unique was that we did not mind spending the money, time and effort to theatrically produce a show rather than just get up on stage and do the songs.”

The first half of the 1970s belonged to the band, but by mid-decade, with fame, drugs and constant touring taking their toll, Alice Cooper split up and Cooper went on to solo fame with hits like “Only Women Bleed” and a new career as a quotable celebrity – representing the presentable golf-loving face of rock stardom to Hollywood and middle America.

However, a drinking problem and a series of pedestrian albums in the 1980s led to a long period out of the spotlight for Cooper. Returning sober and healthy, Cooper scored another massive hit with “Poison” and was later immortalized in the 1992 film Wayne’s World.

Since then, he’s enjoyed his status as an elder rock statesman for a new generation of head bangers and stays in the limelight via his busman’s holiday gig in the celebrity cover band the Hollywood Vampires, with buds Johnny Depp and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.


But when Vincent turns into Alice and the lights come up onstage, the years disappear as hits like “Be My Lover” and “Under My Wheels” careen under the onslaught of Cooper’s touring band, featuring the three-guitar attack of Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss and Tommy Henriksen, the rhythm section of drummer Glen Sobel and longtime bassist Chuck Garric.

According to Cooper, it’s the most powerful lineup he’s ever gone out with.

“The band I have now is so tight and so rock that we could do the entire show without the theatrics and the audience would love it,” he said.

“Once you’ve got that, now put the icing on the cake and add all the theatrics in. The show now is just as theatrical as ever – maybe more so – but the band is better.”

Heart - Stairway to Heaven (Live at Kennedy Center Honors) [FULL VERSION]

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, along with Jason Bonham, playing Stairway to Heaven as a tribute for Led Zeppelin on Dec. 2, 2012 at Kennedy Center.

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album (often called Led Zeppelin IV). It is often referred to as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

The song has three sections, each one progressively increasing in tempo and volume. The song begins in a slow tempo with acoustic instruments (guitar and recorders) before introducing electric instruments. The final section is an uptempohard rock arrangement highlighted by Page's intricate guitar solo accompanying Plant's vocals that end with the plaintivea cappella line: "And she's buying the stairway to heaven."

"Stairway to Heaven" was voted #3 in 2000 by VH1 on its list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs,^[7] and was placed at number 31 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was the most requested song onFM radio stations in the United States in the 1970s, despite never having been officially released as a single there.^] In November 2007, through download sales promoting Led Zeppelin's Mothership release, "Stairway to Heaven" hit No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart.

Writing and recording

The recording of "Stairway to Heaven" commenced in December 1970 at Island Records' new Basing Street Studios in London. The song was completed by the addition of lyrics by Plant during the sessions for Led Zeppelin IV at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in 1971. Page then returned to Island Studios to record his guitar solo.

The song originated in 1970 when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were spending time at Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, following Led Zeppelin's fifth American concert tour. According to Page, he wrote the music "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night". Page always kept a cassette recorder around, and the idea for "Stairway" came together from bits of taped music:^[13]

I had these pieces, these guitar pieces, that I wanted to put together. I had a whole idea of a piece of music that I really wanted to try and present to everybody and try and come to terms with. Bit difficult really, because it started on acoustic, and as you know it goes through to the electric parts. But we had various run-throughs [at Headley Grange] where I was playing the acoustic guitar and jumping up and picking up the electric guitar. Robert was sitting in the corner, or rather leaning against the wall, and as I was routining the rest of the band with this idea and this piece, he was just writing. And all of a sudden he got up and started singing, along with another run-through, and he must have had 80% of the words there ... I had these sections, and I knew what order they were going to go in, but it was just a matter of getting everybody to feel comfortable with each gear shift that was going to be coming.^[14]

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones recalled this presentation of the song to him following its genesis at Bron-Yr-Aur:

Page and Plant would come back from the Welsh mountains with the guitar intro and verse. I literally heard it in front of a roaring fire in a country manor house! I picked up a bass recorder and played a run-down riff which gave us an intro, then I moved into a piano for the next section, dubbing on the guitars.^[15]

In an interview he gave in 1977, Page elaborated:

I do have the original tape that was running at the time we ran down "Stairway To Heaven" completely with the band. I'd worked it all out already the night before with John Paul Jones, written down the changes and things. All this time we were all living in a house and keeping pretty regular hours together, so the next day we started running it down. There was only one place where there was a slight rerun. For some unknown reason Bonzo couldn't get the timing right on the twelve-string part before the solo. Other than that it flowed very quickly.

The first attempts at lyrics, written by Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then".^[13] Jimmy Page was strumming the chords and Robert Plant had a pencil and paper. Plant later said that suddenly,

My hand was writing out the words, 'There's a lady is sure [sic], all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven'. I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat." Plant's own explanation of the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration. The first line begins with that cynical sweep of the hand ... and it softened up after that.^[16]

The lyrics of the song reflected Plant's current reading. The singer had been poring over the works of the British antiquarian Lewis Spence, and later cited Spence'sMagic Arts in Celtic Britain as one of the sources for the lyrics to the song

In November 1970, Page dropped a hint of the new song's existence to a music journalist in London:

It's an idea for a really long track.... You know how "Dazed and Confused" and songs like that were broken into sections? Well, we want to try something new with the organ and acoustic guitar building up and building up, and then the electric part starts.... It might be a fifteen-minute track.^[11]

Page stated that the song "speeds up like an adrenaline flow". He explained:

Going back to those studio days for me and John Paul Jones, the one thing you didn't do was speed up, because if you sped up you wouldn't be seen again. Everything had to be right on the meter all the way through. And I really wanted to write something which did speed up, and took the emotion and the adrenaline with it, and would reach a sort of crescendo. And that was the idea of it. That's why it was a bit tricky to get together in stages.

The complete studio recording was released on Led Zeppelin IV in November 1971. The band's record label, Atlantic Records was keen to issue this track as a single, but the band's manager Peter Grant refused requests to do so in both 1972 and 1973. The upshot of that decision was that record buyers began to invest in the fourth album as if it were a single.^[8] In the US, Atlantic issued "Stairway to Heaven" as a 7" promotional single in 1972.

Composition[edit]

The song consists of several distinct sections, beginning with a quiet introduction on a finger-picked six-string guitar and four recorders in a Renaissance music style^[18] (ending at 2:15) and gradually moving into a slow electric middle section (2:16–5:33), then a long guitar solo (5:34–6:44), before the faster hard rock final section (6:45 to 7:45), ending with a short vocals-only epilogue. Plant sings the opening, middle and epilogue sections in his mid vocal range, but sings the hard rock section in his higher range which borders on falsetto.

Written in the key of A minor, the song opens with an arpeggiated, finger-picked guitar chord progression with a chromatic descending bassline A-G#-G-F#-F. John Paul Jones contributed overdubbed wooden bass recorders in the opening section (he used a Mellotron and, later, a Yamaha CP70B Grand Piano and Yamaha GX1to synthesise this arrangement in live performances)^[16] and a Hohner Electra-Piano electric piano in the middle section.

The sections build with more guitar layers, each complementary to the intro, with the drums entering at 4:18. The extended Jimmy Page guitar solo in the song's final section was played for the recording on a 1959 Fender Telecaster given to him by Jeff Beck (an instrument he used extensively with the Yardbirds)^[16] plugged into aSupro amplifier, although in an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine, Page also claimed, "It could have been a Marshall, but I can't remember".^[13] Three different improvised solos were recorded, with Page agonising about deciding which to keep. Page later revealed, "I did have the first phrase worked out, and then there was the link phrase. I did check them out beforehand before the tape ran." The other guitar parts were played using a Harmony Sovereign H1260 acoustic guitar and a Fender Electric XII guitar (a 12-string guitar that was plugged directly to the soundboard); these can be heard on the left and right recording channels respectively. For live versions, Page switched to a Heritage Cherry Gibson EDS-1275 6/12 Doubleneck guitar. The final progression is a i-VII-VI (natural minor) progression (Am-G-F), a mainstay of rock music.

Another interesting aspect of the song is the timing of the lead-up to the famous guitar solo. While staying in 4/4 throughout this section, most of the accents shift to the eight notes. This makes the rhythm figure challenging for some musicians, but adds a feeling of anticipation to the approaching guitar solo.

Sound engineer Andy Johns recalls the circumstances surrounding the recording of Page's famous solo:

I remember Jimmy had a little bit of trouble with the solo on "Stairway to Heaven"... [H]e hadn't completely figured it out. Nowadays you sometimes spend a whole day doing one thing. Back then, we never did that. We never spent a very long time recording anything. I remember sitting in the control room with Jimmy, he's standing there next to me and he'd done quite a few passes and it wasn't going anywhere. I could see he was getting a bit paranoid and so I was getting paranoid. I turned around and said "You're making me paranoid!" And he said, "No, you're making me paranoid!" It was a silly circle of paranoia. Then bang! On the next take or two he ripped it out.

According to Page, "Stairway to Heaven"

...crystallized the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best... as a band, as a unit. Not talking about solos or anything, it had everything there. We were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up for a long time and I guess we did it with "Stairway". [Pete] Townshend probably thought that he got it with Tommy. I don't know whether I have the ability to come up with more. I have to do a lot of hard work before I can get anywhere near those stages of consistent, total brilliance.^[22]

Spirit copyright infringement lawsuit[edit]

See also: List of Led Zeppelin songs written or inspired by others

Over the years, a number of people have put forth the opinion that the song's introduction, and opening guitar arpeggios, bear a close resemblance to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit.^[12][23] In the liner notes to the 1996 reissue of Spirit's debut album, songwriter Randy California writes:

People always ask me why "Stairway to Heaven" sounds exactly like "Taurus", which was released two years earlier. I know Led Zeppelin also played "Fresh Garbage" in their live set. They opened up for us on their first American tour.

In May 2014, Mark Andes, bassist of the group Spirit, and a trust acting on behalf of Randy California, filed a copyright infringement suit against Led Zeppelin and injunction against the "release of the album containing the song" in an attempt to obtain a writing credit for the late California.^[26] A lack of sufficient resources is cited as one of the reasons that Spirit’s members and their survivors did not file the suit earlier. A friend of California's mother explained: "Nobody had any money, and they thought the statute of limitations was done", adding, "It will be nice if Randy got the credit". If the Spirit lawsuit is successful, past royalties earned by the song—estimated at more than US$550 million—will not be part of the settlement, but the publisher and composers may be entitled to a share of the future profits

Live performances

The inaugural public performance of the song took place at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 5 March 1971. Bassist John Paul Jones recalls that the crowd was unimpressed: "They were all bored to tears waiting to hear something they knew". However, Page stated about an early performance at the LA Forum, before the record had even come out, that:

I'm not saying the whole audience gave us a standing ovation, but there was this sizable standing ovation there. And I thought: 'This is incredible, because no one's heard this number yet. This is the first time they're hearing it!' It obviously touched them, you know. And that was at the L.A. Forum, so I knew we were onto something with that one.^[30]

The world radio premiere of "Stairway to Heaven" was recorded at the Paris Cinema on 1 April 1971, in front of a live studio audience, and broadcast three days later on the BBC. The song was performed at almost every subsequent Led Zeppelin concert, only being omitted on rare occasions when shows were cut short for curfews or technical issues. The band's final performance of the song was in Berlin on 7 July 1980, which was also their last concert until 10 Dec 2007 at London's O2 Arena; the version was the longest, lasting almost fifteen minutes, including a seven and a half-minute guitar solo.

Jimmy Page used a double-necked guitar to perform "Stairway to Heaven" live.

When playing the song live, the band would often extend it to over ten minutes, with Page playing an extended guitar solo and Plant adding a number of lyrical ad-libs, such as "Does anybody remember laughter?", "And I think you can see that" (as seen in the filmThe Song Remains the Same), "Does anybody remember forests?" (As seen on the live performance in Seattle 1977), "wait a minute!" and "I hope so". For performing this song live, Page used a Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar so he would not have to pause when switching from a six to a twelve string guitar.

By 1975, the song had a regular place as the finale of every Led Zeppelin concert. However, after their concert tour of the United States in 1977, Plant began to tire of "Stairway to Heaven": "There's only so many times you can sing it and mean it ... It just became sanctimonious."

The song was played again by the surviving members of Led Zeppelin at the Live Aid concert in 1985; at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert in 1988, with Jason Bonham on drums; and by Jimmy Page as an instrumental version on his solo tours.

By the late 1980s, Plant made his negative impression of the song clear in interviews. In 1988, he stated:

I'd break out in hives if I had to sing ("Stairway to Heaven") in every show. I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don't know. It's just not for me. I sang it at the Atlantic Records show because I'm an old softie and it was my way of saying thank you to Atlantic because I've been with them for 20 years. But no more of "Stairway to Heaven" for me.

However, by the mid-1990s Plant's views had apparently softened. The first few bars were played alone during Page and Plant tours in lieu of the final notes of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", and in November 1994 Page and Plant performed an acoustic version of the song at a Tokyo news station for Japanese television. "Stairway to Heaven" was also performed at Led Zeppelin's reunion show at the O2 Arena, London on 10 December 2007. This song is played a whole step lower.

Plant cites the most unusual performance of the song ever as being that performed at Live Aid: "with two drummers (Phil Collins and Tony Thompson) while Duran Duran cried at the side of the stage – there was something quite surreal about that."

Footage of the song being played live is preserved on the band's concert film The Song Remains the Same, featuring a performance from Madison Square Garden in 1973, and on the Led Zeppelin DVD, featuring a performance from Earls Court Arena in 1975. Official audio versions are also available on The Song Remains the Same's accompanying soundtrack, on Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions (a performance from London's Paris Theatre in 1971) and on How the West Was Won (a performance from the Long Beach Arena in 1972). There are also hundreds of audio versions which can be found on unofficial Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.

Success and legacy

"Stairway to Heaven" is often rated among the greatest rock songs of all time. According to music journalist Stephen Davis, although the song was released in 1971, it took until 1973 before the song's popularity ascended to truly "anthemic" status. As Page himself recalled, "I knew it was good, but I didn't know it was going to be almost like an anthem ... But I knew it was the gem of the album, sure."

"Stairway to Heaven" continues to top radio lists of the greatest rock songs, including a 2006 Guitar World readers poll of greatest guitar solos. On the 20th anniversary of the original release of the song, it was announced via U.S. radio sources that the song had logged up an estimated 2,874,000 radio plays – back to back, that would run for 44 years solid.^[8] As of 2000, the song had been broadcast on radio over three million times. In 1990 a St Petersburg, Florida station kicked off its all-Led Zeppelin format by playing "Stairway to Heaven" for 24 hours straight. It is also the biggest-selling single piece of sheet music in rock history, clocking up an average of 15,000 copies yearly. In total, over one million copies have been sold.

The song's length precluded its release in full form as a single.^{[citation needed]} Despite pressure from Atlantic Records the band would not authorise the editing of the song for single release, making "Stairway to Heaven" one of the most well-known and popular rock songs never to have been released as a single. It did, however, appear on two promotional discs in the United States, one of them featuring the 7:55 track on each side, and the other as a 7" 33¹⁄₃ record produced for jukebox operators with "Stairway..." on one side and both "Black Dog" and "Rock And Roll" on the other. Other "single" appearances were on an Australian EP, and in 1991 as an added bonus with a 20th anniversary promo book.

The group's recording of this song also appeared as the sole Led Zeppelin track in the 1977 Atlantic Records 2-LP promotional sampler album, We've Got Your Music, marking the first time that Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" made its official debut appearance in an American-released various artists compilation collection.

On the 20th anniversary of the song's release, Esquire magazine featured an article on the song's success and lasting influence. Karen Karbo wrote:

It's doubtful that anyone knew it would become the most popular rock song of all time. After all, it's eight minutes long and was never released as a single. Even "Hey Jude" was shorter, was a 45, and enjoyed the benefits of comprehensible words and a sing-along chorus. But "Hey Jude" isn't the most requested song of all time on FM rock stations. Nobody ever had a "Hey Jude" theme prom or played the song at weddings and funerals like "Stairway." "Stairway" couldn't succeed today. Back in 1971, FM deejays prided themselves on digging deep into albums to come up with oddball, cultish favorites. With its near-oppressive length, erratic changes, and woo-woo lyrics, the quasi-medieval anthem was a perfect choice. It continues to be a favorite among music listeners who are younger than the song itself, listeners who, in some cases, were no doubt conceived while the tune blasted from car speakers.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine put it at number 31 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". An article from the 29 January 2009 Guitar World magazine rated Jimmy Page's guitar solo at number one in the publication's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos in Rock and Roll History. Since 2001, the New York City-based classic rock radio station Q104.3 has ranked "Stairway to Heaven" no. 1 on their annual "Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time".

Erik Davis, a social historian and cultural critic, commented on the song's massive success, subsequent backlash and enduring legendary status:

"Stairway to Heaven" isn't the greatest rock song of the 1970s; it is the greatest spell of the 1970s. Think about it: we are all sick of the thing, but in some primordial way it is still number one. Everyone knows it... Even our dislike and mockery is ritualistic. The dumb parodies; the Wayne's World-inspired folklore about guitar shops demanding customers not play it; even Robert Plant's public disavowal of the song—all of these just prove the rule. "Stairway to Heaven" is not just number one. It is the One, the quintessence, the closest AOR will ever get you to the absolute.

Page has himself commented on the song's legacy:

The wonderful thing about "Stairway" is the fact that just about everybody has got their own individual interpretation to it, and actually what it meant to them at their point of life. And that's what's so great about it. Over the passage of years, you know, people come to me with all manner of stories about, you know, what it meant to them at certain points of their lives. About how it's got them through some really tragic circumstances ... Because it's an extremely positive song, it's such a positive energy, and, you know, people have got married to [the song].

Robert Plant once gave $1,000 to listener-supported radio station KBOO in Portland, Oregon during a pledge drive after the disc jockey solicited donations by promising the station would never play "Stairway to Heaven". Plant was station-surfing in a rental car he was driving to the Oregon Coast after a solo performance in Portland and was impressed with the non-mainstream music the station presented. Asked later "why?" Plant replied that it wasn't that he didn't like the song, but he'd heard it before.

Claims of backward masking

	"Stairway to Heaven" (section) MENU 0:00 The claimed backmasked section of Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" (section) (reversed) MENU 0:00 The same section reversed
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In a January 1982 television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network hosted by Paul Crouch, it was claimed that hidden messages were contained in many popular rock songs through a technique called backward masking. One example of such hidden messages that was prominently cited was in "Stairway to Heaven." The alleged message, which occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now...") when played backward, was purported to contain the Satanic references "Here's to my sweetSatan" and "I sing because I live with Satan."

Following the claims made in the television program, California assemblyman Phil Wyman proposed a state law that would require warning labels on records containing backward masking. In April 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backward masking in popular music, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backward. During the hearing, William Yarroll, a self-described "neuroscientific researcher," claimed that backward messages could be deciphered by the human brain.

The band itself has for the most part ignored such claims. In response to the allegations, Swan Song Records issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards." Led Zeppelin audio engineer Eddie Kramer called the allegations "totally and utterly ridiculous. Why would they want to spend so much studio time doing something so dumb?" Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in a 1983 interview in Musician magazine: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."^[