Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You

Hmm.

Well, I woke up today and my amrs felt slightly better... so I decided to take a shot at learning how to play Led Zeppelin's 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You', which was featured on their first album, Led Zeppelin I.

So what's so special about 'Babe'? The thing about it is that it is origianlly a Joan Baez song, and then during the sixties, many people were already covering it extensively (or so Jimmy Page was quoted as saying in Guitar World Magazine).

The thing about the Led Zeppelin version was that it combined the folk-sey parts with a driving electric section in the chorus, and alongside the acoustic guitar in the mix are some pedal steel parts which make the whole song sound so thick and full of atmosphere.

So why do i want to cover it? Well, first and foremost, it's one of the only acoustic Led Zeppelin songs which do not require tuning the guitar to some oddball tuning (the other main one is 'Stairway To Heaven'). Secondly, the guitar parts are just so beautiful... you can just sit back and let the music wash over you and you're transported to another time and space.

Finally, it's also a challenge, because I'm one person who constantly challenges himself to learn new things, and complete tasks I set for myself... tasks which very few people ever consider under-taking.

Due to the complex guitar parts, which shift and change ever so slightly as the song progresses, I don't believe i will ever be able to play 'Babe' to note-for-note perfection, but as long as I'm 90% there, and throwing in 10% of improvisation (another word for ignoring the difficult parts and just playing whatever I like), Id be very happy.. to be able to proclaim 'I can play Led Zeppelin's "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"!!!' to people, and see their jaws drop.

Go ahead and listen to the song... if you think the song is simple to play... well it is, to a certain degree, but listen closer and then you'll realise the true musicianship and talent of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy