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Post-imperialism, imaginary geography and the women of Led Zeppelin's IV

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2017

Erin Sweeney Smith
Erin Sweeney Smith*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar
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Abstract

Led Zeppelin have long been hailed as the ambassadors of cock rock. Yet, the band's fourth album – the commercial behemoth otherwise known as IV – features collaborations with two women: Sandy Denny's vocal contributions to ‘The Battle of Evermore’ and Memphis Minnie's co-songwriting credit on ‘When the Levee Breaks’. The two tracks feature landscapes dominated by powerful female forces via Denny's Queen of Light character and her counterpart embodied in Memphis Minnie's dark floodwaters. Through an analysis of both songs’ feminised soundscapes, I explore the links between Zeppelin's musical style and the social and political climate of 1970s post-imperial Britain. Investigation into these women's roles not only fills a gap in Led Zeppelin research, but also allows for a wider consideration of the connection between gender and representations of landscape as an important component for popular music study, particularly in terms of the cultural attitudes and politics of a post-imperial nation.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , October 2017 , pp. 410 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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