Song Meaning: Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

 

An iconic hard rock song by Led Zeppelin, "Whole Lotta Love" was a must at every party in the 1970s. It was Zeppelin's first hit in the US, and brought them into the mainstream rock n' roll movement. It was mixed with "light and shade", as it's the case with many Zeppelin song that would eventually be released later on. The easily recognizable guitar riff is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the history of hard rock. John Bonham's drumming is simply perfect. The mid section of the song consists with a "hollow grove" put together by Bonzo and bassist John Paul Johns, departing from the distorted guitar riff earlier.

The song is about giving love to a woman, and she no choice. If she doesn't want it, Robert Plant is ready to send her ass "back to schoolin." That's what I think. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

The song has become enormously popular; after forty years later, it's still in regular rotation on classic rock radio. In fact, numerous accolades have been attributed to the song over the years. Wikipedia has a great compilation of this:

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Spin	United States	"100 Greatest Singles of All Time"	1989	39
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	United States	"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll"	1994	*
Classic Rock	United Kingdom	"Ten of the Best Songs Ever!.. (Bubbling under)"	1999	30
VH1	United States	"The 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time"	2009	46
Rolling Stone	United States	"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"	2003	75
Q	United Kingdom	"100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever"	2005	3
Toby Creswell	Australia	"1001 Songs: the Great Songs of All Time"	2005	*
Grammy Awards	United States	"Grammy Hall of Fame Award"	2007	*
Rolling Stone	United States	"100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"	2008	11
VH1	United States	"VH1 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"	2009	3

(*) designates unordered lists.

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You need coolin', baby, I'm not foolin'
I'm gonna send ya back to schoolin'
Way down inside, a-honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love, oh

Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love

You've been yearnin'
And baby, I been burnin'
All them good times
Baby, baby, I've been discernin'-a
A-way, way down inside
A-honey, you need-a
I'm gonna give you my love, ah
I'm gonna give you my love, ah

Oh, whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
I don't want more

You've got to bleed on me, yeah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ha, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
ah, ah, ah, ah, ha, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
No, no, no, no, ah
Love, love, low-ow-ow-ow-ove
Oh, babe, oh

You been coolin'
And baby, I've been droolin'
All the good times, baby, I've been misusin'-a/Oh
A-way, way down inside
I'm gonna give ya my love/Ah
I'm gonna give ya every inch of my love/Ah
I'm gonna give you my love/Ah
Yes, alright, let's go/Ah

Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love

Way down inside/ Way down inside
Way downinside, woman, you/woman
woman, you/you need it
need/Love

My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my/Ahh
Oh, shake for me, girl
I wanna be your backdoor man-a
Hey, oh, hey, oh/Ahh
Hey, oh, oooh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Hoo-ma, ma, hey
Keep a-coolin', baby
A-keep a-coolin', baby
A-keep a-coolin', baby
Uh, keep a-coolin', baby, wuh, way-hoh, oo-ohh