This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
A fool in love
A crazy situation
Her velvet glove
Knocks me down and down and down and down
Her kiss of fire
A loaded invitation
Inside her smile
She takes me down and down and down and down
Her moves look good
A touch of desperation
From where I stood
She turned my head around and around and around
It comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio (hear your voice on the radio)
Taking me back down the road leads back to you
Oh-oh 29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Taking me back down the road leads back to you
Oh, I'm burning in love
A strange infatuation
Why cold cold touch, mmm
What must I do, do, do, do
The heat and the dust
Increase my desolation
In God we trust
Always for you, and you, and you, and you
It comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio (hear your voice on the radio)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Oh-oh-oh 29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Baby, now it comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Oh, don't ya hear me baby, now
29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you, you, you
Yeah-yeah-yeah
I'm coming home, oh oh
Gonna get there, gonna get there, don't ya know, babe
It comes kinds hard
I said when I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
29 Palms
A crazy situation
Her velvet glove
Knocks me down and down and down and down
Her kiss of fire
A loaded invitation
Inside her smile
She takes me down and down and down and down
Her moves look good
A touch of desperation
From where I stood
She turned my head around and around and around
It comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio (hear your voice on the radio)
Taking me back down the road leads back to you
Oh-oh 29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Taking me back down the road leads back to you
Oh, I'm burning in love
A strange infatuation
Why cold cold touch, mmm
What must I do, do, do, do
The heat and the dust
Increase my desolation
In God we trust
Always for you, and you, and you, and you
It comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio (hear your voice on the radio)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Oh-oh-oh 29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Baby, now it comes kinda hard
When I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Oh, don't ya hear me baby, now
29 Palms
I feel the heat of your desert heart (feel the heat of your desert heart)
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you, you, you
Yeah-yeah-yeah
I'm coming home, oh oh
Gonna get there, gonna get there, don't ya know, babe
It comes kinds hard
I said when I hear your voice on the radio
Leading me back down the road that leads back to you
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
29 Palms
Lyrics submitted by ballzofsno
29 Palms Lyrics as written by Doug Boyle Charlie Jones
Lyrics © CTM Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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For me the song is exploring the vagaries of love, the desert is allegorical in its meaning I think, even if 29 Palms was featured in a real life romance either personally experienced or read about. Though on reflection upon listening to the track I think to be able to write a song like this, you must have had first hand experience of something in your life, because it is mightily emotionally charged. I think it's possibly based on his own life experience of love and loss and the resulting confusing thoughts and emotions which derive from these experiences. The sense of isolation in the desert, the reflection, feelings, the sense of longing to return to a past or current love. Those landscapes, those places allow your mind to open up, like a moment of realisation and everything makes sense. I may be wrong, but this is how I interpret it. An amazing tune....Love it.
This may be another interpretation. Knowing what I know of Robert Plant, which isn't much, in regard to his tenure with Led Zeppelin, with songs like "Achilles Last Stand", "Gallows Pole", "Immigrant Song", "Kashmir", "Misty Mountain Hop", "No Quarter", and "The Battle of Evermore," I think the meaning of“29 Palms” may be more metaphorical in its nature. By that, I mean, he is taking a physical reality, that is, a particular location and the contemporary circumstance of the location, to convey a multi-layered explanation of its reality: not only its reality but our reality. Basically, Mr. Plant is using a man-made instrument to convey a metaphor. For example, a long time ago, John Donne, in his poem, "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning", describes his love for his loved one, metaphorically as a thumb-screw compass, a drafting compass. In short, even though the loved ones are separated by physical time and space, their love is the axis, center, of both conjoining arms, therefore, they are not really apart. In short, it is my belief that “29 Palms” refers to the Marine base, by the same name, where our soldiers are trained to effectively fight in modern battle tanks. Bear with me while I give examples: "Her velvet glove", extreme power delivered gracefully, "Her kiss of fire - a loaded invitation," pretty self-evident, "It comes kinda hard when I hear you voice on the radio", one second lieutenant usually controls four tanks in his platoon, a lot of radio communication, and finally, "In God We Trust", why would he say this? Plant's metaphorical vehicle of the Abrams Tank has the same verisimilitude as Donne's "Compass". They are merely powerful tools employed in trying to better explain Man's Plight of Love and its complicated nature. Love can easily destroy, as well as, protect all that we hold dear. Please keep in mind that this is merely an additional interpretation. As all interpretations, it is not the whole, but it may be a part in trying to fully understand.
line break <br /> paragraph<br /> the layers must be seperated to be digested
Written about Alannah Myles (When I hear your voice on the radio). She and Robert were together for a while.
I also heard that this song is about Alannah Myles.
AEenema.. no he did not walk right away.. before leaving he placed his hands on the man's chest and brought him back to life.. i can't believe you missed that part?? are you freakin crazy?
I think that the song is about the place 29 Palms. I actually been living in 29 Palms for 10 years now. My mother, being a big fan of Led Zeppelin, told me about this song. She said that he would come out to Pioneertown (a town about 45 minutes away from 29 Palms) every couple years and preform for some of the locals. Another thing is, when he sings, "In God We Trust" he could be referring to the Marines and the base. The base might be significant due to the fact that it is the largest Marine base in the world, I believe. "Her velvet glove knocks me down and down, down, down Her kiss of fire - a loaded invitation" could also be referring to the training on the base. Finally, when he sings "Taking me back down the road that leads back to you" could lead back to a saying that goes along the lines of 'Once you visit, you always want to come back.' Which I found true in a lot of cases. Of course, all of this is just my opinion.
I Cant Believe no1s Written Nething Bout this. its such an ace song! seen it live twice:D
Love it Like everything he does
as a huge Zep fan, i am really embarrassed to admit i just figured out he did this song. i thought it was cover. just when i think i am becoming the shit, i get knocked back down. im pretty sure he is singing about the Mojave dessert oasias. check it out 29palms.com
AEenema(comment is on page 1) you must be high
I agree the song is about the town 29 Palms and perhaps a love affair he had with someone in that locale. Robert Plant has been known to frequent the area, along with quite a few other rock stars, who come to the area to perform, party, and sometimes settle.