Lyrics for Immigrant Song as interpreted by kevin

Immigrant Song Lyrics
Ah, ah
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, singing and crying: "Valhalla, I am coming!"

On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore

Ah, ah
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore
Of how we calmed the tides of war, we are your overlords

On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore

So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing

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ramthar
04-16-2002

Rated 0 
i think it is about the immigrants from Norway, Iceland, and Scandinavia invading England and the other British Isles in ancient times.

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Hilde
04-27-2002

Rated 0 
Norsemen of course:-) My ancestors. I doubt this is the actual meaning, but it always made me think of the Norse being the first Europeans making it to Vinland-The Western Shore-
Sailing in their longships, fighting against the storms, on a wide sea to reach Vinland.

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supernaut1978
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
Definately about the Vikings(norsemen)

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2 Replies
Bite Me
05-09-2002

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It sounds like they mean America, because they say,"the Western shore."

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4 Replies
ramthar
05-15-2002

Rated +1 
sounds that way at first, but what ruins would there be to rebuild in america between 800 and 1066 AD? i`m pretty sure it's about the viking invasions of Britain around 800-1000 A.D., since Britain's eastern coast (or the english channel's western shore) was where most of the attacks were aimed. also, i think

"For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing"

could be an allusion to england's norman invasion in 1066, since that invasion was pretty much the last great invasion of the British isles, and paved the way for England's power in the future.
oh, and by the way, Valhalla is the "hall of Heroes", where, in norse mythology, Odin kept the souls of those great fighters that died in battle so that he would have an army of great fighters with him for the final battle at the end of the world.


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odin_lowe
05-29-2002

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Yeah, sounds more like an invasion of Britain.
"To fight the hoarde" To my knowledge, there weren't exactly an abundance of hoardes in North America at the time.

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ramthar
06-14-2002

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while i agree that it is about an invasion of Britain, there is increasing evidence (both archaeologically and according to legend) that the Vikings that reached the Americas failed to establish a colony there due to the "hoarde" of natives already there.

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azreal
08-15-2002

Rated 0 
makes sense it fits with led zepplins obsession for celtic lore

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Insane_J
09-14-2002

Rated 0 
Is it just me or has kevin submitted every song, ever?

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shelly1
09-17-2002

Rated 0 
I would agree with the idea that the western shore was referring to North America, if you sail west from Iceland it seems most likely when you consider the verse "We come from the land of the ice and snow, From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow."
As far as I know only Iceland has hot springs

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ramthar
09-24-2002

Rated 0 
there are hot springs all over. Japan, Colorado, and Oregon all have nice ones that i have been to. and the Vikings were not from Iceland, they were from Norway, Finland and other nearby areas. they eventually made some settlements in Iceland, but they were "from" further east of Iceland. pretty much everything in the song points to it being about invading the british isles.

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raving
03-27-2003

Rated 0 
The Vikings were mostly from Norway and Denmark, very few if any from Finland. But I'm not going to talk about that. This might either be about when the Danish invaded the English shores or when Leifur Eiríksson sailed from Iceland to America, since this song is written after Led Zeppelin played in Iceland, I'm guessing it's the second:P

"From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow."

It's bright 24/7 in Iceland in the summer, so the midnight sun might be referring to that and even though there are hot springs in other places in the world, I do believe that they only "blow" in Iceland, because of the subterranean heat:P

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IMJM4371
04-03-2003

Rated 0 
I dont really think they would write a song about the vikings and all that junk, i personally think it is about the british invasion and how they started in england (from the west) and traveleld across the ocean to america duh they just used all that ships and ores stuff as metaphors

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MadTom
04-10-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with the Nordic idea; most of the evidence of the song seems to fit. However, I think Zep were also having a bit of fun with their new American audience; they started, as we all know, in Britain, and the wave of post-Beatles bands in America may here be termed 'an invasion'.

In effect, I think it's comparing a historical event to what was transpiring at the time of the song's writing.

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C_Town
04-10-2003

Rated 0 
It is about the vikings because the vikings also come to the western shore, they came to canada as well i believe, as invading all those other countries you guys mentioned. good ol' history class :P i know they came to some western shore cause they were into exploring the western world just as the rest of the europeans were (ie: portugal, spain etc)

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Frosted
06-11-2003

Rated 0 
I think it's just a comparison of a rock band to viking warriors, conquering new lands. Since Zeppelin was 'invading' various parts of the world. It's certainly about Vikings--midnight sun would refer to the fact that in the far northern countries, there is often more than 24 hour daylight. Valhalla is of course where all the good viking warriors

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boffy_b
06-19-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with you all on the viking thing, but: don't the lyrics also seem to have a sub-text of deflowering a virgin? "How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore".... "Valhalla, I am coming!"

Just a thought

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mytwocents
06-24-2003

Rated 0 
Everyone is right on with the Norse/Viking connection. But, I believe the song references the invasion of what is today known as Russia. The Norse/Vikings, known to the people of that area as the "Rus", invade the western shores of Asia around 1000 A.D. They conquered the inhabitants and became their over-lords. The name Russia came from their name, the "Rus".

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1 Reply
Crisidelm
07-01-2003

Rated 0 
And why not the Norsemen Invasion of Southern Italy in the 11th/12th century? It would fit that too :)

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phalanx
04-08-2004

Rated 0 
I think this song is about just the Norsemen invasion of Europe in general. No actual location is disclosed, just the imagery of the Viking scourge (what they were at the time, of course we see their importance in present day), the Viking boats with "threshing oars" pushing forward to their next conquest. Valhalla is a sort of heaven, but only for warriors. So its basically about Vikings rowing to war and the frenzy that develops

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Arianrhod
04-16-2004

Rated 0 
I like the viking's idea.
But more than anything I love the riff in this song.
Its pure rock and roll.
I'd give anything to see Led Zeppelin play.

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paedrough
05-06-2004

Rated 0 
V VI K K I N N GG SSSSS
V V I KK I N N N G SS
V V I KK I N NN G G SS
V I K K I N N GGG SSSSS

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paedrough
05-06-2004

Rated 0 
THAT DIDN'T TURN OUT AS PLANNED

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TruthSpeaker
05-18-2004

Rated 0 
I have no fucking idea what this song means. All I know is that it's a great song, and it's way too fucking short.

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edflint
05-21-2004

Rated 0 
it is about the norsemen, Valhalla is their heaven and odin is their god. in order to reach valhalla, they had to have died with a sword in their hands fighting. watch the film, the VIKINGS.

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