Lyrics for Gallows Pole as interpreted by kevin

Gallows Pole Lyrics
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
Think I see my friends coming, Riding a many mile.
Friends, did you get some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends, To keep me from the Gallows Pole?
What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?

I couldn't get no silver, I couldn't get no gold,
You know that we're too damn poor to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see my brother coming, riding a many mile.
Brother, did you get me some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my brother, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?

Brother, I brought you some silver,
I brought a little gold, I brought a little of everything
To keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Yes, I brought you to keep you from the Gallows Pole.

Hangman, hangman, turn your head awhile,
I think I see my sister coming, riding a many mile, mile, mile.
Sister, I implore you, take him by the hand,
Take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
Please take him, save me from the wrath of this man, man.

Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile,
Pray tell me that I'm free to ride,
Ride for many mile, mile, mile.

Oh, yes, you got a fine sister, She warmed my blood from cold,
Brought my blood to boiling hot To keep you from the Gallows Pole,
Your brother brought me silver, Your sister warmed my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard And see you swinging on the Gallows Pole

Swingin' on the gallows pole!

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Bite Me
05-09-2002

Rated 0 
This song is about how you can try to whore your own sister to save yourself. That's the British for you.

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1 Reply
ramthar
05-17-2002

Rated 0 
This is actually an old british folk-style sort of song, just redone by Led Zeppelin. It is pretty odd, bbut like you said, that`s the British for you.

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SundanceKid
08-22-2002

Rated 0 
thats sort of a sick song! Oh well it sounds pretty cool

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ToOlHoLiO
09-06-2002

Rated 0 
in my opinion, it might be about what can people (your friends, family).. to help you from adversity.. well, like u guys said.. it is an old british song and well it is other culture somehow..

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little_emma123
10-12-2002

Rated 0 
personally, i think that gallows pole is an excellent song! its one of the songs which first got me interested in led zeppelin! led zep 3 is possibly the best led zeppelin albums ever to be made!

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1 Reply
fake0303
03-06-2003

Rated 0 
ToOlHoLiO was close but also not colse...the song does talk about friends and family coming and trying to help, but in the end it doesn't work...the person talking ends up being hung. "Swingin' from te gallows pole!" the song tells us that if you do something bad take it like a man and dont drag your family and friends down with you.

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Wiplash
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
if i had to pick the song that most discribes my family.. this would be in.. with my sister in jail and legal custity of her daughter shes been pumpin us for money and friends and all kinds of stuff... i can relate to the song very well... but when i think of zeppelin i think of this song right here... that and immigrent good songs.. im not as faund of stairway to heaven... takes too long to get going.. never the less anything made by zeppelin is respectable.. zeppelin has got to be the best band ever created! the question that still puzzles me.. how can they play they well when there were so burnt out on drugs and boose?? i know i can do anything when im high but look at the tv and laugh at the little cartoons :-P

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RAin_fUL
04-10-2003

Rated 0 
I love it when the drums come in!!

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myhotelyear
05-12-2003

Rated 0 
yeah the lyrics are very un-zepplin like but that's cus it's a traditional english song!

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chaiky
06-09-2003

Rated 0 
The practice of paying provincial hangmen was very common in England up to the early 18th C. I think that the lyrics have been embellished a little but it's a deliciously dark little number that they have taken right out of medieval history and brought it back to us with a fusion of folk and heavy rock. Fantastic stuff!

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Krtski
06-13-2003

Rated 0 
I think fake0303 is being a bit too serious in trying to explain this song. I see the last line of the song as a very surprising and funny ending. What we've got here is a very naughty little hangman, who takes everything that's offered to him by a desperate man, who tries to save is own life, and then ends this mans life anyway! What the man who tells the story does, is not very strange, I think many people would do similar things in this position. The hangman is the one who is way out of line (or, depending on your perspective, a naughty little fellow).
Anyroad it's a nice little story combined with some grand driving song. One of my favorites.

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Fool_in_the_rain
07-01-2003

Rated 0 
One other little note ya'll........Ok these dudes were serious hippies too......Look at songs like Misty Mountain Hop.....Sister and brother are common terms for freinds and others.....So he may not litterally mean his little sister......Plus the hippie movement is also about doing what you can to help those in need.....

I could see the man to be hung asking those Passing by to do what they could to help this man in dyer need....Any stall tactic might be neccesary.....The lyircs kinda tell it like this....(In a more lyrical sense of course ;).....Oh wait!...I see my brother riding from many a mile off...(could probably see the dust rising from the crossroads eh?)....In other words, Let's wait for him to arrive before you hang me.....Something like that...Makes sense doesn't it?.......I agree that the hangman is a dirty rotten Bastard......But that's the way......Very very good song......

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Speedbump
04-19-2004

Rated +1 
Gallows Pole is actually a very AMERICAN tune. It is an old Delta Blues (as with many of LZ's songs) song originally recorded by Lead Belly. Plant references this on one of the newer recordings of the song, either a bootleg or the "Walking into Clarksdale"

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Adman
07-03-2004

Rated 0 
I have been listening to this today because I think the lyrics are wrong here. The last line, I believe says "She's swingin' on the Gallows Pole." The sister gave herself sexually to the hangman in exchange for freedom for her brother. So the final line is "she's swinging on the gallows pole." Meaning either figuratively (by prostituting herself) or figuratively (the hangman actually hanged her after he "did" her). Personally, I believe it is figurative...that the hangman's desire for sex was greater than the money and finally won the brother's freedom (at the expense of the sister). My two cents.

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Imagine
12-08-2004

Rated 0 
Every time I listen to this I think it's set along time ago in europe and it's preety much an illustrative song if you know the lyrics you almost visualize like a movie in your head it's almost dissapointing that you can't know more like how he got into the position he's in. It's a good acoustic song but I think it's more about the lyrics than most anything else.

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louisgs
12-23-2004

Rated 0 
Adman, I agree it sounds like "she's" swinging at the end, but it's just RP's muddled "t'see you." Check the Lead Belly version. I love this song 'cause it tells you you can't escape by trying to have others pick up the slack for the shit you've done; you're going to be held accountable ultimately. I'm not religious, but I think the concept of Karma -- if you really think about it -- offers a great description of the human condition, and the lyrics here, like so many great blues tunes, are just another artistic manifestation of that idea.

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idiotswind
01-07-2005

Rated 0 
Louisqs hit it on the button

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kenrho2k
01-15-2005

Rated 0 
Speedbump is right this is an old blues song
wtf ? do you guys think the british are the only ones who used to hang people? old british song my ass

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chrisb1
04-23-2005

Rated 0 
A song about betrayal. A redone traditional along the lines of Thin Lizzys Whiskey in the Jar.

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scaramouche
07-06-2005

Rated 0 
The song is based on Leadbelly's version (via Fred Gerlach) of a song that used to be widespread in the English-speaking world. They changed the ending, which in Leadbelly's was left open.
Child collected texts of the song under the name "Maid Freed from the Gallows". http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch095.htm
A MIDI can be found here: http://www.contemplator.com/child/briery.html
A really fun English take on it is Spiers & Boden's: http://www.squeezy.fsnet.co.uk/spiers_boden/sounds.html

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Schr4nz
09-28-2005

Rated 0 
look, ive read all your "definitions"..... its about the meaning of the song, not the origin, and analysing every detail, just listen to it, theres this guy about to be hung, desperate to survive, and he tries everything to save himself including whoring his sister (Whether intentional or not)... and the guy still hangs him, its about life, its about the struggle to survive, there are people out there doing it tough, trying to get themselves out of shit day by day, but theres always a guy above them pulling them by the chain...... thats what the song is about, so yeh, in summary. a song about betrayal, and the human will to survive... thinking about that just reminded me of the song by the verve "bitter sweet symphony"... 'try to make ends meet try to make some money then you die'........

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Hoosierdude188
01-17-2006

Rated 0 
That's a really good definition Schr4nz.....Led Zeppelin believes in fate very heavily, and this is another example of a song which shows thier belief......No matter how much he did, he could not cun his way out of his death....

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mncclem
01-21-2006

Rated 0 
This is definately a great song and i love Zepplins Cover of it yes I said cover and i am fairly certian that it predates lead belly Quite a bit . This songs is actually in the John Wayne movie The fighting Kentuckians If you dont believe me check it out the woman is playing it on the guitar when every one is showing up at the french plantation for the party

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Twieq
04-01-2006

Rated 0 
This song is more of a cover of an old blues song of the same name by the blues singer "leadbelly", with a few more improvised lyrics.

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michellew_39
04-08-2006

Rated 0 
Think this might help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallows_Pole

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