There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh ooh and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon, If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow,
Don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How ev'rything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.



Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 08:18

"Stairway to Heaven" as written by James Patrick (jimmy)/plant Page

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Stairway to Heaven song meanings
Add your thoughts

1860 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Meaning:haven't you ever said something you didn't realize what you say but it had interesting and wise meaning, this song is an example it has mysterious lyric and everyone is trying to get what does the song means?! plant wrote some phrases to create a mystery :And if you listen very hard
    The tune will come to you at last. and other .. but i think that song hasn't any meaning this song is just about people who love money and doing everything to get it
    Flagged vadachkoon June 16, 2013   Link
  • -1
    Song Meaning:My thoughts are that this is about a woman consumed by vanity and selfishness. Instead of being a giver, she is a taker. While she has value for eternal life promised in many faiths, she doesn't understand how to get it, other than with faith in herself. The disappointments in her life don't stop her or dissuade her desire to be immortal, but she ultimately fails to comprehend the difference between things in heaven, and things on earth, so the only stairway she succeeds in ever climbing is one created from fantasy, not faith.
    Flag 52aliveon June 14, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:@stairway44 and liferockls8 ....both of these cmments i will merge into my thoughts!!!

    when i first started to read the WORD OF GOD ,I was told that a cetain passage may be interp. diff. each time you read them or you may interp. your own way of HEARING GODS MESSAGE OR WORD TO YOU,

    IT IS COOL THAT A SONG CAN BE BROKEN INTO SO MANY MEANINGS AS LONG AS WE KEEP IT SIMPLE ,NOT JUMPING TO PAUL'S DEAD KINDA CRAP!!!
    Flag DLN864on June 13, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:You know, sometimes words have two meanings.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    Flag ephphathaon June 06, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:theres a lady whos sure, all that glitters is gold, and shes buying a stairway to heaven. i think the lady is the statue of liberty, and the song is about capitalism in america and how we worship material things and how its ok to worship the almighty dollar as long as you repent before you die. two other songs come to mind, suite madam blue by styx and american woman by the guess who
    Flag necromanceon June 05, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Geez. Rather than dream up silly interpretations, why not read what Plant, Page and Jones said about writing it?

    This is a protests song guys. Against the recording industry mostly. Page created STH from a mishmash of musical bits that he strung together into a number too long for a 45 single - a finger to the recording industry's mandate that all hits go out the door as singles, then again as LPs. STH went straight to LP.

    STH increases in tempo - rarely known to survive customer preference - another finger. Plant's own explanation of (one of) the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration."

    The words were written to fit the music and to give Plant something to do, which helps explain why they don't make a lot of sense. According to Wiki, "the lyrics of the song reflected Plant's current reading. The singer had been poring over the works of the British antiquarian Lewis Spence, and later cited Spence's Magic Arts in Celtic Britain as one of the sources for the lyrics to the song." Google Lewis Spence if you want to know where their heads were, which is Druids dancing naked around bonfires in the forest, and Secret Rites and Traditions of the Ancients.

    I like another person's interpretation of the 'lady' as the Catholic church and buying penance, burning women as witches etc, but I cannot find any of that in Plant's or Page's words.
    Flag redbird82on June 03, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song talks about the way people blind-fully acquire the spiritual path of worship and mistake that to be the stairway to heaven. Jimmy tries to differentiate between actually working for something good and not devastating the planet earth we live in.
    Flag krawalon June 01, 2013   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:this song is about masturbation
    Flagged irishmikeon May 16, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Best comment on this song was in the movie Wayne's World. Wayne is trying out a guitar in the store when the assistant stops him and points to a sign on the wall: "NO Stairway to Heaven". Says it all. youtube.com/…
    Flagged scottmeon April 23, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song was mostly written by Jimmy Page. Some of the comments really blew my mind -- so many "deep" meanings. Just remember when this song was written. A good deal of songs from that time had drug references. I am not saying that this song wanted to glorify drugs but it is telling a story relevant to the time. When artists write songs they put together words that sound meaningful to make an interesting story. They may not even understand why they use certain words and phrases. The words may not have any certain or concrete meaning. Any type of art does not have just one meaning -- that's the beauty of art. Meaning is left to interpretation. What matters is how it makes people feel.
    A great song will have a meaning for all people. Picking the song apart makes it feel to mundane.
    Flagged liferocks8on April 23, 2013   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain