Immigrant Song
Written after a concert in Iceland, the song mythologizes Viking conquest over a riff of pure metallic power. Robert Plant's opening wail is among rock's most recognized moments. The song is ironic: British musicians appropriating Norse mythology to sing about American conquest.
Helped establish hard rock's mythopoetic vocabulary — the use of fantasy, mythology, and archaic imagery as rock aesthetics. Led Zeppelin's blues-based heaviness directly spawned heavy metal and hard rock as distinct genres.
Released in 1970, the year after Woodstock, as the 1960s idealism was ending. The rock industry was professionalizing; Zeppelin's mythological grandeur was a response to the failure of utopia.
Songs became anthems for equality, blending spirituals with contemporary R&B.