Hello and welcome to 6 Music Live,
coming to you from the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in west London.
6 Music have been introducing live sets here
from Mogwai, Morrissey, Alt-J and Loyle Carner.
It's now the turn of a man regarded as one of the greatest singers
in the history of rock and roll,
with a career spanning over 50 years.
As the lead singer of Led Zeppelin,
he and the band achieved eight consecutive UK number one albums
and defined a decade in music.
They're still considered one of the most successful, innovative
and influential bands in history,
inspiring artists like Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose
and Chris Cornell.
This multiple Grammy Award-winner
went on to forge a successful solo career.
His highly anticipated 11th solo album, Carry Fire,
is released this month.
Playing tracks from the new album and some classics
with his band, The Sensational Space Shifters,
this is the legendary Robert Plant.
APPLAUSE
FIDDLES PLAY INTRO TO MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP
# Walking in the park just the other day, baby
# What do you, what do you think I saw?
# Crowds of people sitting on the grass
# With flowers in their hair said
# "Hey, boy, you wanna score?"
# And you know how it is
# I really don't know what time it was
# So I asked them if I could stay a while
# I didn't notice but it had got very dark and I was
# Really out of my mind
# Just then a policeman stepped up to me
# Asked us, said, please, hey, would we care
# To all get in line
# They asked us to stay for tea and have some fun
# He said that his friends would all drop by
# Why don't you take a good look at yourself
# And describe what you see?
# And, baby, do you like it?
# There you sit, sitting spare like a book on a shelf rusting
# Still trying to fight it
# And you know why?
# You really don't care if they're coming?
# Oh, oh, oh, oh
# I know that it's all a state of mind
# Oh, I know it's a state of mind
# Don't, no, no, no, no, no, no!
# So if you go down in the streets today, baby
# You better open your eyes
# Folk down there really don't care
# Don't care, really don't
# Which-which-which-which way the pressure lies
# I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
# Oh, oh, oh, oh
# Over the hills where the spirits fly
# Oh, oh, oh, oh
# I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
# Oh, oh, oh, oh
# Over the hills where the spirits fly
# I really don't know
# Uh-oh
# I really don't know Oh, oh, oh
# I really don't know
# Oh, oh-oh. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# With songs, we praise a happy landing
# On yet another virgin shore
# Escape the old world
# Embrace the new world
# Out here, the immigrant takes hold
# Across the plains and over mountains
# Put flight to all who came before
# They're moving, they're barely human
# But let them kneel before the sword
# Oo-oo-oo-oh
# Oo-oo-oo-oo-oh
# To educate the noble savage
# The great white father's word is lore
# It's such a gain, then, to liberate them
# And let them kneel before the sword
# Oo-oo-oo-oh
# Oo-oo-oo-oo-oh
# Oo-oo-oo-oh
# Oo-oo-oo-oo-oh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh
# Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh. #
# They're loading up the ships
# They're loading up the planes
# There's madness in the sky
# Above the bones of saints
# So much so nearly broken
# The servants of a lie
# Now everything is burning
# There's a fire up in the sky
# No, no, no, no
# No, no, no, no, no
# We're up against the fence
# When all the walls fall down
# I hear the children scream
# But then the fear abound
# Ask a leading question
# From where the money comes?
# Who buys the bullets?
# Tell me, who sells the guns?
# And I said no, no, no, no
# No, no, no, no, no
# No, no, no, no
# No, no, no, no, no
# In the Garden of Eden
# Where the wheels go round and round
# It's the song of the ages
# And it's the last fair deal gone down
# In the Garden of Eden
# Where the wheels go round and round
# It's the song of the ages
# And the last fair deal's gone down, down, down. #
Robert Plant, everybody.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Listen, let's talk a little bit about your new record.
Welcome to Maida Vale and thank you
very much for joining us here. Thank you.
The album is out next week. Uh-huh.
It's called Carry Fire. Why?
Oh...
Erm... How about, er...
..life's rich pageant, you know?
The life that you lead, you have to really put a lot of power
and force into it, and passion, and that's what I do,
and that's what the guys who create this amazing music do,
we carry the energy and the love and all that stuff,
put it all together and it's a big, beautiful journey.
And describing...
And if you believe that...
LAUGHTER
I will accept that as the answer because that's a beautiful one,
actually, it's a beautiful thought.
When you're talking about that blend of music, though, I think you've
described it as - let me get this right - a...
What is it? "A melange a...
"..melange a..." not quite trois.
No, not yet.
A melange a trois? Is that right? It could be!
Yes, a melange a trois - British, Bristolian and West and
North African influences all coming together on the new album.
Oh, thank God. I wondered what you were getting at!
LAUGHTER
Yeah, that's right, it's exactly right.
We really love all these various elements
and influences musically, and each guy...
We've all got something to offer,
which makes us a really good melange a...sept.
A sept. OK, good.
My French is not great,
but I thought I'd better just check about that.
And how do you work and where did you make this record?
How do you like to work?
Well, we work in bits and pieces.
The guys - John, Skin, Justin, Billy, Dave - everybody comes up
with ideas and brings them and pitches them in,
and we kind of put them all together and build jigsaws of music.
I know Chrissie Hynde is in the mix on the new record
and Seth Lakeman too.
Yeah, Seth's with us today. Erm...
SCATTERED APPLAUSE
Is that all you can do?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Lay down in sweet surrender
# Your love so warm and tender
# Oh, oh, oh
# Oh, sweet surrender now
# Oh, oh, oh
# So warm and tender now
# Oh, oh, oh
# Inside, my waves are breaking
# Oh
# All light of my salvation
# Oh
# Oh, oh, oh
# Oh, sweet salvation now
# Oh, oh, oh
# My waves are breaking now
# Oh, oh, oh
# Oh, yeah
# Yeah
# I'm seeking love and glory
# Just like I always do
# The bosom of the freedom
# I very rarely choose
# Out here, the fire's still burning
# So long into my night
# Still captive and still yearning
# Surrender to your light
# A heart that never falters
# A love that never dies
# I linger in the shadows
# The dimming of my light
# Oh, yeah
# Oh
# Oh. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oh
# Did you believe that I could leave you
# Standing out in the cold?
# Oh
# I know how it feels cos I have slipped through
# To the very depths of my soul
# Babe
# I just want to show you what a clear view
# It is from every bend in the road
# Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
# As it was for me, it will be for you too, baby
# As good for me
# I will share your load
# Mmm, I will share your load
# Yes, I will
# In the light, oh!
# Now, everybody needs
# Now, everybody, everybody, whoa
# Oh, the winds of change may blow around you
# But that will always be so
# Oh, when love is pain, it can devour you
# But you are never alone
# I will share your load
# In the light, baby
# In the light, darling
# Light, mama
# Everybody, everybody
# Everybody needs Yes, they do
# In the light
# Now, everybody
# Everybody needs Yes, they do
# And if you feel
# That you can't go on
# In the light
# You will find the road. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
# Ahh-ahh-ahh
# Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh
# Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
# Satan, your kingdom must come down
# I heard the voice of reason cry
# "Satan, your kingdom must come down"
# I'm gonna pray till they tear your kingdom down
# Pray till they tear your kingdom down
# I heard the voice of reason cry
# "Satan, your kingdom must come down"
# Meet me, Jesus, meet me
# Oh, meet me in the middle of the air
# If my wings should fail me, Lord
# Please meet me with another pair
# Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
# Ahh-ahh-ahh
# Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh
# Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh
# Ohhh. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I have to ask you about writing and the writing process.
I know that you've said you will never write an autobiography.
LAUGHTER
Why is that?
Well, why would anybody?
I mean, can't you just leave it where it was,
beautifully hidden behind six or seven brain cells
that you've still got?
There are too many magnificent things
and some pretty crap stuff too, but, I mean, the magnificence is
normally ridiculous and if it's not funny, it ain't worth remembering.
And what have you got for us in the set today?
What can you tell us about what we're going to experience
after 12 o'clock in Maida Vale?
That must be today. Yeah.
LAUGHTER
Well, yeah, quite a few songs from the new record.
We mess with them a lot and it's a kind of gamble.
We've been working for the last number of days,
trying to take 'em from a recorded piece of music and, you know,
the concept of mixing music
so as it sounds the way we want it to sound,
to taking it out into a live condition.
So it's developing,
so you have to be patient today, audience, cos one or two of these...
We've never done three or four of these things before.
HE SIGHS
LAUGHTER
Well, from our perspective, that's incredibly exciting, right, guys?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Oh, no, he won't!
Oh, yes, he will!
Of course he will.
Yeah, so...
And the title track of the album, Carry Fire,
it's just such a groove, it's a spell.
Well, we're thrilled to have you here.
Thank you very much for bringing your magic to Maida Vale.
Robert Plant, everybody. Thank you.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I sit and wait for you like so many others do
# Just like they do for me, well, so I do for you
# I carry fire for you
# Here in my naked hands
# I give my heart to you
# That you will understand
# I was a stranger there inside your promised land
# That turned me inside out and turned me upside down
# I carry fire for you
# Here in my naked hands
# I bare my heart to you
# That you will understand
# Just like, just like, just like I scar you
# I'm reaching out for you across the burnin' days
# All through these gathering years, beyond these lonely ways
# I carry fire for you
# Here in my naked hands
# I bare my heart to you
# That you will understand
# Just like, just like, just like I scar you
# Oh, oh
# Ohhh-ohhh
# Oh, oh
# Ohhh-ohhh
# Just like, just like, just like I scar you
# Just like, just like, just like I scar you. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I should have quit you, baby
# Such a long time ago
# I should have quit you, mama
# Ah, such a long time ago, yeah
# I wouldn't be there now, my darling
# Down on this killin' floor
# I should have listened, oh-oh
# To my second mind
# Oh, I should have listened, baby, listened, darling
# Mmm, to my second mind
# I wouldn't be there now, my darling
# Ooh, sweet honey, down and crying
# Oh, yeah
# I go downtown
# I come back late
# I find a note there
# Said, well, I can't wait
# I should have quit you, darling
# Long time ago
# I wouldn't be there now, my baby
# Down on the killin' floor
# Ooh, yeah
# I should have quit you, darling
# Mmm, such a long time ago
# Oh, such a long
# I wouldn't be there now, my darling
# Ooooh, down on this killing floor, yeah. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
# Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma
HE VOCALISES
# But you're still happy
# Ooh, yeah
# Yeah
# Oh, yeah
# Ooooooh... #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# You need coolin'
# B-b-b-b-baby, I ain't foolin'
# I'm gonna send ya, mmm, back to schoolin'
# Way down inside
# Mama, you need love
# Baby, you need love
# Mama, you need love
# Oh
# I want a whole lotta love
# Whole lotta love
# You've been yearning
# Oh, baby, I've been learning
# All them good times, baby
# I've been missing
# Way down inside
# Mama, you need love
# Baby, you need love
# Oh, yes, you know you need love
# I want a whole lotta love
# I want a whole lot
# Love, love, love
# All right, yeah... #
AUDIENCE CLAP ALONG
# You need coolin'
# Ooh, I ain't foolin'
# Mama, I'm gonna send ya back to schoolin'
# Way down inside
# Mmm, way down inside
# Oh, yeah
# Way down inside
# Oh, yeah
# Way down inside
# Yeah, baby
# Mama, you know I ain't foolin'
# Baby, I wanna send ya
# Baby, back to schoolin'
# Way down inside, way down inside
# Mama, you need love
# Baby, you need love
# Mama, you need love
# Oh
# A whole lotta love
# Whole lotta love
# A whole lotta
# Mmm, lo-o-ove
# Lo-o-o-o-ove
# Lo-o-o-o-ove. #
CHEERING