Seth Welch

2/12/13
Rhetorical Analysis of "Stairway to Heaven"
Death is inevitable, the one thing that every single person an every living thing
on this planet has in co!!on" All beginnings !#st have an en, an every ening
beco!es a new beginning" $eca#se life an eath are two sies of the sa!e coin, a hea
an a tail that sy!boli%e a never ening cycle" With that &nowlege, the prospect of an
event#al en beco!es bearable, an so!e even welco!e it when they feel that they have
live a f#ll life" 'o other song can capt#re this feeling, this reali%ation of loo&ing forwar
to a peacef#l en of ays than (e )eppelin*s "Stairway to Heaven" pro#ce in 1+,1"
-t begins with the opening line ".here*s a lay who*s s#re all that glitters is gol
an she*s b#ying a stairway to heaven" which beco!es the focal point for !#ch of the
song*s internal !eaning" Reaing the lyrics witho#t the !#sic, it is iffic#lt not to
i!agine the spea&er saying this in a !oc&ing tone, berating the very iea that heaven//or
the afterlife//co#l be so!ething that co#l possibly be bo#ght or accesse" .he iea of a
stairway i!plies that it co#l be #se to traverse bac& an forth between the #pper an
lower levels, an iea which is abs#r as no person can ret#rn fro! the ea, least of all
not at their own whi!sy as this person is being portraye, which is f#rther evience in
the song by stating "with a wor she can get what she ca!e for" which i!plies that she
co#l ret#rn once a tas& or erran was one" 0#rther!ore, in the 'ew .esta!ent of the
$ible, it is sai that "0or a rich !an to enter 1Heaven2 wo#l be as easy as a ca!el to pass
thro#gh the eye of a neele"" .his specifically states that if s#ch a heaven were to e3ist,
by the 4#eo/5hristian faith it wo#l be ownright blasphe!o#s to thin& that anyone
co#l b#y their way into heaven even with all of the riches of the worl"
'e3t, the lyrics say that "so!eti!es wors have two !eanings" an that
"so!eti!es all of o#r tho#ghts are !isgiven" which i!plies a heavy sense of o#bt
s#rro#ning the vent#re fro! the beginning" .his o#bt co#l very well be that which a
great !any people have felt at so!e point in their lives, what e3actly will happen at the
en of one*s life" 6erhaps the o#bt in this case co#l be abo#t heaven itself, whether or
not it act#ally e3ists or if this pre!ise of b#ying a stairway that reaches it wo#l be a
pointless vent#re" .hat to try an cheat eath is f#tile, no !atter how baly or esperately
one wants it" .his is really riven ho!e when the spea&er says "an it really !a&es !e
woner" beca#se !any people have li&ely wonere the sa!e thing, regarless of
religio#s beliefs"
.he ne3t stan%a contains the lines "!y spirit is crying for leaving" changing the
perspective of the song to that of a person nearing the en of their own life, e!bracing
eath an going to !eet "the voices of those who stan loo&ing", who are very li&ely the
spea&er*s past friens an fa!ily who! ha passe on before the!" .his represents the
eath of one who has live a f#ll an happy life an longs to see their friens an fa!ily
once again, not worrying abo#t anything else" .his is in contrast to the lay, who is
searching for a way o#t, a way to cheat eath in a frantic bi to hol onto what she has in
life an nothing else, being greey an fearf#l even in her final !o!ents"
.he fo#rth stan%a reas that "the piper will lea #s to reason" all#ing perhaps to
the story of the 6ie 6iper, who !#st always be pai lest yo# pay the conse7#ences" -n
this conte3t, - see the 6iper as a personification of Death, a force that all things an all
people !#st pay trib#te to" .o lea the! to reason is to say that espite any ifferences in
opinion leaing to fe#s or wars or any sort of conflict will event#ally be a !oot point in
the face of eath, as all are e7#al in the fact that their lives !#st en" .he ne3t lines in the
stan%a reas "An a new ay will awn for those who stan long an the forests will echo
with la#ghter"" .his ill#strates the cycle of life an eath, as a person ies there are those
left alive in their wa&e, an new people born each ay" With every en is a beginning, the
tail sie of the coin flippe over to the hea"
".here are two paths to go by, b#t in the long r#n there*s still ti!e to change the
roa yo#*re on" Are the last lines of the ne3t stan%a, an they offer very vali an goo
points regaring religio#s viewpoints on life an the afterlife" -n !any faiths, !ost
notably 4#ais! an 5hristianity, the belief is that there is a Heaven an a Hell, the
for!er of which is where people of righteo#s an goo lives wo#l g when they ie, an
anyone who sinne or co!!itte evil acts was sent to Hell #pon eath" .hese faiths !ore
often than not give clearly c#t an often absol#te 8#ge!ent as to who wo#l go where,
base si!ply on their actions at one point in their lives" $#t these lines here in the song
state that a person can change their fate at any point in their lives, that life is entirely in
their hans for the short ti!e they are given an the freeo! of choice is theirs to ta&e"
.he ne3t set of lyrics aresses the lay !entione at the beginning of the song,
telling her that "the 6iper*s calling yo# to 8oin hi!"" this shows that espite her best
efforts, all of her planning an her apparent p#rchase of the stairway to heaven was all for
na#ght, an that there tr#ly is no way to escape eath" However, the spea&er then states
that "yo#r stairway lies on the whispering win", showing that while she was #nable to
cheat eath or escape it, the stairway is inee real, which translates into no !atter how
is!al or hopeless an inevitability li&e eath !ay be, one can still accept it peacef#lly
an even have hope for a life after eath in so!e fashion"
An so, we see the finale of the lay*s life playe o#t before #s in the last verse,
the lay "Who shines white light an wants to show how everything still t#rns to gol",
signifying that eath is nothing to be afrai of, it is 8#st another sensation li&e to#ch or
sight, an is 8#st as i!portant as anything in life" "When one is all an all is one", the
perfect #nity of boies an so#ls in the sweet e!brace of eath, an the life after eath,
an en, an a beginning" .he song finally closes with "An she*s b#ying a stairway to
heaven" not in a !oc&ing tone this ti!e, b#t one that loo&s #p to the iea, accepts it, an
e!braces it"