DENIED, Page and Plant

[spatch]

Is Bohemian Rhapsody the best rock song of all time? Or does the honor rest with Stairway to Heaven?

I have played many games of Phoenix Wright so I am comfortable in asserting that the answer lies in the evidence. I call to the stand expert witnesses Wayne and Garth.

Exhibit A

Wayne and Garth and their buds (seen here before Phil joins them on a No Honk Guarantee) rock out to Queen. During the film's initial theatrical run, Bohemian Rhapsody was re-released on the Wayne's World soundtrack. It hit #2 on the Billboard charts and became a fine tribute to Freddie Mercury, who had died a few months earlier.

Exhibit B

Wayne plays the first five notes of Stairway to Heaven in a guitar shop, breaking store rules and annoying the employees. But that's only in the original theatrical cut. Zep wouldn't give up the rights to five lousy notes for the home video and TV versions. For all subsequent releases a random rock riff was dubbed over Wayne's playing, effectively rendering the joke null and void although the sign retains its meaning in a meta sort of way.

The answer is all too clear.

Comments

[dogofthefuture.livejournal.com]

Oh come now sir. The only reason that the Page and Plant...well, okay the Page masterpiece is mentioned as being off limits is because it is the AWESOMEST guitar riff EVER. This is why they would not give up the rights. It must be preserved for future AWESOMENESS.

None of this is to say that Bohemian Rhapsody is not also filled with awesome. It's just not quite as deliciously awesome as Stairway to Heaven. (I will not, however, deny that it is more fun to sing with your AWESOME pals.)

[spatch]

well, okay the Page masterpiece is mentioned as being off limits is because it is the AWESOMEST guitar riff EVER.

Sing, o muse, of how Page the Yardbird overthrew the merciless titan Lespaul son of Gibson in fierce battle on the blood-soaked beach. Five times did Page thus strike, plucking from Lespaul as he did the very essence of rock. And Page then threw this trophy over his shoulder into the wine-dark sea, bringing forth a wave of foam bearing a most awesome A minor 9th on the halfshell.

After years of sheer awesomeness the purveyors of guitars the land over did conspire to ban any mention of the Sacred Chord, for they could no longer bear to hear the nation's youth attempt to perform this same act of creation. And sad Euterpe did mourn the loss of this expression until grey-eyed Athene gave her solace. "There is no need to cry," said Athene, "for I promise you that every one of my schools on this Earth, be they Junior or Middle, shall now and forever end their ritual dances with the Chord."

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Have I told you lately that you're awesome? :)

classic rock

[maga-dogg.livejournal.com]

(Man, I never thought I'd find a use for that again.)

[dogofthefuture.livejournal.com]

Thus spake ye Maiden: For thee I wilt give my maidenhood.

Lauft did the The Goodwyfe for she knew at of ye maidenhood and it hoven ben gift betimes.

Said the Maiden, but not ye maidenhood of mine mooth.

Thus did ye first jobbe of blew to ayn plier of lyre ben given.

<3

[cthulhia]

this is awesome.

[wring.livejournal.com]

WOW I didn't know that! I mean srsly I didn't know who Queen was until Wayne's World! And now I know ALL the words to Bohemian Rhapsody (and others) because of Wayne's World. I don't have Led Zep past, sadly.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

During their recent pledge drive, a DJ at WERS told the story of a similar public radio station in the Pacific Northwest announcing that listener pledges were the only thing standing between them and nonstop Stairway to Heaven. Robert Plant, who happened to be in the area and listening, immediately phoned in a pledge. When asked later for his motivation, he said "it's not that I don't like Stairway to Heaven, it's just that I've heard it before."

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

*chuckle*

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

YES THIS STORY IS TOO GOOD TO CHECK

[ivorjawa.livejournal.com]

It always bugged me that I was perplexed at that scene, but I chalked it up to musical illiteracy (okay, that doesn't sound like stairway to heaven, but maybe he's playing something deep down in the song that I didn't recognize), and not shenanigans.
(But not recently enough that wikipedia or IMDB existed to clarify.)

[minkrose]

This was EXACTLY my experience. I thought I just didn't know the song well enough.


Most of what I recall about Stairway was that people would keep slow dancing through the end of the song at school dances. Not me & my friends, though! We would rock out.

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

Couldn't they have just licensed those five notes from [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czfI66yQUkk&feature=related]Spirit[/url] instead?

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Wonder whether, if they'd left that final B natural out of it and just played the A minor arpeggio, enough people would've gotten the joke that it would've been worth it. I can't imagine Page and Plant being able to convince anyone that they own the rights to an A minor arpeggio.