J.R.R.Tolkien's Influence on Rock

[Nebbish]

Have you ever noticed how influential J.R.R. Tolkien has been for Rock music? For many bands both old and new have used numerous references from his novels in order to sculpture their music.

Direct Tolkien references exist in Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On," "Misty Mountain Hop" and "The Battle of Evermore" and also, "all that glitters is not gold" which, of course, inspired the first lines of Stairway to Heaven.

Oops! Almost forgot, Rush's "Rivendell," which was one of the writer's elvish cities.

Additionally, Marillion, whose original name was “Sillmarillion”, was inspired by the title of a J.R.R.Tolkien's mythical novel.

Anyone care to add?

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[Slaine mac Roth]

As the Lord of the Rings is one of the most influential books of the 20th Century, I don't find this surprising, especially when one considers how popular it was with the underground 'counter-culture' of the 1960s.

One thing I must confess is I can't see why people lump Led Zeppelin's 'Misty Mountain Hop' with these. Except for the title, I really can't find anything even remotely linking to Tolkien in the song. I mean, when did Tolkien write about people 'wanting to score' and a policeman asking people to 'all get in line.'

The only connection to Tolkien that I can think of (and this tenuous, is the fact that, as I stated earlier, The Lord of the Rings first gained its cult status among the people of the SF/LA underground of the 70s.

Pewrsonally, I think MMH is about getting stoned.

[Nebbish]

Hey mate, Do not feel that it down to an individual’s interpretation on how the lyrics read?