The Famous Song Led Zeppelin Made Up On The Spot

Jimmy Page recalled, "'The Battle of Evermore' was made up on the spot by Robert (Plant) and myself. I just picked up John Paul Jones's mandolin, never having played a mandolin before, and just wrote up the chords and the whole thing in one sitting," (per Far Out). The five-and-a-half-minute track seems to drift and bloom into itself tenderly, and the lyrics read like a timeless medieval poem. It's astounding to think that such a supreme and finely crafted piece of music could forge itself so naturally without any attempt to consciously construct it — especially with two different minds at play at the same time. But, such was the case with "The Battle of Evermore."

Sound engineer Andy Johns recalls witnessing the experience from the outside-in: "The band was sitting next to the chimney in Headley, drinking tea, when Jimmy grabbed a mandolin and started playing. I gave him a microphone and stuck a Gibson echo on his mandolin. Jimmy had brought this stuff before and had asked me to take a look at it. Suddenly, Robert started singing and this amazing track was born from nowhere (via Song Facts).

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