In My Time Of Dying Ramble On Led Zeppelin

In My Time Of Dying Album: Physical Graffiti (1975)
Ramble On Album: Led Zeppelin II (1969)
by Led Zeppelin

AI still has uncanny valley eyes...

Like many Led Zeppelin songs, In My Time Of Dying "borrows" from an old Blues tune, in this case a song of the same name also known as "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed," which was performed by Blind Willie Johnson in the 1920s. Bob Dylan recorded an adaptation of the song on his first album, which Led Zeppelin used as the basis for their version of "In My Time Of Dying."
The ending was not written when the band started recording the song. They jammed on it and improvised an ending - you can hear drummer John Bonham say at the end: "That's gotta be the one."

In My Time Of Dying runs 11:06. Excluding their live cuts, it is the longest Zeppelin song.

In My Time Of Dying was one of the few live songs where Jimmy Page switched to his black and white Danelectro guitar. He also used this guitar for "White Summer."

Zakk Wylde of Ozzy Osbourne's band and Black Label Society released his version of In My Time Of Dying on the second disc of his re-issued Pride & Glory album.

Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White played In My Time Of Dying's main riff together in the music film/documentary It Might Get Loud.

Soundgarden sometimes covered In My Time Of Dying in concert. The last song lead singer Chris Cornell played was their track "Slaves And Bulldozers," where he interjected some of "In My Time Of Dying," using these lyrics:

In my time of dying, ain't gonna cry, ain't gonna mourn
All I need for you to do is drag my body home
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Jesus, gonna make up my dyin' bed

The show took place at the Fox Theatre in Detroit on May 17, 2017. He was found dead later that night.

Some of Robert Plant's lyrics in Ramble On were inspired by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of The Rings. The references are to the adventures of the Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, as he goes to "the darkest depths of Mordor" and encounters "Gollum and the evil one." Plant later admitted in an audio documentary that he was embarrassed by the Tolkien references, as they don't make all that much sense - a fair maiden wouldn't be found in Mordor, and Gollum would want nothing to do with her anyway, since his only concern is the precious ring.

Ramble On is one of Led Zeppelin's most enduring songs, but they never performed it live from start to finish while the band was active. It was in their set when Zeppelin reunited for a one-off concert at the O2 Arena in London on December 10, 2007. John Bonham's son Jason filled in on drums at that show.

Zeppelin recorded Ramble On in New York when they were on their first US tour.

What John Bonham played as percussion to supplement his drums on Ramble On is not clear. It sounds like bongos, but has been reported to be a plastic garbage pail or a guitar case.

The concept of the troubadour "rambling on" - going from place to place and constantly moving forward - is one Robert Plant embraced. In his post-Zeppelin career, he went from one project to the next, refusing to fall back on nostalgia. It was Plant who kiboshed the proposed Led Zep reunion tour in 2007.

The group Train covered Ramble On on their 2001 Midnight Moon album. Their lead singer, Pat Monahan, was once in a band that did entire sets of Zeppelin songs. Producer Brendan O'Brien heard Train's version and agreed to produce their second album.
This was sampled by the Insane Clown Posse for the song "50 Bucks" on their rare album Psychopathics From Outer Space and was also the single that accompanied The Pendulum #7, a 12-comic series of the group done by Chaos! Comics.

Along with "Going To California," this is one of two Led Zeppelin songs used in the 2019 indie film The Friend. The band agreed to license the songs at a much lower rate than usual after hearing pleas from the filmmakers. The movie tells the true story of Nicole Teague, a woman with terminal cancer. The songs were part of her story and played an important role in the narrative.