Robert Plant has released the first episode of his Digging Deep podcast, where he discussed the creation of and the ideas surrounding his 1993 song “Calling to You.”

In the introduction, he referred to his storied past by saying that during his Led Zeppelin years, he "never imagined a full-scale album project without the other guys, and even less the idea of new writing partners. But then, since 1981 I’ve enjoyed many amazing exciting musicians in the sharing, in the writing, the production and engineering – men and women who encouraged and enlightened, introducing me to crazy curves I could never have imagined.”

You can listen to the podcast below. It's available in other formats here.

On the subject of songwriting, Plant said that "right now, in 2019, I think we’re so confused and battered by circumstances within and outside our own existence, all around us. I can’t even imagine how anybody would go about writing a song, because these times are so intense. I’m sure somewhere on Tin Pan Alley or that street in Nashville called Music Row – where there’s a lot of to-let signs, it’s a very quick turnover in a lot of areas – people are actually able to write 'la-de-da' love songs. ... The writing has always been on the wall. We’ve always been kinda of aware of stuff; but it’s never been so evident and so heavy as it right now.”

"Calling to You" appeared on Plant's sixth album, 1993's Fate of Nations. He said at the time that "from the very beginning of this project … I knew what I was going to do: Go back into my past, listening to [Moby] Grape, the [Jefferson] Airplane, Tim Hardin, Quicksilver [Messenger Service], Traffic and other turning-point artists in rock. These people were trying to tell the listener something, joining various traditions, with the sense of a quest being insinuated and bandied in their acoustic and electronic themes. I'm also proud of what I've attempted to do lyrically, trying to tell vivid tales that come from a hearty tradition of prose."

Watch Robert Plant's 'Calling to You' Video

 

 

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