The Song Remains the Same is a 1976 concert film (or Rockumentary) about Led Zeppelin. It is directed by Peter Clifton and Joe Massot, produced by Peter Grant, and stars John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. This documentary shows three Led Zeppelin concerts filmed at Madison Square Garden in 1973.
The soundtrack was also made available in 1976 through Swan Song Records and was remastered and re-issued in 2007.
Should not be confused with the Revolution episode "The Song Remains The Same", Supernatural episode "The Song Remains The Same", or the trope The Song Remains the Same.
Tracklist
Disc One
Side One- "Rock and Roll" (4:03)
- "Celebration Day" (3:49)
- "The Song Remains The Same" (6:00)
- "The Rain Song" (8:25)
Side Two
- "Dazed and Confused" (26:53)
Disc Two
Side Three- "No Quarter" (12:30)
- "Stairway To Heaven" (10:58)
Side Four
- "Moby Dick" (12:47)
- "Whole Lotta Love" (14:25)
The 2007 reissue also adds performances of "Black Dog", "Over The Hills and Far Away", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Since I've Been Loving You", "The Ocean" and "Heartbreaker".
The Tropes Remain The Same:
- The Blank: One of the characters in the fantasy gangster segment that opens the film has no face.
- Continuity Snarl: For the band's three New York performances, the band members wore exactly the same clothes to facilitate seamless editing of the film, except for John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page who wore different sets of attire on some of the nights, which created continuity problems. Page is seen wearing a different dragon suit in "Rock and Roll" and the "Celebration Day" remaster. In an interview from 1997 Jones said that the reason he didn't wear the same stage clothes was that he asked the crew if they would be filming on those nights and was told no. "I'd think 'not to worry, I'll save the shirt I wore the previous night for the next filming'. Then what would happen is that I'd get onstage and see the cameras ready to roll."
- Design Student's Orgasm: The album cover was designed by Hipgnosis and drawn by graphic artist George Hardie.
- Disturbed Doves: The opening sequence shows some doves disturbed by the outbreak of gunfire. There is another dove flapping around as the title credit rolls.
- Epic Rocking: Led Zeppelin's trademark, folks! Several jams take up several minutes, with a version of "Dazed And Confused" that clocks in near the half hour mark!
- Imagine Spot: The concert footage is intercut with imagine spots by the individual band members.
- Live Album: The most famous one by this group.
- Mind Screw: There are a lot of confusing moments, such as at the beginning of this rockumentary.
- Professional Killer: The producer Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole are filmed as hitmen, driving to the Hammerwood Park estate in Sussex in a 1928 Pierce-Arrow car and shooting everyone there.
- Rule of Symbolism: There are several fantasy sequences that pop up, and their purpose is to explain the individual personalities in the band.
- Title Track: "The Song Remains The Same".
- Wolf Man: Another gangster in the film's opening fantasy sequence is a wolf man, wearing suit but with a hairy wolf man face.
