12 O’Clock Track: For Thanksgiving, Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You”

At the feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621, Puritans sat around a table, joined hands, and recited the following hymn: “And so today, my world it smiles / Your hand in mine, we walk the miles / Thanks to you it will be done / For you to me are the only one / Happiness, no more be sad / Happiness, I’m glad.” OK, that didn’t happen, and those lyrics are from Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You.” But this week is Thanksgiving, and while we should be grateful for numerous things this year, maybe we should also give thanks for Led Zeppelin and for “Thank You,” the benchmark song for gratitude. Well, there are probably better songs about gratitude, especially since Robert Plant is giving thanks to a “kind woman” and “nothing more.” But this was the first song I thought of, so there. For today’s 12 O’Clock Track, listen to Robert Plant gobble and murmur while John Paul Jones’s organ tries to undercut the cheap romance and Plant’s sleazy moaning. The YouTube video includes lots of cheesy stock images of love, and I also included the BBC Sessions performance that features a jaw-dropping guitar solo by Jimmy Page.

Also, since Peter Margasak pointed out in the office last week that a 12 O’Clock Track I wrote up two weeks ago didn’t feature any label information or links to the band’s website, for his sake I’ll point out that “Thank You” is on the album Led Zeppelin II, which was originally released in 1969 via Atlantic Records.