Immigrant Song

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying:
Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green,
Can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war.
We are your overlords.
On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day
Despite of all your losing.



- Released November 5, 1970

- The song is famous for its distinctive, wailing cry from vocalist Robert Plant at the beginning of the song.

- There is a very faint count-off the beginning of the track with lots of hiss which appears on the album version, but is trimmed from the single version. The hiss is feedback from an echo unit.

- The song was written during Led Zeppelin's tour of Iceland in June 1970.

- The song is dedicated to the Icelander Leif Ericson, and is sung from the perspective of Vikings rowing west from Scandinavia in search of new lands. The lyrics make explicit reference to Viking conquests and the Old Norse religion

- It is one of the band's few single releases, having been released in November 1970 by their record label, Atlantic Records, against the band's wishes. It reached #16 on the Billboard charts.

- To get permission to use this song in the movie School Of Rock, the star of the movie, Jack Black, videotaped himself singing in front of a huge crowd of people, begging for Led Zeppelin to let them use the song in the movie. They succeeded. Reference

- The Minnesota Vikings play this song during their team introductions and before kickoffs.