Turn Me On, Dead Man

"The Lemon Song," included on the 1969 album Led Zeppelin II, is another of Led Zeppelin's homages to the blues. On these sorts of tracks, Robert Plant was never content to take lyrics from just one source, but for the most part, "The Lemon Song" draws on Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor." On Led Zeppelin's first American tour in 1969 they regularly included "Killing Floor" in their sets, but after that they performed the song as "The Lemon Song" and recorded it under that title for Led Zeppelin II with songwriting credits given to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. [1]The first, second and fourth verses of "The Lemon Song," however, are clearly recognizable from Howlin' Wolf's original song. Howlin' Wolf's lyrics are as follows:

I shoulda quit you a long time ago
I shoulda quit you, babe, long time ago
I shoulda quit you and went on to Mexico

If I hada followed my first mind
If I hada followed my first mind
I'da been gone, since my second time

I shoulda went on when my friend come from Mexico at me
I shoulda went on when my friend come from Mexico at me
But no foolin' with ya, babe, I let ya put me on the killin' floor

Lord knows I shoulda been gone
Lord knows I shoulda been gone
And I wouldn'ta been here down on the killin' floor

In 1972, ARC music sued Led Zeppelin, claiming that they had plagiarized Howlin' Wolf and a settlement was reached out of court. Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf's real name) is now given songwriting credit for "The Lemon Song". [2]

Some of Robert Plant's lyrics for "The Lemon Song" are not from "Killing Floor," but rather from other classic blues songs. The phrase "you take my money, give it to another man" could have been taken from "Black Eye Blues" by Ma Rainey. Then, of course, is Robert Johnson's lemon phallic reference from his 1937 song "Traveling Riverside Blues," which became one of Robert Plant's signature lyrics:

Squeeze me, babe, 'till the juice runs down my leg
Squeeze, squeeze me, baby, until the juice runs down my leg
The way you squeeze my lemon
I'm gonna fall right outta bed

Plant often inserted these lines into other songs during live performances. On BBC Sessions, Robert Plant used them in "How Many More Times" and "Communication Breakdown", and Dave Lewis points out that he often included this in the "Whole Lotta Love" medley during live shows. [3]In an earlier version of this page I had argued that Robert Johnson should be credited for "The Lemon Song," but I no longer hold that view. First, Robert Johnson was not the first to use a lemon as a sexual image in his music. In the 1929 song "I Want It Awful Bad," Joe Williams had included the lines "You squeezed my lemon/Caused my juice to run," and Roosevelt Sykes used similar imagery in his 1937 song "She Squeezed My Lemon." Second, Led Zeppelin did provide an acknowledgement of sorts for Robert Johnson. They performed "Traveling Riverside Blues" as part of their live repertoire, and it is included on BBC Sessions, the first box set, and as a bonus track on the version of Coda included in The Complete Studio Recordings. Led Zeppelin's version of "Traveling Riverside Blues" includes substantial original contributions from Led Zeppelin and the songwriting credits are properly listed as "Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Robert Johnson." Third, Robert Plant changed Robert Johnson's in a significant way. Robert Johnson's lyrics from "Traveling Riverside Blues" are as follows:

Now you can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my...
spoken: 'Til the juice run down my leg, baby, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
You can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my leg
spoken: That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, now
But I'm goin' back to Friars Point, if I be rockin' to my head

The reference to falling out of bed comes instead from "Stop Messin' Round" from Fleetwood Mac's 1968 album Mr. Wonderful.

I want you to squeeze a me, baby, 'til my face turns cherry red
You roll me so hard, baby, I'm fallin' out of bed, now

Led Zeppelin were clearly fans of Fleetwood Mac, particularly when that band was primarily a blues band under the leadership of Peter Green. Fleetwood Mac's influence played a role not only in "The Lemon Song," but in "Rock and Roll" and "Black Dog" as well.

Other influences are evident in "The Lemon Song" as well, which are worth mentioning even if they don't warrant changing the songwriting credits. Dave Lewis points out that the arrangement of "The Lemon Song" is similar to Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", a song Robert Plant often performed with the Honeydrippers after his days with Led Zeppelin. Another influence that's interesting to note is the Electric Flag, who included a version of "Killing Floor" on their debut album "A Long Time Comin'," which was released in 1968. Though the Electric Flag stayed true to Howlin' Wolf's lyrics, their version of the song opens with a brief segment of Lyndon Johnson's "And We Shall Overcome" address to Congress in 1965. The Electric Flag then interrupt Johnson's oratory with laughter before the music commences. Though this introduction is brief, its effect is to change the meaning of the song entirely. A "killing floor" in classic blues lyrics referred to a slaughterhouse. On a literal level, many black migrants from the South found jobs in slaughterhouses working on the killing floor. This image was incorporated into blues songs as having hit rock bottom, particularly in the context of a difficult relationship with a woman. [4]By introducing the track in such a satirical way, the Electric Flag alter the meaning of the killing floor. In the Electric Flag's version of the song, the killing floor becomes the Vietnam War and the urban unrest of the 1960s. Led Zeppelin didn't attempt this sort of commentary in their version of "Killing Floor" but they had clearly heard the Electric Flag's version of the song. Jimmy Page's guitar solo bears some similarity to the Electric Flag's solo and Robert Plant uses an Electric Flag variant of the lyrics. Where Howlin' Wolf referred to his "first mind" in the second verse of "Killing Floor," the Electric Flag sang,

If I hada listened to my second mind
You know I wouldn't be here now, people
Down on the killin' floor

Robert Plant followed these lyrics

I should have listened, baby, to my second mind Everytime I go away and leave ya, darlin' Send me the blues right down the line

To be fair, in "The Lemon Song" Led Zeppelin took a number of influences to produce something that was uniquely theirs. Still, they drew heavily enough on one source, Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," to be forced to change the songwriting credits under threat of legal action. In his scathingly negative review of Led Zeppelin II in Rolling Stone when the album was initially released in 1969, John Mendelsohn took exception to Led Zeppelin's blues posturing. Mendelsohn's review is laced with sarcasm and reveals a lot about why Led Zeppelin acquired such a bad reputation with the rock press, particularly with regard to the issue of plagiarism. To Mendelsohn, Led Zeppelin's heavy interpretation of the blues was a bastardization of a vaunted form. That Robert Plant's lyrics would quote so freely from the original sources while the instrumental parts had lost the essence of the original was grounds for ridicule to Mendelsohn. Plant later stated that he thought that Mendelsohn "was just a frustrated musician. Maybe I'm just flying on my own little ego ship, but sometimes people seem to resent talent." [5]The recent special edition of Q is kinder to Led Zeppelin about "The Lemon Song" stating, "'Forgetting' to credit [Howlin' Wolf] almost landed Zeppelin in court, but in truth the electrifying combination of Bonham's sledgehammer drums and Page's dazzling solo makes it entirely their own." [6]Had Led Zeppelin been better about citing their sources, they may not have met with such hostility from rock journalists in their early years and it may not have taken such a long time for the rock press to evaluate Led Zeppelin's music on its own terms.

Recommended Listening

		Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf/Maonin' in the Moonlight "Shake for Me" and "Back Door Man" were both included on the 1962 LP Howlin' Wolf, which is also referred to as the "Rocking Chair Album". This twofer pairs the "Rocking Chair Album" with Howlin' Wolf's 1959 LP Moanin' in the Moonlight.
		Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings
		Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign The album includes "Crosscut Saw", and it also includes "The Hunter", the lyrics of which played a prominent role in "How Many More Times" on Led Zeppelin I.
		Fleetwood Mac - Mr. Wonderful
		The Electric Flag - A Long Time Comin'
		Ma Rainey - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Compilations of Original Versions

"Killing Floor" by Howlin' Wolf is included on Led Astray, The Roots of Led Zeppelin and Zeppelin Classics. "Traveling Riverside Blues" by Robert Johnson is included on all of the compilations.