The Led Zeppelin song inspired by the FIFA World Cup
One key aspect of the success of Led Zeppelin was their willingness to explore new areas. Whilst they might have been greatly indebted to the blues legends of the past and the rock ‘n’ roll pioneers of their childhood, their invention and desire to do something refreshing opened many doors. In addition to their collective skill, this resourcefulness proved to be a trusted tool and set the standard for other groups moving forward.
The band set out to make rock more expansive than it had been in the 1960s, which they achieved with distinction. In their 12 years of operations, they pioneered heavy metal, established a glorious take on folk rock, and provided many other technically astounding moments that cemented a highly influential legacy.
The band took inspiration from everywhere, from mythologies to personal experiences, with one of their later tracks actually inspired by the FIFA World Cup. As fans are aware, the group have long been tied to the beautiful game, as frontman Robert Plant is one of the most prominent fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and even became a club vice president in 2009.
It makes sense that the band’s love of football would make it into their music at some point, as it also happened for peers Pink Floyd. This manifested in the song ‘Fool in the Rain’, from their eighth and final album, 1979’s In Through the Out Door. The track is about a man who is supposed to meet a woman on a corner. However, when she doesn’t show, he thinks he’s been stood up. It is eventually revealed that he was at the wrong corner, making him the “fool in the rain”.
Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones were inspired to write the song by the samba beats that were played during the 1978 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in Argentina. In the book Led Zeppelin: From a Whisper to a Scream, biographer Dave Lewis states: “Thus the idea emerged to layer on their own samba halfway through the hop-skip riff arrangement. Crazed as it sounds, it works beautifully right through JP’s [Jones] street whistles to Bonzo’s [drummer Bonham] delightfully constructed timpani crashes.”
Despite the upbeat essence of the song, it was never performed live, as Led Zeppelin didn’t think they pulled their original idea off. It was also the last single the quartet released as a single in the US before disbanding following the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980.
Listen to ‘Fool in the Rain’ below.
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