Reviews for No quarter Lyrics

when i listen to this song i imagine riding a black horse with armor and and a dark cloack over it through the snow. i can even start to imagine the way the cold hurts your lungs. but then i open my eyes and im sitting on a couch in a smokey basement

It's so great to see that we are here talking about this song wich was wrote long ago. The lyrics are still meaningful. But more than that, they're just a reflection of something that was without being precise. Wich makes it lives on through the ages. This song rocks so much. I can listen it on and on again stoned in my basement.Peace

Many bands of this era where under intense scrutiny from the CIA because of their opposition to the VIetNam War. Most Bands of this generation played the war, lyrically anyway, very straight forward. And those bands got harassed by the government for doing so. Zep protested too but was a notch above everybody else and took a much more sophisticated approach with their lyrics and Page's use of mythology under scores this idea and allowed him to write freely without government interference. .

Although they were watched by the CIA, the gov't couldn't directly interfere much with the touring of Zep because their songs didn't provoke the outrage that the Doors, CSN and Jackson Brownes did just to name a few. Many of the Doors concerts were shut down by the CIA/FEDS because of the protests that followed the shows. These band were in the face of the Government all the time with their lyrics and got crap from the CIA for doing it. Zep was just as involved with the protests as everyone else ... but Zep was so talented, almost too much for their own good as they brought the War protest up to a higher, more sophisticated. try listening to their music with this in mind and see how Zep matches up with the War that they were living through...

Lord of the Rings....?

I know they used material from LotR books before they became movies. When I listen to the song, No Quarter, it reminds me of the part in the LotR movie when they traveled the unused passage through the mountains.... snow fall, a path no one goes.... no quarter....step by step.... carry a message... for me and you... evil verse good...extra.

tool is one of the best bands of our time, ppl say they are the led zeppelin of our time and u guys wanna talk shit on tool r u serious...tool made an excellent cover to "no quarter" but they didnt even copy the lyrics they made their own version so all these ppl talkin shit on tool can get fucked y dont u go buy a couple tool cds and listen to them actually and stop talkin shit about band u have no idea the first thing about them or their music

dude, Tool may not be as good as Led Zeppelin but the way I see it, they make theyre music mean something real. They give us options in how to live our life. their song "Lateralus" is the best example. i dont hear anyone else making songs as intricate and meaningful as this. This did not make any relations to "No Quarter" but i just thought it should be heard.

I see this as amalgamous with the epic Beowulf, The 13th Warrior story,or the Gothic tale of Berik. It's about strife and especially about strife caused by conflict.


I envision a Scandinavian mother soothing her daughter who awaits word of or the return of a beloved peer escaping a siege to bring news of their burg's perilous state to a neighboring lord. To hold no quarter means that they have no welcome or expectation of shelter enroute,at their destination or especially if they are captured.

The lyrics have another message as most LZ songs do.
It tells me of the immense courage that people have to have had in the days before the modern era. In an age before electronics or even couriers a community's survival may have depended upon a patrol or single person to get a message through for help. In a provincial or citystate dominion all neighbors may have been hostile. So even the outcome of a successful mission could be in doubt. The messenger[s] would have to be a diplomat or bearer of gratuitous gifts[bribes]. It is logical that such desperation would have the impetus for many alliances, exchange of lands or arrainged marriages. Likely a suitor or impromptu bride and escort would have been such a messenger. An army in siege should have all roads, footpaths and even game trails scouted, patrolled or guarded so the messenger[s] would have to resort to a mountain route where 'no one goes'. Many a Grendel or countless other denizens of those lands might make a meal of the messenger[s]. In the land of ice and snow exposure is as much a hazard as any. Maybe the funkadelic guitar solo is portraying the warped mind of someone suffering from hypothermia. Then again maybe it was Page's use of Psychtropics. Either way it's a trippin tune.

This song is about lost hopes also. The messengers have little or no hope to deliver the message, to return or to contact those they left behind who may already be lost. Those they left have no hope for relief or reunion.

plain and simple...this song is about the viking invasions on the british isles in the late dark ages. although there are one or two similarities between this song and the works of tolkien, if one studies the history of britain in this period, the meaning of this song will become clear. this is not the only song by led zep that reffers to the quests of the viking, take immigrant song for example. it explains the preparation of the natives of britain against the invading vikings and the conditions they had to face.

another amazing song by led zep that has gone unnoticed by many people.

so i believe this song is mostly about Nordic mythology, simply because Robert Plant makes specific references to the "dogs of doom," which would be the Fenris Wolf, a terrible and destructive creature which was bound until Ragnorak, or the Day of Doom. The winds of Thor (Thor=Norse god) most likely refers to the three winters preceding Ragnorak, one of which was named the "Winter of Winds." The second set of winters was called "Winter of the Sword," in which any norsemen that had survived the first winter turned on each other and fought violently, even for Vikings. They fought for the small amount of food and supplies that was left, and they were even more savage than they had been before the winters had arrived. When they saw signs that Ragnorak was upon them, they grew more and more hopeless because their fate had already been foretold and they knew that they wouldn't survive.

Interesting reading other interpretations of the lyrics,

I understand Robert Plant had a big interest in Nordic mythology and that seems to feature hugely in the content.

The Vikings were renowned for their merciless raiding (pillaging) all along the north west of England and Scotland and it may be that the opening lines are advisory either against the coming raiders, or coming from the raiders home, as for 'They carry news that must get through', perhaps Mr Plant would read this and fill us in...? BUT Perhaps the news is of an impending raid of Vikings and the news needs to be carried to a village area about to be raided?

Weather in the north of England and OR Scandinavia would account for the snow references, perhaps warning not to go out as it you won’t come back AND if they (the Vikings) caught you they’d offer ‘no quarter’. No Quarter simply means no mercy as in ‘no quarter asked, no quarter given’ which was much the warring attitude of the raiding Vikings who I doubt took any prisoners!

No references to Tolkien here, see Ramble on for references to The Hobbit…

Fabulous song and as good as Led Zeppelin got IMHO.

Well, it seems a lot of people have their opinions on what the lyrics 'mean', and I don't know what it was intended to be, but it is basically whatever you want the lyrics to mean, in general terms, it appears to be about an army departed from their country/region (Close the door, put out the light) refers to their departure, and how they will not return, at least not for a while. They hold no quarter (give no mercy) and ask no quarter (do not beg for mercy), walking side by side with death means that death seems to "follow them", as their men are dropping like flies. The devil mocks their every step BECAUSE the men are dropping like flies. The snow drives back the foot that is slow...they have grown weary, and are dragging their feet...in snow a foot or so deep, the snow drives the foot back. They do this to "carry news that must get through, to build a dream for me and you".

So I see it as a general army, likely norse, none in specific, obviously because of the Thor reference, and the fact that they are marching through snow.

Well, it seems a lot of people have their opinions on what the lyrics 'mean', and I don't know what it was intended to be, but it is basically whatever you want the lyrics to mean, in general terms, it appears to be about an army departed from their country/region (Close the door, put out the light) refers to their departure, and how they will not return, at least not for a while. They hold no quarter (give no mercy) and ask no quarter (do not beg for mercy), walking side by side with death means that death seems to "follow them", as their men are dropping like flies. The devil mocks their every step BECAUSE the men are dropping like flies. The snow drives back the foot that is slow...they have grown weary, and are dragging their feet...in snow a foot or so deep, the snow drives the foot back. They do this to "carry news that must get through, to build a dream for me and you".

So I see it as a general army, likely norse, none in specific, obviously because of the Thor reference, and the fact that they are marching through snow.

I Believe the song is about a norse army departed, not returning soon, who needs to deliver news (that must get through), and although they are faced with challenges, death walking side by side with them gives the idea that there are many deaths amongst them, and the survivors grow weary, hence the 'snow drives back the foot that's slow', in all of this they show no mercy, and ask for no mercy.

I would believe that it were something to do with tolkien, but the Zeus reference is obvious Norse mythology, also the fact that it is in a snowy setting. (never read a tolkien book based entirely on a snowy environment)

This song obviously portrays the lost souls of evermore. they are trapped beings within their tortured state of mind. It was then tranversed into lyrical matter to operate in the same way those minds were seduced. Think about it... its SO obvious. DOI DOI

The song is about the struggle and commitment of a messenger to get his message through. No matter what, even if he is faced with the devil (just like jesus was confronted with temptation during his forty days is the desert).
If you actually look at the song it is about struggle and the unwillingness to compromise the conviction of the mission that the messenger was given.

(by the way i am not religious at all, but just think about it)