1975 · Behind the Songs
Eight and a half minutes of ascending riff and orchestra — rock’s grandest journey.
“Kashmir” is the towering centerpiece of Physical Graffiti, the double album Led Zeppelin released in February 1975. Written by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham, it was built on a riff Page devised in DADGAD tuning and recorded in 1974 at Headley Grange in Hampshire.
Running 8:37, the track pairs the band with orchestral strings and brass arranged by John Paul Jones — the grandest sound the band ever attempted. Plant’s lyrics were inspired by a 1973 drive through the deserts of southern Morocco, though the song is titled for Kashmir, a place he had never visited. It was never released as a single, yet it became a permanent live centerpiece, and Page has called it one of his proudest achievements.
What to listen for: the endlessly ascending riff grinding against Bonham’s drums, and the moment the orchestra enters and the song becomes something bigger than rock.