You said I was the only, With my lemon in your hand
Exhibition is your habit, Emotion second hand.
Had to pull away to save me, Maybe next time around
And she said, 'don't you want it?
Don't you want cocaine-cocaine-cocaine
Hadn't planned to, could not stand to try it, fry it, na na na yeah.
Heard a cry for mercy, In the city of the damned
Oh oh babe, damned. Down in the pits you go no lower
The next stop's underground. Oh, hello underground.
Wine and roses ain't quite over, fate deals a losing hand
And I said: didn't mean to... did not mean to fail
You didn't plan it, you over-ran it
You wanna do it, you wanna
You wanna do it when you wanna
You wanna do it, do it when you wanna
When you blow it, babe, You got to blow it right
Oh baby, if you fake it, mama, Baby, fake with all your might
When you fake it, mama, Please fake it right (for yourself babe)
When you fake it baby,
You're fakin' it for your life, for your life, for your life, for your life
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, Do it when you wanna
Do it, do it, do it, Do it when you wanna
Oh, I can have you, baby, But I don't know what to do, yeah
Sometime, baby, nothin' I could do
On the balance of a crystal, Payin' through the nose
And when they couldn't resist you, I thought you'd go with the flow.
And now your stage is empty, bring down the curtain, baby please.
Fold up your show
Hadn't planned to, Could not stand to fry in it
Hadn't planned it, I over-ran it, (fryin)
For your life, For your life.
For your life by Led Zeppelin
Well, well
Oh, oh, oh
You said I was the only,
With the lemon in your head, oh oh, oh oh
Exhibition is your habit
Emotions second hand, oh oh, oh oh
Had to pull away to save me
Maybe next time around, ohhh
And she said, don't you wannit
Don't you want, don't you want coca-coca-cocaine
Hadn't planned to, could not stand to
Try it, friend, na na na na, yeah
Whoo ooh ooh ooh
Heard a cry for mercy
In the city of the damned
Oh oh babe, damned
Impossible to go lower
The next stop's on the ground
Hoh, low on the ground
You want to know is it quite over
To fame and tears and losing hair
And I said didn't mean to, did not mean to f-fail
You didn't plan it, you overran it, ahhhhhhhhhh
Do you wanna do it, do you wanna
Do you wanna, d-d-do it when you wanna
Do you wanna do it, do you wanna
Do you wanna, d-d-do it when you wanna
When you blow it, babe
You got to blow it right
Oh baby, if you fake it, mama
Baby, fake with all your might
When you fake it, mama
Please fake it right, for yourself, babe
Will you fake it, baby
You're fakin' it for your life
For your life
For your life
For your life
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it
Do it when you wanna
Do it, do it, do it, do it
Do it when you wanna
(Guitar Solo)
Oh, I can have you, baby
But I don't know what to do, yeah
Sometime, baby, nothin' I could do, yeah
Wanna find myself a crystal
Payin' through the nose
And when they couldn't resist you
I said Just go with the flow
And now your stage is empty
and now the curtain, baby please
Fold up your show-oh-ohh
Hadn't planned to
Could not stand to, fryin' yeah
Hadn't planned it
I over ran in, fryin'
For your life
For your lifeLed Zeppelin Lyrics Index
Year: 1976
Working much of the same lyrical territory as “Sick Again,” the sticky, sweaty, sleazy, stomping “For Your Life” is one of the those songs that chronicles the backstage excess that made Hammer of The Gods such a salacious success.
With Robert Plant alternating between resisting temptation and succumbing to temptation, knowing full well the risks he was taking, “For Your Life” utterly captured the those moments where you know you shouldn’t be doing any more drugs or having any more sex . . . but you keep thinking maybe you should.
I mean, the song starts out with his, ahem, lemon in her hand while he’s eyeing the exits, so she then doubles down:
And she said, don’t you want to?
Don’t you want cocaine, cocaine, cocaine?
Hadn’t planned to, could not stand to try it, fry it
I’ll note that the lyrics I found online had this as “cook it,” not “cocaine,” but c’mon. I’ve been hearing it as “cocaine” since “For Your Life” completely bowled me over on the box set. (Of course, I’d owned Presence since 1982, but it took that long for this song to get me.)
Of course, it wasn’t the lyrics of “For Your Life” that got me, it was the music. Quite possibly their greatest funk song, the riff that powers the verses of “For Your Life” is tricky and straightforward at the same time, with John Bonham and John Paul Jones so locked in you couldn’t separate them with a laser, and Page slashing at his guitar with his whammy bar to add an extra layer of dirt and grime.
It’s all a perfect setting for Robert Plant to moan and gurgle and snort and stutter until he makes his decision on the bridge. I guess it’s the bridge. Could be the chorus. Either way, all of a sudden, Jimmy Page his a chord that suspends the universe long enough for Bonham to turn the beat entirely around, Page follows up by unleashing a torrent of crystalline notes that sound like they could be redemption, but are probably just another devil’s trick.
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it
Do it when you wanna
Do it, do it, do it
Do it when you wanna
Staying at just a skosh below mid-tempo, “For Your Life” doesn’t so much play out as unfold, each riff, solo, modulation and rhythmic flourish — Jimmy Page’s extra chickenscratch guitar on the last verse (when Plant is snorting) — just adding to the sense of being locked into a moment of space in time that could fuck with the future.
They never played this in their original incarnation: the only Presence songs that ever made those setlists were “Achilles Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” but they did pull it out for the 2007 reunion show, and the combination of surprise as well as how much fun they were clearly having revisiting a time and place they were lucky to escape from (Bonzo sadly excepted, of course), it’s easily my favorite thing from Celebration Day.
“For Your Life”
“For Your Life” performed live in 2007
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