‘Rock of Ages’ is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart. Cash Box described it as a powerful rock anthem that "pulls out just about every 'Long live rock ‘n’ roll' cliche there is."
The song begins with "Gunter glieben glauten globen", a German-like nonsense phrase introduced by Mutt Lange, who is of German descent. According to the official Def Leppard FAQ - What does "Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen" mean? Nothing in particular (although the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently"). It's gibberish said by producer Mutt Lange during the recordings of ‘Rock of Ages’, instead of the regular one, two, three, four. (That same count-in was sampled by The Offspring at the beginning of their 1998 song ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’.
According to the liner notes of the compilation release Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, the band was at a recording studio when lead vocalist Joe Elliott stumbled upon a hymn book left by a member of a children's choir that had just used the studio. In the book, he saw the words "Rock of Ages", which prompted him to write the lyrics of the song. Written to excite stadium-sized crowds, in a Songfacts interview with lead singer Joe Elliott, he called this song a "call to arms." It was released as the second single from the Pyromania album, following ‘Photograph,’ which was also a big, rousing anthem.
In an interview with the magazine Kaos 2000, lead singer Joe Elliott talked about what influenced this song. Said Elliott: "We'd have never written 'Rock of Ages' if we hadn't have heard 'I Love Rock And Roll' by Joan Jett. But we didn't steal her entire sound. We took that one song and thought, 'This is very anthemic. We could get away with writing songs of this standard and style.' And that's what we did. It doesn't particularly sound that much like her, the chorus a bit. The actual structure of the song is nothing alike." In 2012, the band re-recorded the song, along with ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, under the title ‘Rock of Ages 2012’. Both were released digitally on 4 June 2012.
Labels – Mercury (US), Vertigo (UK)
Songwriters – Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer – Robert John "Mutt" Lange
SONG LYRICS
[Spoken Intro: Robert "Mutt" Lange]Gunter glieben glauchen globen
[Intro]
Hm hm hm, tsk, tsk, tsk
All right, yeah
I got something to say
Yeah, it's better to burn out
Yeah, than fade away
All right
Ow
Gonna start a fire
C'mon
[Verse 1]
Rise up, gather round
Rock this place to the ground
Burn it up, let's go for broke
Watch the night go up in smoke
[Verse 2]
Rock on (Rock on)
Drive me crazier
No serenade, no fire brigade
Just the pyromania, come on
[Pre-Chorus]
(What do ya want?) What do ya want?
(I want rock 'n' roll) Yes, I do
(Long live rock 'n' roll)
[Verse 3]
Oh, let's go let's strike a light
We're gonna blow like dynamite
I don't care if it takes all night
Gonna set this town alight, c'mon
[Pre-Chorus]
(What do ya want?) What do ya want?
(I want rock 'n' roll) All right
(Long live rock 'n' roll) Oh, yeah, yeah
[Chorus]
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', rock 'n' rollin'
[Bridge 1]
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it
And if you need it say yeah (Yeah!)
Oh, yeah, heh heh heh heh
Now listen to me
[Verse 4]
I'm burnin', burnin', I got the fever
I know for sure, there ain't no cure
So feel it, don't fight it, go with the flow
And gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme one more for the road, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
(What do ya want?) What do ya want?
(I want rock 'n' roll) You betcha
(Long live rock 'n' roll) Now hit it
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', rock 'n' rollin'
[Bridge 2]
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it
And if you need it say yeah (Yeah!)
Say yeah (Yeah!)
[Outro]
We're gonna burn this damn place down, woo-hoo
Down to the ground
Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh