Robert Plant was howling about something specific, but honestly, even in 1969, nobody was entirely sure if it was a heartbreak or a literal earthquake. Led Zeppelin II dropped like a tonal bomb during a year when rock was moving from "Love Me Do" toward something much darker and heavier. When you look at the What Is and What Should Never Be lyrics, you aren't just reading a poem. You’re looking at a blueprint for the psychedelic transition of the late sixties. It’s a weird, shifting narrative. One minute he’s talking about catching a train, and the next, the wind is crying and the walls are shaking.
It feels like a fever dream. That’s because it basically was.
The Story Behind the Song
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote this while staying at a cottage in Wales called Bron-Yr-Aur, though the heavy lifting for this particular track happened during their frantic 1969 tour schedules. The song is famously one of the first where Plant received a writing credit. Before this, he was mostly interpreting blues standards or adding his flair to Page’s structures. Here, he got personal.
Most people don't realize that the What Is and What Should Never Be lyrics are widely believed to be about Plant’s relationship with his wife’s sister. Yeah. It’s messy. When he sings about "the wind won't blow" and "leaves are falling," he isn't just talking about the weather in the English countryside. He’s talking about a forbidden romance, a secret kept in the shadows, and the tension of a relationship that "should never be."
The contrast is what makes it work. You have these very soft, jazzy verses where the vocals are panned hard left and right, creating a disorienting stereo effect. Then, the chorus hits like a freight train. It’s loud. It’s aggressive. It mirrors the internal chaos of a person trying to justify something they know might blow up their entire life.
Breaking Down the What Is and What Should Never Be Lyrics
If you actually sit down and read the lines, the imagery is surprisingly vivid for a song that sounds so "floaty."
And if I say to you tomorrow...
Take my hand, child, come with me...
It starts as an invitation. He’s asking someone to step into his world, a world where the sun shines through the mist. It sounds idyllic. But look at the title again. It’s a binary. There is "what is"—the reality of his marriage and his fame—and "what should never be"—this other, secret path.
The middle section of the song gets even more frantic. "Catch a wheel that’s turning," he says. It’s the wheel of fortune, maybe, or just the feeling that things are spinning out of control. When the slide guitar kicks in during the bridge, it mimics the high-pitched anxiety of a secret about to be revealed. It’s one of Jimmy Page’s most underrated performances because it isn’t about speed; it’s about mood.
The Production Weirdness
Recording this wasn't easy. Eddie Kramer, the legendary engineer who worked with Hendrix, used a lot of "phasing" on the vocals. That’s why Robert Plant sounds like he’s underwater or singing through a rotating fan.
In the late sixties, this was cutting-edge tech. They were pushing the limits of what a four-track or eight-track recorder could do. If you listen with headphones, you can hear the vocals physically moving across your brain. It reinforces the theme of the lyrics: nothing is stable. Everything is shifting. One moment you're in a calm meadow, the next you're in a sonic thunderstorm.
Why the Song Still Ranks
Critics in 1969 weren't always kind to Zeppelin. Rolling Stone famously gave their early albums lukewarm reviews, calling them derivative. But time is a funny thing. The What Is and What Should Never Be lyrics have outlasted the critics because they tap into a universal human experience—the desire for something you can’t have.
It isn't a "baby, baby" blues track. It’s a psychological profile.
Musicologists often point to this track as the bridge between the blues-rock of the first album and the "light and shade" philosophy Page wanted for the band. You can't have the heavy without the soft. You can't have the "what should never be" without the "what is."
A Quick Look at the Key Phrases
- "The wind won't blow": Stagnation. A feeling of being trapped in a current life.
- "The trees will tap their arms": Nature itself is watching. There is no privacy in a small town or a big band.
- "Happily ever after": A sarcastic nod to the fairy tale he knows he's breaking.
Fact-Checking the Folklore
There’s a lot of nonsense online about this song. Some people think it’s about LSD. Others think it’s about The Lord of the Rings, like "Ramble On." Honestly? There’s zero evidence for the Tolkien connection in this specific track. Unlike "Battle of Evermore," there are no Orcs here.
This is a song about humans. It’s a song about a guy who traveled the world, saw everything, and realized that his most complicated problems were still waiting for him at home.
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Actionable Takeaways for Songwriters and Fans
If you're trying to analyze these lyrics for your own writing or just to understand the Zep catalog better, keep these points in mind:
- Use Contrast: Don't just make a song loud. Make it quiet first. The "what is" needs the "what should never be" to mean anything.
- Listen to the Stereo Mix: If you haven't heard the 2014 remaster by Jimmy Page, do it. The vocal panning in the verses is much clearer and shows how the lyrics were meant to be felt, not just heard.
- Context Matters: Read up on Plant’s life in 1968 and 1969. The tension in his voice isn't acting; he was a young man thrust into global superstardom while trying to maintain a private life that was rapidly fracturing.
- Vocal Phasing: If you're a producer, study how Eddie Kramer used the "flanging" effect on Plant’s voice during the "catch a wheel" line. It’s a masterclass in using tech to enhance a lyric's meaning.
The power of this song isn't just in the riff. It’s in the honesty of the confusion. It’s a rare moment where a rock god admitted he didn't have the answers. He was just caught between two versions of himself, wondering which one would survive the night.
To truly appreciate the track, put on a pair of high-quality open-back headphones, sit in a dark room, and pay attention to the moment the drums kick in after the first verse. It’s the sound of a choice being made.