"stairway to heaven": a tunisian ode to rock’s eternal flame
In the heart of the mediterranean where the whispers of ancient carthage mingle with the rhythms of the sahara rock music often feels like a distant storm a thunderous echo from across the sea yet led zeppelin’s “stairway to heaven” transcends geography time and language for me a tunisian raised on the poetry of aboulkacem echebbi and the hypnotic strings of the oud this song is not just rock – it is a zajal (folk poem) of the soul a bridge between worlds.

Robert plant’s voice rises like a muezzin’s call not from a minaret but from a primitive temple of sound jimmy page’s guitar begins quietly a desert wind whipping through olive groves then erupts into a sandstorm of riffs that echo the raw power of our own folk rhythm the song’s progression from folky melancholy to volcanic crescendo reflects tunisia’s own journey: a land of quiet resilience that erupts time and again in revolutions of the soul.

The lyrics ,veiled in mysticism longing for a “lady we all know who shines white light” ,resonate with sufi yearning in tunis where the old medina’s labyrinthine alleys hide secrets and saints’ tombs the quest for meaning in "stairway" feels familiar it is a hadra (spiritual trance) set to distortion and drums .

Some here would disdain rock as "western noise" but art knows no boundaries when page’s solo pierces the sky i hear the shriek of the ney flute in a sidi bou saïd courtyard when bonham’s drums thunder i sense the heartbeat of the darbuka in a douz wedding this song like tunisia is a mosaic ,of influences contrasts and beauty created in fire.

To call "stairway to heaven" mere “music” is to call the colosseum of el jem mere “stones” it is a pilgrimage a prayer proof that even in a world fractured by deserts and oceans sound can unite us .

imagined by a tunisian listener weaving rock’s legacy into the tapestry of maghrebi soul*

[Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (Official Audio)]