“Bron Yr Aur Stomp”, by Led Zeppelin. Live at Earls Court, 1975.
It’s pronounced “Brawn Er Eyer”. The lyrics concern Robert Plant talking about the joys of taking a walk with his herding dog, named Strider.
Known as the music result of they being together for weeks, alone, in the middle of nowhere, only Strider around.
Well nobody apart from Maureen and Carmen Jane Plant, Charlotte Martin, Sandy MacGreggor, and Clive Coulson. Though they did go off with guitars and sometimes a tape recorder, and Robert had to carry Strider over fences apparently. And then Maureen and Charlotte went away and who knows but them.
However this song isn’t about strider - unless Robert was fucking his dog and understandably didn’t want anyone to ‘find us this way’ - see the original lyrics in LZ by LZ book.
Here’s the lyrics:
“Ah, I caught you smilin' at me, that's the way it should be
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine
Ah, all the good times we had, I sung love songs so glad
Always smilin', never sad, so fine
As we walk down the country lanes
I'll be singin' a song, you hear me callin' your name
Hear the wind whisper in the trees
Tellin' Mother Nature 'bout you and me
Well, if the sun shines so bright, or our way is dark as night
The road we choose is always right, so fine
Ah, could any love be so strong when so many loves go wrong
Will our love go on and on and on and on and on and on?
As we walk down the country lanes
I'm singin' a song, hear me callin' your name
Hear the wind whisper in the trees
Tellin' Mother Nature 'bout a-you and me
My, my, law-de-law, come on, now, it ain't too far
Tell your friends all around the world
Ain't no companion like a blue-eyed Merle
Come on, now, well, let me tell ya
What you're missin', messin' around them brick walls
So, of one thing I am sure, it's a friendship so pure
Angels singin' all 'round my door, so fine
Yeah, ain't but one thing to do, spend my natural life with you
You're the finest dog I knew, so fine
When you're old and your eyes are dim
There ain't no 'Old Shep' gonna happen again
We'll still go walkin' down country lanes
I'll sing the same old song, hear me call your name.
Strider!”
When he said “ain’t no companion like a blue eyed Merle”, that’s a sheep dog. He’s talking about walking around the woods and fields with a happy dog. (I have a sheep dog, by the way).
This is my dog, Roux.
His color pattern is called “Red-Tri”
And this my Mom and I with our dogs, Sunni, Billy, and Roux. Sunni is in front.
Her color pattern is called a “Blue Merle”
Billy is a “black-tri”, and Roux is a “Red-Tri”
The key here is that Robert definitely says “Blue Eyed MERLE” not “girl”. Cattle dogs and sheep dogs often have these striking bright blue eyes. The “merle” coloring is when they kind of have splotches of color spots.
