Rock of Ages (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Rock of Ages


Artist = Def Leppard
from Album = Pyromania
B-side =
Released = 1983
Format = 7"
Recorded = 1982
Park Gates Studios
Battle, Sussex, England
Battery Studios
London, England
Genre = Hard rock, Heavy Metal
Length = 4:09
Label = Mercury
Writer = Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer = Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Certification =
Chart position =

• #33 (Mainstream Rock Charts)
  Last single = "Photograph"
  (1983)
  This single = "Rock of Ages"
  (1983)
  Next single = "Foolin'"
  (1983)"Rock of Ages" is a popular hard rock song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album "Pyromania". It takes its name from the hymn Rock of Ages. When released as a single, the song reached #1 on Mainstream Rock and #16 on the Pop Singles charts.

  It begins with a German-like nonsense phrase, “Gunter glieben glauten globen”, which was later sampled in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring and "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" by Puffy AmiYumi and also "Rape of ages" by The Mentors.fact|date=June 2008 According to the official Def Leppard FAQ,

  These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean nothing in particular though, the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently". It's gibberish, said by producer Mutt Lange during the recordings of the song, instead of the regular one, two, three, four.fact|date=June 2008

  The song proceeds to reference "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" by Neil Young with the lyrics "It's better to burn out/Than to fade away."Fact|date=June 2008

  The album's title is mentioned in this song, "Drive me crazier; no serenade, no fire brigade, just a "pyromania" leading to the song sometimes being mistitled as "Pyromania" mainly on peer 2 peer file sharing networks.

  According to the liner notes of the compilation release "", 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.

  This song, along with a modified "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph", are on the 2007 movie "Balls of Fury".

  In the film "Highlander", the opening lyrics -- "I got something to say, it's better to burn out than fade away" -- are recited by the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) following a verbal confrontation with Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert).

  The song is also featured in the downloadable "Def Leppard Pack" for the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

  Music video

  The music video was directed by David Mallet [ [http://www.deflepparduk.com/defvideo2.html Def Video 2 Pyromania 1983/High 'n' Dry 1984] , Def Leppard UK.com] and shot on 8 December 1982 (Guitarist Phil Collen's 25th birthday), in Battersea, London, England.

  Former Def Leppard co-manager Peter Mensch appears in this video as one of the monks.

  Track listing

  12": Vertigo / VERX6 (812 293-1) (UK)

  # "Rock Of Ages"
  # "Action! Not Words"

  External links

  * [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1151 Songfacts.com on Rock of Ages]

  Notes