What is the longest Led Zeppelin song?

Jun 17, 2023

The musical impact of Led Zeppelin is a long-standing and powerful one. Pioneers of heavy rock in the 1970s, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, forged some of the most well-loved guitar tracks of all time – from the iconic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ to the punchy ‘Immigrant Song’.

Throughout their discography, the foursome demonstrated their capabilities both in short, striking songwriting and sustained, sprawling soundscapes. Some of their tracks are just as lengthy as their legacy – but which tracks are their longest studio recordings?

‘In the Light’ from the 1975 record Physical Graffiti takes fifth place with a runtime of eight minutes and 46 seconds. The song featured Page playing his guitar with a violin bow and a lengthy synth-based introduction from Jones. Due to the prevalence of the synth on the track, Led Zeppelin never played the song live.

Just behind ‘In the Light’, taking the title of the fourth longest Led Zeppelin song, is ‘Tea for One’. Forming the closing track to the band’s seventh studio album, Presence, in 1976, ‘Tea for One’ has a duration just short of ten minutes, coming in at nine minutes and 28 seconds. It’s a minor blues-infused song which Page wanted to feel “really laid-back”, as he stated in an interview with Trouser Press.

One of three Led Zeppelin songs to surpass ten minutes, ‘Achilles Last Stand’ comes in third place at ten minutes and 31 seconds. The song bookended Presence with ‘Tea for One’, opening the album with a monumental, mythological epic. Plant described the track as “us at our least charming, and most proficient – a Bonzo track where nobody could even believe a human could do it” in an interview with Mojo magazine.

‘Carouselambra’ takes the silver position, with just three seconds more than ‘Achilles Last Stand’. With a duration of ten minutes and 34 seconds, the song was written when the band were having difficulties, as Plant recalled to Mojo, “I thought parts of ‘Carouselambra’ were good, especially the darker dirges that Pagey developed. And I rue it so much now, because the lyrics on ‘Carouselambra’ were actually about that environment and that situation. The whole story of Led Zeppelin in its latter years is in that song… and I can’t hear the words!”

Though ‘Carouselambra’ may contain years of Led Zeppelin’s history, it doesn’t quite take the title for their longest song. That award goes to ‘In My Time of Dying’. Featuring on Physical Graffiti in 1975, the track boasted a duration of 11 minutes and eight seconds. A reworking of Blind Willie Johnson’s gospel blues song of the same name, the track was also recorded by Bob Dylan on his debut self-titled album, though it was nowhere near as sprawling as Led Zeppelin’s take.