"Rock of Ages" is a song by

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), ...

from their 1983 album ''

Pyromania Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'fi ...

''. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and #19 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart. In 2012, the band re-recorded the song, along with "

Pour Some Sugar on Me "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album '' Hysteria''. It reached number 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 23 July 1988, behind "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx. "Pour Some Sugar ...

", under the title "Rock of Ages 2012". Both were released digitally on 4 June 2012.

Lyrics

The song begins with "Gunter glieben glauten globen", a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-like nonsense phrase introduced by Mutt Lange, who is of German descent. According to the official Def Leppard , As the song's melody begins, Elliott speaks the lines, "All right/I've got something to say/It's better to burn out/Than to fade away"; the second two lines are a reference to

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

's song " Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue)". Def Leppard's four-line version was quoted in the 1986 movie ''

Highlander Highlander may refer to: Regional cultures * Gorals (lit. ''Highlanders''), a culture in southern Poland and northern Slovakia * Hill people, who live in hills and mountains * Merina people, an ethnic group from the central plateau of Madagasca ...

'' by the film's villain, the Kurgan. Young's line would later become immortalized in rock history when it was used in the suicide note of grunge pioneer

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

. During the guitar solo, several vocal phrases were backmasked. When played forward, the phrases "Fuck the Russians" and " Brezhnev's got herpes" can be heard.

Title

According to the liner notes of the compilation release '' Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection'', the band was at a recording studio when lead vocalist

Joe Elliott Joseph Thomas "Joe" Elliott (born 1 August 1959) is an English–Irish rock singer, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute ba ...

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 Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

", which prompted him to write the lyrics of the song.

Reception

'' described it as a powerful rock anthem that "pulls out just about every 'Long live rock ‘n’ roll' cliche there is."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

was directed by David MalletDef Video 2 Pyromania 1983/High 'n' Dry 1984
, Def Leppard UK.com and shot on 8 December 1982 (Guitarist

Phil Collen Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Prior to joining Def Leppa ...

's 25th birthday), in Battersea, London, England. Former Def Leppard co-manager

Peter Mensch Peter Mensch (born March 28, 1953) is an American music manager. He started his career in music management at the age of 26, managing AC/DC. In 1982, Mensch formed the management company Q Prime with Cliff Burnstein. Their first client was Def L ...

appears in this video as one of the monks. The song's video was placed on ''New York Times'' list of the 15 Essential Hair-Metal Videos.

In popular culture

A sample is used at the beginning of the song "

Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" is a song by American punk-rock band the Offspring. It is the fourth track from the band's fifth studio album, '' Americana'' (1998), and was released as its first single in November 1998. The song peaked at number ...

" by

the Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...

, from their 1998 album '' Americana''. The song was featured in the 2007 film '' Balls of Fury''. The song features in the climactic scene of the season 5 finale of ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. The song was heard at the beginning of the 2012 comedy film '' That's My Boy''. The phrase "Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen" reappears as the title of a poem by the contemporary American poet Michael Robbins. It was first published in ''The New Yorker'' and appears in his second collection of poems, ''The Second Sex'' (Penguin Books, 2014). The song features in episode 10 of ''

Deutschland 86 ''Deutschland 86'' () is a 2018 German television series starring Jonas Nay as an agent of East Germany in 1986, in relation to the Angolan Civil War. It is a sequel to the 2015 series ''Deutschland 83'' and precedes the 2020 series ''Deutsch ...

'' during the border crossing of Lenora Rauch and the children of Tina Fischer. The song featured in a trailer for season 4 of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed ...

''.

Track listing

7": Vertigo / VER6 (812 858-7) (UK)

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

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

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

7": Mercury / 812 604-7 (US)

# "Rock Of Ages" # "Billy's Got A Gun"

Personnel

Def Leppard

– lead vocals *

– guitar solo, backing vocals *

Steve Clark ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

– lead and rhythm guitar * Vivian Campbell - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2012 re-recording) *

Pete Willis Peter Andrew Willis (born 16 February 1960) is an English musician, songwriter and guitarist, best known as a founding member of the band Def Leppard. He co-wrote many tracks and played guitar on the band's first three albums: ''On Through the ...

– rhythm guitar *

Rick Savage Richard Savage (born 2 December 1960) is an English musician best known for being the bass guitarist and one of the founding members of the English rock band Def Leppard. Savage and lead singer Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals * Rick Allen – drums

Additional musicians

* Robert John "Mutt" Lange – spoken word intro, backing vocals *

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including " She Blinded M ...

– keyboards *Rocky Newton - backing vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control Def Leppard songs 1983 singles Songs written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange 1983 songs Songs written by Joe Elliott Songs written by Steve Clark Mercury Records singles Vertigo Records singles Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)