Overview
Musically the song is a medium tempo rocker which begins with bassist John Paul Jones playing the electric piano. It is notable for the presence of layered guitar and keyboard parts, making it solidly melodic, and is driven by one of drummer John Bonham's most powerful recorded performances in the studio. The song features a memorable riff, on which Page and Jones harmonize using keyboard and guitar. This repeating riff, heard on the bass guitar, is based on the notes A G E and sounds like a funk rock bassline. At 2:11, in the second half of the second verse, the band erroneously falls out of sync with one another. However, the musicians felt that the rest of the take was too good to discard it.
The most common interpretation of the song's title seems to be a reference to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. It refers to an incident when Robert Plant was held for some hours in police custody for loitering after dark in Hyde Park. References to the work of Tolkien also exist in other Led Zeppelin songs, such as "The Battle of Evermore", "No Quarter", and "Ramble On".
The group's recording of this song also appeared as the sole Led Zeppelin track in the 1997 Time-Life 6-CD boxed set, Gold And Platinum: The Ultimate Rock Collection, marking one of the rare times that a Led Zeppelin recording has been released in a commercially-issued various artists compilation.
Read more about this topic: Misty Mountain Hop