When I was 14, this went in my ears daily and the results were crudely scrawled ZoSo emblems on the desks of my high school. I proudly declared Black Dog to be my favorite song of all time to anyone who asked. I confidently asserted that Jimmy Page was not only the greatest guitarist but greatest musician who had ever lived. I could air guitar every note to the solo of Stairway (as in, I knew precisely when to "bend" a note and accordingly contort my face, when to stop playing, when to bring my hand higher up on the "fretboard" etc) and I displayed this talent many times in my friend Tyler's basement as we'd dance about the room air-guitaring in sync with each other. Once I was hanging out with some friends and a girl I liked and proudly displayed this ability in a pathetic attempt to impress her (?). I can vividly recall my voice cracking while screaming "ZEPPELIN RUUUUULES" at the top of my lungs while sitting in the back row at a pep rally during my freshman year of high school. I had at least four Zeppelin t-shirts, none of which fit me (I didn't realize this), and I made sure to wear at least one a week. I still have a piece of paper scotch taped to my bedroom door with the logo and four symbols on it (I leave it up to remember the old days). I frequently posted on a fansite's messageboard. It was a textbook pubescent suburban American white male lifestyle that I wouldn't have traded for anything. The thought of a few awkward teenagers all sprouting their first moustaches and reeking of B.O. in a basement air-guitaring to Stairway and mouthing every word as if they were devout Catholics reciting the Lord's Prayer almost brings a tear to my eye. That's youth, man.
By: Mookid