An Analysis of 'Out on the Tiles'

Form: deceptive AABA/compound simple (AA'Bx2)

0:00-0:06 Introduction
   0:00    (d) Tag B (1)
    0:03    (c) Tag A (1)

0:06-0:25 (A) Verse 1
    0:06    (a) “As I walk...” (2)
    0:11    (a) “And a train...” (2)
    0:16  (a') “There is no doubt...” (4*)

0:25-0:44 (A') Verse 2
    0:25    (a) “Just a simple guy...” (2)
    0:30    (a) “A ray of sunshine...” (2)
    0:35    (a'') “There's nothing more...” (4*)

0:44-1:22 (B) Chorus 1
    0:44    (b) “All I need...” (2)
    0:49    (b) “All you gotta give...” (2)
    0:55    (c) Tag A (1)
    0:57    (b) “All I need...” (2)
    1:04    (b) “All you gotta give...” (2)
    1:08    (c) Tag A (1)
    1:11    (d) Tag B (1)
    1:13    (c) Tag A (1)
    1:16    (d) Tag B (1)
    1:19    (c) Tag A (1)

1:22-1:41 (A) Verse 3
    1:22    (a) “I'm so glad...” (2)
    1:27    (a) “Got me a fine woman...” (2)
    1:32    (a') “One thing...” (4*)

1:41-2:00 (A') Verse 4
    1:41    (a) “Standing...” (2)
    1:46    (a) “People go...” (2)
    1:51    (a'') “Total disgrace...” (4*)

2:00-2:37 (B) Chorus 2
    2:00    (b) “All I need...” (2)
    2:05    (b) “All you gotta give...” (2)
    2:10    (c) Tag A (1)
    2:13    (b) “All I need...” (2)
    2:18    (b) “All you gotta give...” (2)
    2:23    (c) Tag A (1)
    2:26    (d) Tag B (1)
    2:29    (c) Tag A (1)
    2:32    (d) Tag B (1)
    2:34    (c) Tag A (1)

2:37-4:06 (C) Coda
    (e)    [2-bar riff] x17 (repeat & fade)

I'm gonna try something new here, with a PDF transcription to accompany this structural analysis:

out_on_the_tiles_analysis.pdf
File Size:	70 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

There's an objective analysis; now for my subjective opinions and critique.

While I really like this song – it's a total rocker – they could easily have done a lot more with it. I usually prefer economy, but in this case the song could have been twice as long and twice as good.

Led Zeppelin is wonderful at spinning out large-scale formal designs (with a duration of 7:24, the previous track on ​Led Zeppelin III, 'Since I've Been Loving You', is a good example), but with 'Tiles' they take take the easy way out. The raw material is strong, and it begs for a large-scale treatment. I could easily see it employing a series of tempo changes and modulations. The unison guitar/bass riffs in the verses cry out for exploratory development. And they could've used the (e) riff from the coda as a transition to a bridge in the middle, or they could use the tricky rhythms at the end of each verse to execute a metric modulation to 12/16 or 9/16 bridge (rather similar to what The Beatles did in 'I Me Mine'). There's so much that could be done with this song, but they didn't do much of anything with it. 'Tiles' has the potential to be an epic, like 'Loving You' or 'Stairway' or 'Kashmir', but that potential is never realized. And I'm just not sure why not...

They could have omitted one of the weaker songs from the album, like 'Friends' or 'Celebration Day' or 'That's the Way', to make room. Not only would that have made the song stronger, it would have made the album stronger, too.

Zep dropped the ball with this song. It's really good as is, but it could've been spectacular.