Robert Plant – Big Log

A 1966 Mustang is what I think of when I hear this song. That was my first car in 1983. My mom foolishly got me what is now a classic car. Not a good car to give a 16-year-old. When I heard this song I knew Robert wasn’t in Zeppelin anymore. It was a smart thing to distance himself at the time.

What I remember the most is the guitar parts played by Robbie Blunt. I remember the licks he plays just as much as the words Plant sings. It’s a great song to listen to on a long car trip.

A Big Log is common lingo of tractor-trailer drivers. It is the book in which their road hours are logged, therefore the connection between the road and love and the countless hours we all log on both…

The song peaked at #20 in the Billboard 100, #23 in Canada, #11 in the UK, and #7 in New Zealand in 1983. The album was The Principle of Moments that peaked at #8 in the Billboard Album Chart, #7 in the UK, #1 in Canada, and #

Phil Collins played drums on this and 5 other tracks on the album. He also played drums on Plant’s previous album Pictures At Eleven.

 

From Songfacts

In the video, Plant’s classic car overheats at a desolate desert gas station, which causes him to muse upon lost love. 

This was Robert Plant’s first hit as a solo artist after the break up of Led Zeppelin.

Some people know this song as “My Love Is In League With The Freeway.” The phrase “Big Log” does not appear in the lyrics.

The name “Big Log” is likely meaningless. Plant’s solo work (up until Now And Zen) and work with Led Zeppelin often featured songs with titles that had little or nothing to do with the lyrics. Also from The Principle Of Moments are the tracks “Messin’ With A Mekon,” “Horizontal Departure” and “Stranger Here… Than Over There.” 

Big Log

My love is in league with the freeway
It’s passion will rise as the cities fly by
And the tail lights dissolve in the coming of night
And the questions and thousands take flight

My love is miles in awaiting
The eyes that just stare and the glance at the clock
In the secret that burns and the pain that won’t stop
And it’s fueled with the years

Leading me on (leading me on)
Leading me down the road
Driving me on (driving me on)
Driving me down the road

My love is exceeding the limit
Red eyed and fevered with the hum of the miles
Distance and longing and my thoughts do collide
Should I rest for a while and decide

Your love is cradled in knowing
Eyes in the mirror still expecting their prey
Sensing too well when the journey is done
There is no turning back
No
There is no turning back

On the run

My love is in league
With the freeway
Oh with the freeway
And the coming of the night time
My love
My love
Is in league with the freeway

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

44 thoughts on “Robert Plant – Big Log”

  1. Your right Max about Plant distancing himself from Zep right from the get go.
    What a smart decision to go that way to make it work without the aid of swiping the Zep sound

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. What a great summer song. I was rather surprised, but pleased, with Plant’s early-’80s work…I thought the first couple of solo albums and Honeydrippers were great and I’d only been a lukewarm Zep fan (actually a hot/cold one… I really liked a number of their songs a lot, but was not fond at all of a probably equal number of their radio tracks).
    Nice first car!! Mine was a ’74 Pontiac Astre – like a chevy vega – looked sort of cool but man, it wasn’t a good mechanical car. Of course, was already years old when I got it

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You know at the time I got the car…it wasn’t considered what it is considered today. My mom paid a thousand I believe for it or maybe a little lower. I didn’t know what I had.
      I just looked up an Astre…it was like a longer Vega. Vegas looked cool…my sister owned one but it burned oil like crazy. She kept a case in the trunk.
      If Plant wouldn’t have changed he probably wouldn’t have been as successful.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yeah, that’s right… I’d forgotten that but I did have to put oil in on a regular basis. My dad was more of a car guy (back then) and worked for GM and he said it was the aluminum block engine that they tried out and hadn’t gotten right yet.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I remember her buy a case of 24 cans in the hatchback.
        Yep that sounds right about the engine. Now those cars…I would imagine both of them… are wanted for racing. People put super engines in them.

        Some great memories in that Mustang…and Vega.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I’m amazed at myself now – when I see a car like an early-’70s Nova or a Vega or Dodge Dart, I stare in awe and go ‘cool!” But they were everywhere mediocre cars I didn’t give a second glance back then when I was a kid.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. precisely. My brother in law and his wife both have Altimas – nice enough little cars – and I parked beside one in a parking lot yesterday…and noticed it was a Kia, not another Nissan. Could’ve as easily been a ford or Hyundai too.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. It’s sad…that is the reason I got a Mini Cooper years ago…just to have a different looking car lol. Houses are that way also now.

        Like

  4. I had an aunt & uncle (now divorced) give a younger cousin of mine a suped-up 1970 black Nova. He wrecked it within six weeks. My uncle refused to fix it for him and he couldn’t get the money to repair it (still in school). That car was never repaired. It sat, covered up at my grandmother’s farm.

    I enjoyed Plant’s gear shifting (no pun intended). Some rockers get older & squishy. He didn’t.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That is a shame about the Nova…I love those cars. I wonder who ended up with it?
      He was smart to change his music away from Zeppelin…he probably wouldn’t had been as successful if he didn’t…

      Like

      Reply

      1. I don’t remember. I would assume my uncle eventually sold it. My cousin was seven years younger. He was in my wedding when I married my first and wasn’t quite 17, yet. I remember him driving it to my wedding.

        The car was just gone one day. I don’t remember how long it sat there. 1990 is a real blur. Wedding plans, severe depression, trip to the hospital…*scratching head*

        If Plant tried to do a Zep…without Zep, it would have been a disaster.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I hope who ever bought the Nova fixed it up…oh how I love old cars. I dont’ know a thing about them but I love them.

        Yea it wouldn’t have worked at all.

        Like

      4. I remember…I would like to have my Celica back also. Funny we both had a Celica and I had a Probe and you basically the same thing…a Talon.

        I love those Chargers and liked those Opel GTO’s.
        I feel out last night young lady…sorry.

        Like

      5. Yeah. But, you got me beat in “first car”. A 1966 Mustang is far superior to a 1977 Civic. And, I didn’t get mine until college.

        Opels were stylish but, poorly made. There was a documentary not long ago on History Channel about the history of cars. Opels were not well designed…much like Pintos/Lynx.

        WTH are you apologizing for? Take your ass to bed.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. I wish I could take it to bed now lol.
        Yea it was a cool first car I have to admit…more thinking back on it. I didn’t realize what I had til it was too late.
        I know the Opels aren’t made well but…I still want one Vic…I hope one day I can get one to piddle around in my small town.

        Like

      7. Shoot. Looking back on my Civic, it was a cute thing…tough…had a personality… The manual choke spring broke so I’d have to use a piece of cork to hold it out. It burned oil and the gear shift rattled at high speed. But, I had a lot of fun in it.

        I wonder if you could even find an Opel.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Mine was metallic gold but, funny enough, there is someone in town that has a yellow one…and it is damn close to mine…and in fine shape, too. I think it belongs to a mechanic because I see it all the time, parked in front of a car shop/repair shop/body shop/tire shop.

        DAMN. I saw one sell for $18,000!!! GAH!

        Liked by 1 person

      12. Yes they do….they are very very light also. With the right engine they would really go…I’m not into going fast though.

        Like

  5. My dad made the mistake of buying me a 1970 Chevy Impala, red. A real sharp-looking car with a real big engine. I cruised and raced a lot at stop lights. Unfortunately when it kept breaking down I gave it back and not sure what my dad did with it. He did buy me 1968 Dodge Coronet in mint condition after that, but oh my brain wasn’t working very well in those days and I traded it to my landlord for back rent 😦 My dad tried to do right by me, but I was a wild teenager who lived to party. That song is a wonderful gem from the wayback machine, Max. So mellow and you’re right, great guitar and a good one to cruise on a summer’s night. Reminds me of Chris Isaak.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. A 1968 Dodge Coronet…they are sharp! Oh my goodness…back rent.
      I traded my Mustang for an engagement ring…we ended up not being married. Great girl…wrong time.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      3. I think it was a blessing now, having that Astre as a first car. It topped out at about 55mph – not a highway car. Now, I’m Mr. Eyes on the speedometer at all times, a “speed limit is a speed LIMIT not minimum”, but when I was 16 I liked to jet… by the time I was 18 and got a big, old Pontiac with a V8 I was getting a bit smarter.

        Like

  8. It’s a great song but, in recent years, I’ve found the clapping-sound a bit intrusive (possibly because my hearing has changed and treble sounds more tinny to me now). I wish he’d do a version without it (or maybe he has?)

    Doesn’t he look young!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You may find a remixed version somewhere out there.
      He does look young…a completely different look from the bushy head Zeppelin singer.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks…you got me curious on Blunt. Man it’s like he vanished. He does some studio work…that is all I could find. What a player. Like I said in the piece…I remember his guitar licks just as much as Plant’s lyrics.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. BIG LOG: The title ‘Big Log’ has absolutely nothing to do with the song nor lyrics. Robert Plant finished the song and could not come up with a title. One of the band members at the time came in with a handful of logs to put in the fireplace. One of the logs were too big and long. It would not fit horizontally nor vertically. Someone said to the affects of: “you’re never going to get the big log in that small fireplace” but he put it in anyway and the entire room started filling with smoke! Hence, Robert titled the song “Big Log”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment