Rock of Ages

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"Rock of Ages"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Pyromania
Released	1983
Format	7"
Recorded	1982 Park Gates Studios Battle, Sussex, England Battery Studios London, England
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:09
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer	Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Photograph" (1983) "Rock of Ages" (1983) "Foolin'" (1983)

"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppardfrom their 1983 album Pyromania. It takes its name from the hymn Rock of Ages. When released as a single, the song reached #1 on the Top Trackschart and #16 on the Pop Singleschart.^[1]It begins with a German-like nonsense phrase, "Gunter glieben glauchen globen", which was later sampled in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspringas well as "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" by Puffy AmiYumi. This was also sampled in a parodyof the song, "Rape Rock of Ages," by self-proclaimed "rape rock" band The Mentors.[1]According to the official Def Leppard FAQ,

These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean nothing in particular though, the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently". It's gibberish, said by producer Mutt Lange during the recordings of the song, instead of the regular one, two, three, four.^{[citation needed]}

The song proceeds to reference "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" by Neil Young with the lyrics "It's better to burn out/Than to fade away."^{[citation needed]}

The album's title is mentioned in this song, "Drive me crazier; no serenade, no fire brigade, just a pyromania" leading to the song sometimes being mistitled as "Pyromania" mainly on peer 2 peer file sharing networks.^{[citation needed]}

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

This song, along with a modified "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph", are in the 2007 film Balls of Fury.

In the film Highlander, the opening lyrics -- "I got something to say, it's better to burn out than fade away" -- are recited by the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) following a verbal confrontation with Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert).

The song is also featured in the video game Brutal Legend and the downloadable "Def Leppard Pack" for the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Music video

The music video was directed by David Mallet^[2] and shot on 8 December 1982 (Guitarist Phil Collen's 25th birthday), in Battersea, London, England.

Former Def Leppard co-manager Peter Mensch appears in this video as one of the monks.

Track listing

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

1. "Rock of Ages"
2. "Action! Not Words"

External links

• Songfacts.com on Rock of Ages

Notes