The song begins with a guitar figure, then a pause to set the right
tempo. The guitar proceeds with an
A minor–G–D guitar progression. Page actually plays two guitar parts – one on a six-string and the other on a
twelve-string Giannini Craviola acoustic guitar – which, due to the
audio mixing, almost sound as one. Plant then sings the first verse accompanied by the backing guitar chords: Bassist
John Paul Jones complements Page on mandolin. The second verse contains the chorus, at the beginning of which Jones on bass and drummer
John Bonham come in – Jones follows the chord changes and Bonham plays a straightforward backing beat. Through the use of
double tracking, Plant provides a harmony vocal line. Page also adds
pedal steel guitar fills; however, he departs from the typical American
country music approach by adding a
wah-wah pedal tonal effect. For the third verse, Plant returns to singing accompanied by guitar chording. The verses are broken up with an instrumental middle section with Page, Jones, and Bonham. Page solos on a heavily
sustained
Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar, which is also double tracked. Led Zeppelin biographer Dave Lewis calls it "a smooth woman-tone solo" After a second chorus, the song winds down with pedal steel fills and ends with an acoustic guitar figure. Led Zeppelin recorded the song at
Headley Grange, Headley, East Hampshire, using the
Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. The song was engineered and later mixed by
Andy Johns at
Olympic Studios in London. ==Personnel==