"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart.
The song begins with "Gunter glieben glauten globen", a German-like nonsense phrase introduced by Mutt Lange, who is of German descent. According to the official Def Leppard FAQ,
These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean nothing, though the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently". It's actually just German-sounding gibberish, said by producer Mutt Lange during one of the later takes of the song. Lange was a perfectionist and would often do dozens & dozens of takes, and after repeatedly beginning so many with the standard count, "One, two, three, four" he simply started saying nonsense words instead, the band liking this one so much that they included it on the album.
As the song's melody begins, Elliott speaks the lines, "All right/I've got something to say/It's better to burn out/Than to fade away"; the second two lines are a reference to Neil Young's song "Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue)". Def Leppard's four-line version was quoted in the 1986 movie Highlander by the film's villain, the Kurgan. Young's line would later become immortalized in rock history when it was used in the suicide note of grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain.
During the guitar solo, several vocal phrases were backmasked. When played forward the phrases "Fuck the Russians" and "Brezhnev's got herpes" can be heard.
Lyrics
Gunter glieben glausen globen
All right
I got something to say
Yeah, it's better to burn out
Yeah, than fade away
All right
Ow gonna start a fire
C'mon!
Rise up! gather round
Rock this place to the ground
Burn it up let's go for broke
Watch the night go up in smoke
Rock on! Rock on!
Drive me crazier, no serenade
No fire brigade, just Pyromania
What do you want? What do you want?
I want rock'n'roll, yes I do
Long live rock'n'roll
Oh let's go, let's strike a light
We're gonna blow like dynamite
I don't care if it takes all night
Gonna set this town alight
C'mon!
What do you want? What do you want?
I want rock'n'roll, all right!
Long live rock'n'roll
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', rock'n'rollin'
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it and if you need it
Say yeah!
Heh heh heh heh
Now listen to me
I'm burnin', burnin', I got the fever
I know for sure, there ain't no cure
So feel it, don't fight it, go with the flow
Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme one more for the road
What do you want? What do you want?
I want rock'n'roll, You betcha
Long live rock'n'roll
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', rock'n'rollin'
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it and if you need it
Say yeah!
Say yeah!
We're gonna burn this damn place down
Down to the ground
Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh