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Song: Down By The Seaside
Album: Physical Graffiti [released Feb 24, 1975 (US) | Feb 24, 1975 (UK)]
Single: N/A
Credited to: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Related Songs:
Down By The River - Neil Young (title, music?)
Signs - Five Man Electrical Band (music)

Lyrics:

Down by the seaside, see the boats go sailin'
Can the people hear, oh, what the little fish are sayin'
Aaah, ah-ah-ah-ah, oooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Oh, oh, people turned away, oh, the people turned away

Down in the city streets, see all the folk go racin', racin'
No time left, no, no, to pass the time of day in
Aaah, ah-ah-ah-ah, oooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Yay, yay, yeah, aw, the people turned away, people turned away

So far away, so far away
See how they run, see how they run
See how they run, see how they run
Run-run, run-run, yes, run-run

Do ya still do the twist
Do ya find that you remember things that well
I wanna tell you, some go twistin' every day
Though sometimes it's awful hard to tell
Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, oh

Out in the country, hear the people singin'
Singin' 'bout the growin', knowin' where they're goin'
Yeah, yeah, they know, yeah, they know
Aaah, ah-ah-ah-ah, oooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, people turned away, yeah, the people turned away

Sing loud for the sunshine, pray hard for the rain
And show your love for Lady Nature and she will come back again
Yes she will, yes she will
Aaah, ah-ah-ah-ah, oooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Oh, oh, oh, people turned away, the people turned away
Don't they know that they're goin'

Influences: Robert Plant was known to sing lyrics from the song Down By The River by Neil Young (released on Young's 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere) in live jams, as can be heard on How Many More Times from the Royal Alberts Hall concert on the Led Zeppelin DVD. The title of Down By The Seaside may be a nod to Down By The River, and the song itself could be considered a sort of tribute to the country-tinged musical style of Neil Young.

The IFMTL claims that "a guitar section in the song apparently sounds reminiscent of Signs by the Five Man Electrical Band, however, Signs was released in August 1971 while Zeppelin had been working on Down By The Seaside since 1970, so any resemblance between the songs is likely to be the other way around."