I was listening to No Quarter by Led Zeppelin and I really didn't get what the term meant so I looked it up and couldn't find anything, but I haven't used yahoo answers yet and decided to give it a try.
2007-03-06 02:10:41 · 5 answers · asked by Zimph 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Traditionally, to give no quarter means to give no mercy.
In the fourteenth century, quarter added to its basic meaning of the fourth part of something by taking on a sense of one of the four principal divisions of the horizon or the points of the compass. It then seems to have transferred to one of the four quarters of a city, in particular one occupied by a specific group (as we might still today speak of “the French quarter”), not literally meaning one fourth of the area, but a rough direction based on the four main compass points. The same meaning was applied to one section of an army camp. So quarter came to have attached to it the idea of an area in which one lived, and further shifts of meaning seem to have taken place that lead to quarters (in the plural) for one’s living accommodation, especially in military contexts.
There seem to have been one or two further stages. By the 1590s an idiom to keep good quarters with had grown up, meaning to have good relations with a person, presumably a reference to the need to stay on good terms with those living with or around you — Shakespeare used it in The Comedy of Errors in 1590 in a way that showed he was having fun with an expression already well known. So to give no quarter might have meant “don’t show any friendliness to the enemy”. It’s possible also that to give quarters could refer to the need to provide prisoners with a place to stay, so that to give no quarter was a figurative way of saying “take no prisoners”.
The song is a tribute to soldiers who do what must be done (suffer cold, and give and find no mercy) to build a dream for me and you.
The lyrics:
Close the door, put out the light.
No, they wont be home tonight.
The snow falls hard and dont you know?
The winds of thor are blowing cold.
Theyre wearing steel thats bright and true
They carry news that must get through, oooh
They choose the path where no-one goes.
They hold no quarter, they hold no quarter.
Walking side by side with death
The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot thats slow
The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through
To build a dream for me and you
They choose the path where no-one goes.
They hold no quarter, they ask no quarter.
The pain, the pain without quarter.
They ask no quarter.
Yeah! without quarter, quarter, yeah!
The dogs of doom are howling more!
I hear the dogs of doom are howling more!
2007-03-09 04:41:56 · answer #1 · answered by maî 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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RE:
What does the phrase "No Quarter" mean, such as how it is used in the song No Quarter by Led Zeppelin.
I was listening to No Quarter by Led Zeppelin and I really didn't get what the term meant so I looked it up and couldn't find anything, but I haven't used yahoo answers yet and decided to give it a try.
2015-08-06 04:28:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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'Stairway to Heaven' 'The Rain Song' 'Dancing Days' 'Rock and Roll' 'When The Levee Breaks' 'Going to California' 'The Battle of Evermore' 'Dyer Maker' 'The Song Remains the Same' 'Over the Hills and Far Away' 'No Quarter' 'The Ocean' 'Misty Morning Hop' 'Black Dog' 'The Crunge' 'Four Sticks' My Review: Houses of the Holy is like Led Zeppelin's "Revolver" - They discovered The Studio. In fact, it is striking how similar The Beatles' "Revolver (1967)" and Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy (1973)" are, in their short 6 years apart. The same thing happened to both bands at this point in their careers - The magic came! I don't think you can decide whether Volume 4 is better than Houses of the Holy by comparing individual songs alone. If you do that you forget about the life (as an album) Houses has that Volume 4 doesn't. You would be overlooking exactly what makes Houses of the Holy magical, if you strip its songs away in isolation and compare them to Volume 4's songs. Houses of the Holy has UNITY AS AN ALBUM; The songs flow into one another. It has a life as an album, and that's why it is amazing. Volume 4 sounds like a bunch of songs (albeit killer songs) thrown together. The production is much better on Houses than on volume 4. Houses is the album where "...they began to use more layering and production techniques in recording their songs." (Wikipedia) Listen to the difference in the production between Houses and Vol. 4, and I assure you that you will see what I am talking about. They take their experimentation and studio mastery to another level starting with Houses, and continuing on with Physical Graffiti, and then with Presence. Listen to the production on Presence - it is amazing too!! Houses of the Holy, in my opinion, is the best Led Zeppelin album - and one of my favorite albums ever.
2016-03-27 04:10:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I not sure what Led Zeppelin means by the term, however the term basically means "No Mercy" An example of the use of the term was when they asked them to surrender at the Alamo the peoples lives would be spared and if they didn't surrender everyone would be killed or there would be no quarter.
2007-03-06 02:16:58 · answer #4 · answered by don n 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No mercy, basically. Quarter in this context means shelter, as in servants' quarters, the French QUarter, etc. Sort of an archaic usage.
2007-03-06 02:14:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
A pirate phrase meaning "no mercy"
2007-03-06 02:14:48 · answer #6 · answered by Rocklyn80 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋