"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. It takes its name from the hymn "Rock of Ages". When released as a single in the United States, the song reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the Top Tracks rock chart.
It begins with a German-like nonsense phrase, "Gunter glieben glauten globen", which was later sampled in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by the Offspring as well as "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" by Puffy AmiYumi. This was also sampled in a parody of the song, "Rape Rock of Ages," by shock rock band the Mentors. 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 "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)". Def Leppard's four-line version was quoted in the 1985 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 supposed suicide note of grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain.
The song is played in the movie Balls of Fury multiple times.
The song is featured in the video game BrĂ¼tal Legend and the downloadable "Def Leppard Pack" for the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
The song is also available for download for the game Rock Band 3, either alone or part of the "Def Leppard Pack 01".
In 2012, the band re-recorded the song, along with "Pour Some Sugar on Me", under the title "Rock of Ages 2012". Both were released digitally on 4 June 2012.
Also, in 2012 "Rock Of Ages" appears in the movies That's My Boy and the 2012 movie of the same name.
The song also features heavily during the climactic scene of the Season 5 finale of Supernatural.
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