1969 Hit Ranked No. 3 ‘Best Classic Rock Breakup Song' Became an Explosive Masterpiece
We could be blissfully going about our day without a worry in the world, and the second we hear Led Zeppelin's soul-crushing, explosive folk-rock ballad, "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," the floor drops out from underneath us. It's that good.
Released on the band's self-titled debut album in 1969, the track was recently ranked the third-best breakup song of all time by Radio X. But behind the music, there's actually an origin story more complicated than a toxic relationship.
Originally written by American folk singer Anne Bredon in the late 1950s, the song was famously recorded by folk queen Joan Baez on her 1962 live album after she got wind of it from an Oberlin College student named Janet Smith. Now, here's where things get tricky: The song's origins were credited as "traditional," leading LZ's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to believe it was free for the taking.
"I heard [‘Babe I'm Gonna Leave You'] on a Joan Baez in-concert album," Page explained in conversation with Daniel Rachel in the 2014 book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters. "I thought, ‘That's such a good song.' I assumed it was a public domain song because a lot of artists around that time were doing traditional folk songs, and it was the only song that didn't have a credit on it."
Page and Plant, alongside John Bonham and John Paul Jones, reworked the folk song into an explosive, acoustic-driven ballad blending psychedelic blues, rock, and pop textures. But it would take two whole decades before Bredon was properly credited as the songwriter.
According to American Songwriter, it was Smith's son who eventually discovered the Led Zeppelin recording, recognized the song, and brought the oversight to light. The credit was corrected, and an arrangement was made to compensate Bredon with substantial retroactive royalty payments. The song is now officially credited to Page, Plant, and Bredon.
Widely regarded as an essential LZ deep cut and one of the band's greatest hits of all time per Ultimate Classic Rock, the rock anthem reentered the zeitgeist in 2012 when popular teen drama One Tree Hillfeatured the track in its iconic Season 3 finale.
The bridge, the car crash, the dramatic rescue - the producers' song of choice for that scene was brilliant. And letting all six minutes and 42 seconds play out was even more genius. Proof that great songs can transcend time, place, and feeling.
Related: 1964 Heartbreak Ballad Became the Most Played Song of the 20th Century
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:36 PM.