“Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin

Tucked into Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin's 1975 release on Swan Song, "Ten Years Gone" began life as a Jimmy Page instrumental, and you can still hear it: Page stacked something like 14 guitar tracks to build the harmony section, braiding them into a shimmering wall that swells and recedes like a tide.

Robert Plant came in afterward with the words, a backward glance at a woman who, a decade earlier, had told him to pick between her and his music. He picked the music, and the song carries the rueful calm of a man who doesn't regret it. Page and Plant share the writing credit, and Rick Rubin later praised its hypnotic, interlocking riffs and its play of light and shadow.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.