Little by Little - 2006 Remixed; Long Version

"Little by Little" is a song of mourning. The title, repeated throughout the song, refers to Plant's process of gradually coming to grips with a loss and finding himself able to move on. Little by little, he's healing from the trauma of a loss.

Because of Plant's status as legendary music figure and because "Little by Little" was the most successful single off his Shaken 'n' Stirred album, many fans and journalists have tried to pin down who or what Plant is mourning in the song. The most frequent suspects are drummer John Bonham (whose 1980 death effectively ended Led Zeppelin), Plant's son Karac (who died at just five years old in 1977), or Led Zeppelin itself. Another candidate could be Plant's wife Maureen, who he divorced just two years prior to releasing Shaken 'n' Stirred. The lyrics, though, are quite vague and give no reason to assume they are about any specific person. One verse even suggests that the person being missed is Plant himself (as in some kind of spiritual or psychological self-identification): Back at the mirror, your good friend Talk to the mirror to play out your game Slap in the middle, I stop then Look at the winner and the price you pay

Plant wrote the song with Gerald "Jezz" Woodroffe, who played keyboards on all of Plant's first three solo albums. He also co-wrote many of the songs off those albums, either with Plant or with Plant and Robbie Blunt.