"A bustle in your hedgerow," the enigmatic line in Led Zep's "Stairway To
Heaven" classic, has mystified
music mavens for decades. Hopefully, the following will sprinkle a scintilla of elucidation and edification upon this cryptic conundrum.
A hedgerow is a hedge that surrounds many estates in Britain.
Bustle, or noise or activity, used in this sense, means a disturbance close to home. Something's happening in your world!
It's just a spring clean for the
May Queen.
Spring cleaning is an old domestic ritual cleaning meant to do away with the troubles of the past year and prepare for the coming year, and often includes disposing of old,
useless things that have been lying around.
The
May Queen was a maiden chosen by a village to represent the hopes and potential for the coming year. She was a symbol of
beauty, spring and new beginnings.
So here, as an analogy, the lyric refers to getting rid of old and outdated systems in order to allow progress to occur.
OR it can refer to menarche, or the first menstrual cycle, signifying that a girl is coming of age.
OR, it could mean that you have a fuckin' bee in your bonnet!
