Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er

Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er

The moment I saw the title to The Hold Steady's Joke About Jamaica, before hearing even a single note, I knew it was about Led Zeppelin's D'yer Mak'er. This is common fact for any Zeppelin fan, and the song knows that:

They used to think it was so cute
When she said "Dyer Maker"
All the boys knew it was a joke about Jamaica

"D'yer Mak'er" is actually pronounced like the word "Jamaica" in an English accent, which translates back into "did you make her?" The phrase comes from the joke that goes something like this:

Guy #1: My wife and I just got back from the Carribean.
Guy #2: D'yer Mak'er
Guy #1: No, she wanted to go.

Thus a joke about Jamaica; no one said it was funny. This is the joke I've seen mentioned countless times, but frankly I believe the actual joke Robert Plant had in mind was probably a lot dirtier.

The Hold Steady song makes a lot more references to Zeppelin, such as Dancing Days, Houses of the Holy, Trampled Underfoot, and Dazed and Confused. And their indebtedness to Led Zeppelin is clear through the raging, epic guitar work in most of their songs