Led Zeppelin: D'yer Mak'er Meaning

Song Released: 1973

D'yer Mak'er Lyrics

Oh oh oh oh oh oh, You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh, you don't have to go.
Ay ay ay ay ay ay, All those tears I cry ay ay ay ay ay
All those tears I cry ay ay ay ay ay, Baby please don't go.

When I...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   Surfer_Coyote

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 27th 2008 !⃝

   This song has nothing to do with Jamaica. D'yer Mak'er is a way of spelling out how "Did you make her" sounds in English slang. It's often used as a joke in England, but it is commonly used as a question one man might say to another asking about whether he slept with a particular woman or not.
2. JACKSUNBYRD

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Dec 16th 2014 !⃝

   Rolling Stone Magazine
   THE TRUTH: Plant has confirmed that the title "D'yer Mak'er" does, in fact, come from a rusty bit of Cockney humor, which usually goes something like this:
   Cockney Man 1: My wife is going on holiday.
   Cockney Man 2: D'yer make 'er? ["Jamaica," but pronounced quickly so that it sounds just like "Did you make her?"]
   Cockney Man 1: No, she's going on her own accord.
   The sly allusion to Jamaica made sense for the song: "D'yer Mak'er" is Zeppelin's reggae move.
   
   Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-10-wildest-led-zeppelin-legends-fact-checked-20121121/the-title-of-dyer-maker-is-based-on-an-old-cockney-joke-about-jamaica-19691231#ixzz3M4HmFKsU
   Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 11th 2013 !⃝

   Make up sex
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 30th 2012 !⃝

   D'yer Maker is a homage to two different musical styles. The first is reggae and the second is Doo-Wop.
   
   The song itself is about a man who's wife/girlfriend is leaving him. The narrator of the song explains how much he loves her and how much he doesn't want her to go. He even gives details of the event. She breaks up with him through a letter!!!
   
   Personally, I think the lyrics were designed to be a means to an end. The song itself was more designed to be a reference to reggae music and doo-wop. A very fun song to listen to.
5. astorian

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 9th 2012 !⃝

   The song itself is a straightforward tale of a heartbroken man who's lost his girlfriend and is pleading for her to come back.
   
   The arguments over the title are unnecessary. The title is BOTH a reference to the island of Jamaica AND a reference to an old British music hall/vaudeville joke.
   
   In the old music hall days, there was a running joke. Supposedly, twoCockney s were having a conversation.
   
   FIRST COCKNEY: Me wife went on an 'oliday to one o' them islands in the Caribbean?
   
   SECOND COCKNEY: D'yer Mak'er?
   
   FIRST COCKNEY: Naw, she went of her own free will.
   
   
   See, when a Cockney asks "Did you make her," is sounds a lot like "Jamaica."
   
   Anyway, this was one of the first rock songs to show Jamaican reggae influences. That's where the title came from.
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 23rd 2012 !⃝

   The first time I heard this song was at a friend of mine's funeral and being used in that context I have to say this is the saddest song ever. Every line sayin "you dont have to go", "hurt me to my soul", "all those tears I cry" really relates to someone who has passed away and leaving this life. Even the long cry Robert Plant gives at the end of the song was echoed by everyone at the funeral home. This song isn't necessarily about a girl leaving him but about someone he loves leaving him. Whatever the interpretations of this song may be when I hear it I think of that day and all those who have died young and left us. They didn't have to go.
7. gorkhali

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 13th 2009 !⃝

   This song is about a man who is remembering his girl.
   he is saying you don't have to go... don't go..
   he is in pain.. i don't think there is any relationship with Jamaica to my knoledge but i am sorry if i am mistaken. AS the first peron has said has no metaphore .. it is True..
   
   
8. CHAD

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 21st 2008 !⃝

   The title of the song is Jamaica.The whole D'yer Mak'er thing is an inside joke aimed at the way a deeply accented englishman would pronounce the word Jamaica.British musicians have been known to develop a fascination with the style of music originating from Jamaica.Sting and The Police sustained their careers on it for a period of time.Simply a break-up song set to a Kingston style beat.
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 1st 2006 !⃝

   I think it is pretty self explainitory ... He uses no metaphors.. It is just a song of lost love..

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)