"Friends" is the second track from the 1970 album Led Zeppelin III, the third studio album of Englishrock band Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote the song in 1970 at Bron-Yr-Aur, a small cottage in Wales where they stayed after completing a gruelling concert tour of the United States.
The song starts out with a little noodling and studio chatter before the guitars of Jimmy Page kick in. It is one of a few Led Zeppelin songs that used strings. Bass player John Paul Jones did the string arrangement, which exhibits some distinctive Eastern influences.
The lyrics say that when someone is lonely or sad, that you should "Give them a smile." Or in other words, make them feel better.
The only known live performance of the song was on 29 September1971 in Osaka, Japan, as exhibited on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings of the show. If listened to closely, Page can be heard asking Plant if he wanted to perform the song when John Bonham had returned from unknown activities backstage.
Influenced by Neil Young, similarities have been noticed between "Friends" and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Carry On", with the first part of the song being almost identical[attribution needed].
The song was also recorded by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant with the Bombay Symphony Orchestra in 1972, during their trip to India, along with another track, "Four Sticks". This version featured tabla drums and sitars. The recordings have never been released officially and are only available on Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings. The project is said to have run into problems because Page complained that the orchestra didn't keep time in the Western style and some of them drank rather a lot.[1]
"Friends" was also recorded by Page and Plant on their 1994 release No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, accompanied by a Middle-Eastern orchestra.
