I’m not really sure how this song made it onto my radar back in 1993. I don’t think it was a huge hit, and I’ve never been a radio listener. Maybe I came across the video on MTV or VH1.

At any rate, I liked it enough to pick up Robert Plant’s Fate of Nations album. But the rest of the album didn’t do anything for me so I eventually sold it back and forgot all about ’29 Palms’ until a couple of weeks ago.

This now becomes a tale of technology, specifically Apple technology.

So there I was in the middle of Target when, for a reason I no longer recall, it suddenly hit me that there once was a Robert Plant solo song I really loved. But I couldn’t remember a thing about it other than the fact of its existence.

So I pulled out my iPhone and called up iTunes. ’29 Palms’ was the most downloaded Robert Plant track, so I figured that must be the one. But the excerpt didn’t ring a bell.

Next stop, YouTube. A search for ’29 Palms’ brought up the video, which I proceeded to play on my phone in the middle of Target. First the verses… still not ringing a bell. Then the chorus. Yes! This was it… a forgotten gem recovered. On a cell phone in the middle of a department store.

And of course the added beauty of modern Web technology is that I can now download this track, and this track alone, from iTunes so I won’t have to forget about it again.