Alex Belth mentioned the late-period Zeppelin song “Fool in the Rain” in one of his Subway Series live blogs, and wrote how all the girls in his high school loved it. Same with the girls in my high school, and a lot of the guys, too.

And who could blame them? It’s a catchy song, and about as accessible as anything Zeppelin put out. I happen to enjoy John Bonham’s work on the track — not his flashiest performance by a longshot, but a great example of some truly musical drumming. Plus the samba breakdown is neat, and Jimmy Page’s solo features perhaps the best use of an octave pedal in a guitar solo.

After I read Alex’s post I thought about the song and I realized something: The ironic twist in the lyrics at the end of the song must make so little sense to the high-school kids of today.

If you’re unfamiliar, the singer describes his love for someone. He’s standing on the corner in the rain, waiting to meet the lover in question, and growing frustrated and depressed as he waits. Then, in a straight O. Henry ending, he realizes he’s standing on the wrong block.

No one waits for anyone on corners anymore. Today, Robert Plant could just text the person to say he went into a local bar to wait out the storm. Crisis averted, silly rock-god hair dry, running in rain unnecessary.

So I wonder if the song resonates the same way for a generation of people who have never had to wait out on a corner to meet a date. I’ve actually done that, a bunch of times. Today’s high-school and college-aged kids never have. Certainly they can still appreciate a good song with a catchy riff, but I wonder if “Fool in the Rain” seems obsolete to them, some ancient relic.

People my age and older tend to bristle when we hear of newish songs including references to email or texts or cell phones or whatever. It feels like modern technologies should have no place in the rock and roll lexicon, probably at least partly because so many contemporary rock bands essentially imitate their forebears and stunt the development of the entire genre.

That’s stupid, though. Love songs (obviously) have always and will always detail relationships, so if today’s relationships feature a bunch of devices Robert Plant never had access to in his heyday, there’s no reason today’s young Robert Plants should avoid mentioning them in songs. Today’s fool in the rain just forget to charge his phone before he left the house.