BP01 April 16th, 2006 08:35PM  

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on Black Dog during an interview on Radio Perth, West Australia, Australia, February 16, 1972:


Now listen, can you tell us what Black Dog is all about?

J: It is about a dog that was fourteen years old.

R: A black Labrador.

J: You see, the thing was, we, we did some from of those tracks from that LPs at a big house with a mobile recording unit, a truck that actually is the Stones truck. But there used to be this, there used to be a team of dogs, actually, there were a couple of lurchers and this huge great Labrador, that used to sort of, that looked as though it was grinning at you, see, it would bare it's teeth, but it looked like a smile, and we used to pick it up and
play with it and everything, apparently, it was the most
ferocious dog, that was really known for biting everybody, you see, and they couldn't believe that we had uh, could even be near it you know. So, anyway it was just called, it was one of the first things that we started to do at the house, the first week we started to play, and we just called it "Black Dog" and stuck. That's right isn't it?

R: Yeah, he used to go in the garden for a walk, and he'd find he couldn't get back so we had to carry him back, you see (laughter). He was really doddled, but he was an amazing character. Well that's it. But he couldn't, he didn't sound like anything on the lyrics at all, he wasn't parading about.

Roxxi July 1st, 2008 03:47AM  

What the fuck is wrong with you people? this song is so about getting laid (and probably losing your virginity.)

LetThereBeLight June 3rd, 2009 08:03AM  

Maybe its about a stripper and he feels frustrated and then cheated because he cant have her or sex her. Maybe if he does eventually get her she takes things from him because she doesn't care about love. Instead of the obvious, down and out could mean, you go down the stairs into the club and then leave unfulfilled. And maybe the big legs is because she can dance (really well). And black dog would have been a perfect name for the song especially since people didn't know what the dog was really like or because it smiled so nicely but was actually a fat batch.

har0462 August 28th, 2009 01:19AM  

Black Dog can also mean depression. Churchill often spoke of his black dog following him around.

lazur September 11th, 2009 03:46AM  

A lot of Zep stuff started as jams, and Plant had to be quick with some words to be part of the jam, (or they'd end up as instrumentals!) "Black Dog" sounds like the ultimate proof of this system of song-writing: Bluesy, sexy lines spat out, that don't connect to one another all that much, don't add up to one story, don't really have a beginning, middle, or end, but work quite well, as they're sung in the same spirit that the music is being played: "Let's get DOWN!"

MusicI_Life September 17th, 2009 08:58PM  

Okay, this isn't what it's about but this is about how it was written. Jimmy was on an acid trip and saw a black dog ....yeah that's it. It may have some other deeper meanings but that's the story of how it was written.