What does Back in Black mean?

AC/DC: Back in Black Meaning

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Album cover for Back in Black album cover

Song Released: 1981


Get "Back in Black" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

Back in Black Lyrics

Back in black
I hit the sack
It's been too long I'm glad to be back
Yes I'm
Let loose from the noose
That's kept me hanging around
I've been looking at the sky cause it's gettin' me high
Forget the hearse cause I'll never die
I got nine...

  1. anonymous
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    Aug 16th 2008 !⃝

    Back in black sold the new singer but the song is actually about someone who was in jail and then released and in now *back* in society.

  2. anonymous
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    May 19th 2008 !⃝

    FOR ALL U THAT POSTED ABOVE:
    -the one that said it was exhaust is wrong, it was a Cadillac car not suv, and the fumes would not get into the car unless the car was on for a long period of time IN A CLOSED SPACE (eg- garage) and it was in a parking lot OFF.
    -The alcohol poisoning was partially correct. because he drank alot, he got poisoning, and THAT made him throw up, and the way he was laying, he suffocated on his own puke.
    _______________________________________________________

    other than that its basically right, that its a tribute to the best singer of the best band EVER.
    _______________________________________________________

    R.I.P. Bon and AC/DC, WE SALUTE YOU!

    ~grant smith

  3. anonymous
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    May 15th 2008 !⃝

    Enough with the puke thing I swear everyone on here has to include the same F*ing thing in all the comments I'm pretty sure they summed it up, and also he didn't die from choking on his puke look it up.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
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    Apr 30th 2008 !⃝

    Guys, I have Back in Black and in the information slip that comes out of it it says he choked on his own vomit.

    Now, I basically agree with everyone else. This song is definitely a tribute to Bon.

  5. anonymous
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    Feb 19th 2008 !⃝

    The song is a tribute to Bon Scott. It's about AC/DC coming back and not disbanding even though they considered it.

    BY THE WAY, BON DID NOT DIE FROM CHOKING ON HIS PUKE!
    Look it up. He died from acute alcohol poisoning, after a night of partying in London. As well he had slept in a car which was freezing cold in the morning and he had Asthma.

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  6. anonymous
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    Feb 6th 2008 !⃝

    First of all Brain Johnson is better than Bon Scott at singing but Bon had a better stage presence... and this song isn't about coming back form the dead or revenge or anything... Its just a plain old tribute song to Bon Scott

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 5th 2008 !⃝

    Ok well wasnt the song back in black written before bon scott (rip) died? on ac/dc live it don't really sound like their new singer (I forget what his name was). I could be completely wrong I dunno I don't study ac/dc much I just listen to them

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  8. anonymous
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    Nov 8th 2007 !⃝

    The song refers to being back in the game, or back on your feet again after troubles. The phrase back in black comes from accounting, it means having positive cashflow or assets, as opposed to being in the red (debt).

  9. anonymous
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    May 7th 2007 !⃝

    Back in Black was dedicated to the late Bon Scott, who did not die of choking on his own vomit, but the exhaust fumes that were pumped back into the car through the ac vents... (damn SUV"S!!!!!), nonetheless, black is a representation of death, so back in black, means that something is coming back from death. as dedicated to Bon Scott, back in black stands for Bon's return from the grave to send ac/dc on the "Highway to Hell"

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  10. anonymous
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    Feb 19th 2007 !⃝

    This is about Bon Scott, and how he was, a partier and rocker, its all in the new Back in Black, the interview the band about it.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    Feb 18th 2007 !⃝

    Sometimes songs are written (or listened to) by artists and people to share a surreal message with feeling, sometimes directed towards someones attention cryptically- often when people listen to music, or discover they like the lyrics, they see, or hear, or even feel a connection or relation to it. Sometimes people play songs for people to show them the connection it might mystically have in situations...

    I'd sing this song karaoke styles to someone who thought they had somehow gotten rid of you. (hopefully otherwise it would be a GR.......)

  12. anonymous
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    Nov 26th 2006 !⃝

    back in black is a song written to clear the air about wether or not acdc would carry on as good as they were, back in black just means that they're still here even in a time of despair. "back in the back of a cadillac" is bout that unfortunate event. also, it steams me when paople say that there's footage of bon singin' this song. The song was written because he died,
    Rite On?

  13. anonymous
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    Jul 8th 2006 !⃝

    He choked on his own vomit in the boot of his mate's Cadillac after drinking all night. R.I.P Bon Scott, but its stating AC/DC aren't dead after his death and the band will still keep going on strong. Still AC/DC changed after Bon Scotts death considering all the songs after Bon are a bit more yank not pure OZZY rock, they have nothing about saitan or hell in them and its more safe.

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  14. RoKeR_MuNKY
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    Jul 6th 2006 !⃝

    The damn song's about the band being back (because Bon Scott R.I.P. choked on his own puke and died in his friend's old car after drinking all night) even though they lost the lead singer.

    And bon will always be better than Brian Johnson (new lead singer) R.I.P. Bon Scott.

  15. blue
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    Feb 7th 2006 !⃝

    Basically the message in the song is about coming back (from the dead or for revenge) as people have stated before. I guess it could also be about how Back in Black sold A LOT of copies even though Bon had died?

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway



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