Led Zeppelin: Black Dog Meaning

Song Released: 1971

Black Dog Lyrics

Hey hey mama, said the way you move
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove
Ah ah child, way you shake that thing
Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting
Hey hey baby, when you walk that way
Watch your honey drip, I can't keep...

1. zepkat

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 25th 2013 !⃝

   The meaning of the song and the song title are totally unrelated. In addition to the radio interview most LZ literature (Hammer of the Gods, etc.) report the story of the dog who hung around HG during the recording. Like most blues based rock there will be a note of melancholy.... that's what it means to have the blues.... "someone done somebody wrong song," so to speak. Personally, I think several of RP's bluesy lyrics about lost loves and bad/sad/evil women are based on the regular groupies that hung around. But B.D. was an earlier hit, so I'm not sure they had a bunch of regulars at that point. So, I think I agree up to a point on some of these previous interpretations, save for these weird interpretations of the title being in any way related to the lyrics, since JP and RP have repeatedly confirmed the title came after the song was already completed, and in the can.
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 5th 2013 !⃝

   It's about a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. The lyrics scream it. Sorry if I'm wrong but don't hate me on this. :)
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 19th 2013 !⃝

   Its about a black dog. The dog is a Labrador. It is nice and friendly and wants to belong to Jimmy Page. It is about how Page felt about the Labrador, whom he named Bonzo, after his friend, John Bonham, the drummer.
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 17th 2013 !⃝

   i think how the song got its name and what it is about are two different things.
   
   also, besides the obvious literal meaning
   this can also be viewed as a song about worshipping a black "god" or devil..
   (opposite of god: devil...god backwards: dog)
   "eyes that shine burning red, dreams of you all through my head" refers to the women's demonic possesion of the narrator
   (not, as suggested, the narrator's eye red with lust...)
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 28th 2012 !⃝

   The meaning of this song is about an actual black dog known as the black shuck in english folklore, anyway the black shuck is a giant black dog and get this, it has eyes that are blazing red hence the part of the song describing that. So this song is basically about this black dog haunting this guy but yet the guy seems fascinated by this entity. The are many people who have experienced this entity in the conscious state and the dream state hence ''dreams of you all through my head'' just search on the web for 'Black Shuck' and you can make your own assumptions.
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 19th 2012 !⃝

   song called Black dog because when they were recourding this song black dog always came there. That is why song called black dog
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 28th 2011 !⃝

   This song was recorded on location at Headley Grange in London. There was a black dog that lived in the house where ZEP was recording and the animal died in one of the rooms. This dog died the day they finished this song so they decided to name the song Black Dog as a tribute.
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 17th 2011 !⃝

   The song is about wanting to get laid, it is called Black Dog because a lab kept showing up at rehearsals.
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 24th 2011 !⃝

   a big leg woman is what we would consider a slut.simple as.a really hot looking woman basically taking the piss.sex is great but he would prefer a good honest woman.but big legged woman are just so damn saucy,cant get enough man.they have no soul and no consideration for others.
   go on,tell me im wrong.
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jan 24th 2011 !⃝

    a big leg woman is what we would consider a slut.simple as.a really hot looking woman basically taking the piss.sex is great but he would prefer a good honest woman.but big legged woman are just so damn saucy,cant get enough man.they have no soul and no consideration for others.
    go on,tell me im wrong.
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Nov 20th 2010 !⃝

    The title "Black Dog" has absolutely no hidden meaning. When the band was in the studio,they saw someone bring in a black dog. They didn't have a name for the song yet so That's how they got the name.
12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jun 16th 2010 !⃝

    I think the title "Black Dog" either refers to an evil omen of some sort, or, more likely, the dirogatory term for a female dog. I think the evil omen adressed is when the narrator falls in love with a girl, then begins to feel like she's taking his life away.
    "Didn't take too long 'fore I found out what people mean by down and out.
    (She)spent my money, took my car, started telling her friends she's gonna be a star.
    I don't know but I've been told, a big legged woman ain't got no soul."
13. MusicI_Life

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 17th 2009 !⃝

    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.
14. lazur

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 11th 2009 !⃝

    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!"
15. har0462

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Aug 28th 2009 !⃝

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

Latest Articles

• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)
• 
  Let’s Go to the Hop - Ignore That Door’s Four Bunnies and a Beatbox