Recording and Composition
While Page and Plant were the main writers on the huge majority of Zeppelin tracks, they were comfortable in a way that some bands weren’t in giving credit to any other member of the band who happened to chip in (see Mick Taylor’s treatment at the hands of Jagger/Richards over some of his song writing contributions for a contrast).
In this case, the main riff of the song came from John Paul Jones. He wanted to write an electric blues that was too tricksy and complicated for people to dance to automatically. The band tried various embellishments of the original 5/4 signature – a 3/16 version was mooted but was ruled out because of the difficulties of playing it live. In fact, the band would often play the song in straight 4/4 time live just to keep it simple.
Their previous album – Led Zeppelin III – had come in for some criticism from fans of the band’s hard rock style for being too ‘soft’, thanks to the acoustic, folksy feel of many of its tracks. Once Black Dog was in the can, it made for an obvious opener for the new album because of the immediacy of the rift, and because it made a satisfyingly crunchy riposte to any suggestion that the band were going soft.
Despite the rhythmic complexities of the song, it’s call-and-response format (borrowed at least partially from Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac) and memorable riff made it a favourite live staple for the band – and an opportunity for Plant to engage the audience during the quiet “ah-ah-ah-ah” bits, during which the crowd and Plant would sing alternate notes.
As was typical of Page, the guitar sound was achieved in a pretty roundabout way instead of putting a mic in front of amp. I’ve no idea what it means really, but here’s the method as described by Page: “We put my Les Paul through a direct box, and from there into a mic channel. We used the mic amp of the mixing board to get distortion. Then we ran it through two Urei 1176 Universal compressors in series. Then each line was triple-tracked.”
Got that? Good.
Meaning
The title Black Dog doesn’t have any particular meaning. While the phrase is loosely associated with both depression (“the black dog is upon me”) and the mythical black dogs of English folklore, in this instance the inspiration was just because of a black Labrador which which wandered around Headly Grange during the recording sessions – although it seems highly unlikely that Plant would have been unaware of the resonances of the name.
The lyrics themselves are standard blues – needing a woman, being ripped off by a woman… that kind of thing. Plant himself said of the song: “Not all my stuff is meant to be scrutinized. Things like ‘Black Dog’ are blatant, let’s-do-it-in-the-bath type things”
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, can’t keep away.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh, oh, oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh, oh, oh
I gotta walk, can’t stand still,
Got a flamin’ heart, can’t get my fill,
Eyes that shine burning red,
Dreams of you all through my head.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah…
Hey baby, oh baby, pretty baby,
Tell me would you do me now.
Hey baby, oh baby, pretty baby,
Move me while you groove me now
Take too long b’fore I found out
What people mean by down and out.
Spent my money, took my car,
Started tellin’ her friend she’ goin’ be a star.
I don’t know, but I’ve been told
A Big legged woman ain’t got no soul
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh, oh, ah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh, oh, ah
All I ask for, All I pray,
Steady lonely woman gonna come my way.
Need a woman gonna hold my hand
tell me no lies, make me a happy man.