I read a bizarre folklore tale about black dog apparitions that supposedly appeared to people in times of trouble as either warnings or as protectors. These stories go back a long way, so I suppose the black dog labelling of Churchill's condition was related to that. The song was to me the most obvious on the album as far as meaning goes... The depressive is anticipating his imminent down swing, or he's 'seen he ghost of the black dog' as those folklore stories stated.
I read a bizarre folklore tale about black dog apparitions that supposedly appeared to people in times of trouble as either warnings or as protectors. These stories go back a long way, so I suppose the black dog labelling of Churchill's condition was related to that. The song was to me the most obvious on the album as far as meaning goes... The depressive is anticipating his imminent down swing, or he's 'seen he ghost of the black dog' as those folklore stories stated.