Winston Churchill suffered from cyclothymia, a chronic disorder consisting of repetitive periods of depression followed by periods of normal or slightly elevated mood. He referred to them as his "black dog," popularizing an old phrase that describes the mood disorder. The term refers to the medieval association of a black dog with the devil, and was used by the 18th century English writer Samuel Johnson in a letter to a friend: "What will you do to keep away the black dog that worries you at home." Here, Arlo Parks sings of her struggle to keep a depressed friend above water.
Parks sings of doing anything to fix the enduring the debilitating day-to-day of depression of her friend. She references the singer of the English gothic rock band The Cure by saying she'd be willing to "lick the grief right off (the) lips" of her Robert Smith eyeliner. Parks would even "jump off the fire escape" if that would make her friend's black dog go away.
Released on May 4, 2020 at a time when the isolation and uncertainty of the COVID lockdown was distressing people worldwide, the song became something of a pandemic-era anthem. Parks explained: "It's supposed to make people who are struggling feel less isolated and start a conversation surrounding the prevalence of mental health issues in today's world."
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