I am not intending to knock Nick out of his job. Just hope that these words give you some impulse and perhaps nudge you to release another album soon. Wishing you a harmonic, healthy and happy 2020
The past doesn‘t change for anyone But time has been kind to us. We ruffle our coloured feathers And build empires on sweat and blood Of the stolid faces and silent voices. Your future is fueled by despair Is this the end of your time? If all life is a journey Set sails and fall off the horizon, We are haunted by the ghosts of the sunken souls. We fly too high on borrowed wings But we cannot stay, The fortune wheel is spinning away, Lies of comfort from the great white hope.
I fight a battle with my own black dog daily; he rears his head and kicks me when I'm at my lowest. It's a fight I fear one day I'll lose, but until then I turn up this track, put my headphones on and find solace in knowing that so many others carry the same burden, and relate to this song in the same way I do. There is peace in knowing you aren't alone. X
Black Dog gave me an understanding, a way in which to deal with depression. The very first time I heard it, it resonated with what I was feeling at the time. Stunningly beautiful
New beginnings.
I'd never heard the term before, but it so sums it up, and I use it to tell people when I'm feeling low so I don't have to explain, it's so simple,can't under estimate the effect for me on my life. All from a song. Gracias
Is their best song ever, of their best album ever
I was about 15 when this album came out. I was suffering physical and mental abuse at home and had nowhere to turn. I resigned myself to ‘shutting down’ and disassociating until I could leave when I turned 18. My music collection at the time got me through so much pain. Just putting my headphones on when I was by myself, I could either forget or feel like someone empathised with me. I’ll always be grateful to you guys for creating something that has touched so many. Thank you.
Such beautiful lyrics from a beautiful song. This is my truth somehow juxtaposed simplicity with complexity and it worked out perfectly. A truly astounding album
3 years ago, I listened this song-that released 1998 when I was born-at first and I realized I also have black dog who sitting on my shoulder. Because I'm living in country where not use English, this word came to me very impressive. The dog is still on my shoulder but I just hope I can control him someday, and believe I will be.
In a bad place. Happened upon that documentary on channel 4 i think and toward the end those guitar arppegios soundtrack images of the wales countryside (i may have mixed memory here but it is my memory) and i decide to take off on a 300 mile bike ride from sussex to cornwall (my home) and i end up getting my Head together instead of something worse.
"Solitude the one thing that I really miss Guess my life is a compromise" I've suffered from depression a lot in my life as a result of being an overthinker of things, I've always taking these lines to sum up my desire for solitude away from my own thoughts.
The year this album came out I was in my prime. Killer cheekbones and happy on the outside. There was always a bit of melancholy and sadness lurking in the background in my everyday life though. Some days a blanket of despair would trap me for days. Looking back on this song I can see why it connected with my 1998 younger self so well. It has great lyrics that hit home about the weight of depression. I remember the Truth tour and meeting others that connected to the song in the same way as me.
My Manic's album, Black dog on my shoulder was a go to track on this album. Beautifully sad song...
"Solitude the one thing that I really miss" really articulates to me the devastation of losing the solace of you own company. You're never alone when you're depressed, there is always something there with you, eating at your soul and taunting you. I have listened to this song so many times when I feel like hell.
What makes The Manics so special are their ability to create gorgeous melodies with heartbreaking lyrics and this song is a perfect illustration. As a fan, they opened doors via each song to books, films, artists and philosophers. Every song was like going down a rabbit hole & you’d always discover something new. This song was released whilst was doing my mental health nurse training, so apt. I couldn’t stop listening to the album.
It was real. He was never coming back. It wasn't just about him though. I was worried about them all. I also walked away from my father. I ran away from my family and friends. 98 was a year for change. Realisation, truths. I was deeply depressed, but I didn't know that, I didn't understand. I was 17. This song was a beautiful companion to ugly truths, to adolescence, to loneliness. So many years on, so many bridges crossed, still my friend in the darkest of times.
Does it matter if you ever really know - what's wrong with you? It sure does. I have recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and every line of this song makes so much more sense now than when I first heard this song in the early 2000s. Feeling out of control of your own life is terrifying. But it's also comforting to know there are people who know what I'm going through.
If Everything Must Go created images of bright blue skies and blossom trees, then This Is My Truth added wide starry skies and cold nights to this landscape, particularly on Black Dog On My Shoulder. For me it depicts a journey through forest paths under a full moon. And the feeling of having a black dog as a companion is something we all experience, which is what makes this track even more special to me because it shows good can truly come from bad.
Summer of ‘98. On holiday, walking the coastal path between Saundersfoot & Tenby in the rain, holding a walkman with speakers waiting for the first play on Radio 1 of ‘…Tolerate’. That was the moment things changed. The whole period, the Gigs, the Album was a glorious trail of magical memories that no one but the Manics could encapsulate. A Different, Mature and Wiser band leading me in to adulthood. A time I revisit often on each play.
Last few years have been difficult and I’ve been visited regularly by the black dog. But I know I’m not the only one and I’ve tried to help others as well as helping myself... and throughout I’ve had the Manics in the background, always there to turn to and take me away for a while. Thank you.
From the next generation of Manics fans, this album is actually just a year shy of my own existence. TIMT is one of my favourite albums EVER!. It is such a timeless meaningful record and completely relevant as it was 20 years ago. I feel it is universally understood; What with the current state of the world and affairs, It's hard not for any individual to find a track that doesn't relate to them. I can't wait to see this played in full in 2019! Thank you for everything, Stay Beautiful xoxo
It was trendy - in 98 - to like EMG, more so THB, but I loved the melodic array of TIMTTMY. I'd moved from somewhere I hated to somewhere I feared. That hate and fear surged and ebbed in the years hence. In the songs, especially Black Dog on My Shoulder, I could hear a geography of loneliness, solitude - and forgiveness too. Listening to this album, part of me grew up, and part of me was lost. But I wouldn't want to change those days, not even now. Not ever.
the lyric "my dilemma but not my choice' put exactly into words how I felt after being given life changing news.
The beach pictured has become my go to place since I saw on the album. I am happy and free there and love watching the kids grow. The black dog is forgotten for a while.