Songfacts®:

• This song is an early cry for help from lead singer Phil Lynott. Scott Gorham mentions in the Lynott biography The Rocker that while recording this album, Phil started to take heavier drugs and drink a lot more. He was clearly going through tough times, and died as a result of his drinking in 1986. Scott Gorham recalled to Songfacts in a 2013 interview: "We hadn't really hit the peak of our drug thing at this point. We weren't feeling the down drag, if you know what I mean. But I think Phil also realized the dangers of it; well, we all knew the dangers of the whole drug world. And I think he was being honest. 'I've got to give this up. I've got to give this s--t up or it's going to kill my ass.'"
• There is a song on Thin Lizzy's last album, Thunder And Lightning, that also cries out for help. It is called "Heart Attack." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Daryl - Stoke, England, for above 2
• Many assumed that the song was about ex-Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, who was ousted from the group under hazy circumstances (Black Rose was the first Lizzy album without him). However, Scott Gorham denied this. "No, the Black Rose album, that was the beginning of the end for the band right there," he told us. "For some reason in that city the drug dealers were just beating the door down trying to get into the studio. And unfortunately, we let them in."