In 1971, a resident black Labrador Retriever would wander around a recording studio where a band was recording. Though the dog appeared to be getting on in years, he was still frisky, in a “winkie winkie” sort of way. A frequent guest of the neighborhood bad girl who lived two doors down from the studio, the Lab occasionally would be too tired to walk home, so band members took turns carrying him home.

The dog inspired a song in which the “narrator” reiterates his desperate longing for the love of a woman, and the happiness it would bring. Appropriately enough, the song was named, “Black Dog,” and it would go on to be named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was written and performed by the same band whose members would carry the old Retriever home after his trysts: Led Zeppelin.  Listen to it in a new light: