This song is about Amy being able to only be comforted during her time of loss, loneliness and grief, by the one thing that made her feel human at the time. Black is slang for heroin, especially in the southwestern US, where black tar heroin comes from Mexico, and is distributed throughout the southwest, south and even to the northwest. Further towards the midwest, and on the east coast, the dope is primarily a light tan/almost white colored powder, that largely comes in from the middle east (and is erroneously referred to as China White by many people used to the Mexican black tar). Without getting into the neurobiology of addiction, or debating really any aspect of it, as a recovered heroin addict of many years, hearing this song brought tears to my eyes tonight, because I totally understand what it's like to have my heart ripped out, feel totally alone with this enormous pain, and as if I were unable to breathe without it, the only thing that made me feel like I could get out of bed and get on with my life, was "black". Amy was SUCH a talent, and ahead of her time... almost seems misplaced in history, and certainly cut down too soon. If you or anyone you know is suffering from heroin addiction or addiction to pain killers, there are some treatment facilities that actually address the physiological reason behind the addiction, and fix your brain chemistry. I'm not trying to turn this explanation into an advertisement, but just search for Desert Healing Center, in Desert Hot Springs, CA. They're saving lives with the work that they're doing there... restoring hope to people who, like me, had given up. I could have easily been where Amy is right now, if not for this place, and being super committed (and able) to find a solution. I wish we could have saved her, and I hope that this post is able to at least save SOMEBODY else. But, as for the meaning of the song, it's definitely about heroin. "Blow" is cocaine and "Puff" is another dope reference... and, Black is most definitely directly about heroin. Clever of her to write the song the way she did, because if it had been more overt, it probably would not have received nearly as much public acceptance when it came out. May her voice live on forever!