Hendrix described "Manic Depression" as "ugly times music"; during a live performance he explained the meaning of the lyrics: "It's a story about a cat wishing he could make love to music instead of the same old everyday woman." The song is unusual in that its written in triple meter, or time, which is the time signature commonly associated with a waltz; most rock music is written in . Although his delivery is rock oriented, Mitchell's drumming on the track is reminiscent of Elvin Jones's fluid jazz patterns. Musicologist Andy Aledort noted Hendrix's "dramatic use of chromaticism" during the song's opening bars and the "heavily vibratoed unison bends" that presage what he described as one of Hendrix's best guitar solos.