The title is a pun on The Black Man's Burden, an expression which refers to black slavery, used as the title of a book by E. D. Morel (1920) in response to the poem, "The White Man's Burden" (1899) by Rudyard Kipling, which refers to (and champions) western imperialism (including its history of slavery).

The album includes two suites based on songs by other artists: "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones, and "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues, augmented by additional sections composed by the group.

referring to Police Constable, a common abbreviation used in the United Kingdom), a risqué poem recited (and probably written) by Burdon over the music.

Two other songs include a gospel-style chorus credited as Sharon Scott and the Beautiful New Born Children of Southern California.

Richie Unterberger of Allmusic says the album is "Composed mostly of sprawling psychedelic funk jams" and "it does find War mapping out much of the jazz/Latin/soul grooves...".