Despite the fact that The White Stripes ceased to exist back in 2011, they still remain in the playlists and hearts of music lovers all over the world. In particular, thanks to the song “Seven Nation Army”, which, in fact, has been the calling card of the eccentric American family duo for a decade and a half already.
The original guitar riff, the kaleidoscopic clip in red-black-and-white colors and the breakout tenor of the band leader Jack White made the single “White Stripes” an undeniable hit of the “noughties”.
The Hit That Jack Built
What Jack White has a knack for is a flair for potential hits – there’s a reason he placed “Seven Nation Army” at No. 1 on the “Elephant” album. He would do the same three years later with another hit single, “Steady As She Goes,” which would be recorded with The Raconteurs and become his calling card. In both cases, Jack clearly didn’t miss the mark.
“Seven Nation Army” effortlessly climbed to the top of the Billboard chart, won a Grammy for “Best Rock Song” and became the starting point in the commercial success and true popularity of the “striped” duo. And authoritative music publications – Rolling Stone, Q, New Musical Express – vied with each other to award the top places to the hit song.
And all this was in spite of the fact that the American and British producers said in one voice that the song would ruin the album. They refused to put it at the top of the list. But luckily Jack White had enough persistence to insist on his own.
About the creation of “Army of Seven Nations.”
The hit started a year before the release of the band’s fourth studio work (“Elephant”) in 2002. While tuning up the sound equipment before the next concert in Australia, Jack White composed a simple riff. At that time, the musician’s keen sense did not recognize it as a potential hit. White doubted whether the tune should be used at all.
He asked his friend Ben Swank about it. The latter replied that “you could have done better”, and Jack thought “it sounded good”. In the end, the leader of The White Stripes continued working on the song.
White hastily titled the working version of the song “Seven Nation Army”. Where did that title come from? Quite simply, it was Jack’s childhood name for the Salvation Army.
When the song was completely finished, he decided to keep the working title, since the lyrics were written to match it.
About the meaning of the song and what it sounds like
After the release of the single, a heated debate broke out about what the lyrics of the song “Seven Nation Army” were talking about. The most ridiculous versions were put forward: from the cruel world of childhood to the interpretation of the fairy tale “Oz”.
The incomprehensible lyrics, full of allusions, contributed to the confusion. In it bizarrely intertwined the search for home, the battle with a mythical army and the Queen of England.
But Jack ended these discussions by telling us that the Seven Nation Army text is about rumors. The rumors that are spread about him and Meg by the people they meet along life’s path. About the desire to run away, to leave everything behind, to eventually return home.
The theme of coming home is also indicated by some moments in the video for the song: at the beginning of the third verse, Jack points to his palm with clenched fingers, which is a reference to welcoming the people of Michigan – he looks like a mitten on the map. In this way he makes it clear where he is from, where his home is.
The sound of “Seven Nation Army” is just as enigmatic as the lyrics. Although Jack White’s eccentricity will fully unfold in his other projects (one of them is The Dead Weather), he actively started to develop his style at the time of “White Stripes”.
White created a recognizable riff with a semi-acoustic guitar and a primer. The output was a monotonous, jerky sound, which is easily confused with the bass. In addition, he purposely refused to mix the composition. Like the rest of the “Elephant” album, it was recorded without computer processing, on the equipment of the sixties.
Rock hit that became a soccer anthem
It was not only rock music fans that liked the single of the American duo. Quite unexpectedly, it caught the fancy of soccer fans. The fans of the Club Brugge heard the song in the bar on the eve of the 2003 Champions League. After chanting it all night, they decided to chant the lyrics after the decisive goal against the Italian team.
As a result, the chant was considered good luck and the Belgians continued to chant it at every match. Then the club itself acquired the rights to use “Seven Nation Army” during their games.
In 2006 during the UEFA Cup Brugge hosted the Italian team Roma, who also liked the song a lot. And when in the summer of the same year the World Cup started, “Seven Nation Army” was already an integral part of the Italian team: the fans sang the hit after every victory over the opposing team.
Since 2008, the song has become the unofficial soccer anthem. It is played after all the goals at Euro 2012 and 2016, and the fans sing the hit from the stands. However, in their own way. Each time they insert lines encouraging their native team or ridiculing the opponent.
The band’s frontman himself doesn’t mind such metamorphoses. Jack thinks it’s a real success when a song loses its author and becomes a folk song. And it’s true – most people who know the tune and a few lines of this song have no idea who sang it in the original.
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