“Seven Nation Army” the WHITE STRIPES

NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM BEHIND THE CLASSICS WRITTEN BY: JACK WHITE RECORDED AT: TOE RAG STUDIOS, LONDON, APRIL 2002 PRODUCED BY: JACK WHITE VOCALS: JACK WHITE GUITAR: JACK WHITE DRUMS: MEG WHITE FROM THE ALBUM: ELEPHANT (2003) Meg White, Jack White “Seven Nation Army” THE WHITE STRIPES EARLY IN THE CAREER OF BLUES-ROCK if I ever got asked to write the next James pedal set down an octave. A total of eight duo the White Stripes, Jack and Meg White Bond theme, that would be the riff for it,” analog tracks were employed for the song: had pointedly misled the press about the White said recently. (He did later compose one for White’s lead vocal; four for two guitar nature of their relationship to one another. the theme for the Bond movie Quantum of lines running through two amps apiece; one They claimed to be siblings, until court papers Solace, “Another Way to Die.”) for a harmony vocal and lead guitar solo; one were produced in 2001 proving that the two When White set his mind toward for Meg White’s bass drum; and one more for were in fact a recently divorced couple. (The writing a lyric, he dropped any notions about the rest of her kit. Jack White and engineer former Jack Gillis had taken Meg’s last name British secret agents and instead focused Liam Watson (who owned the studio) mixed when they wed.) The idea had been to force on the possible implications of his working the tracks using a 1982 Calrec M series journalists and audiences alike to focus on title. The “Seven Nation Army” became a model board once owned by the BBC. The the duo’s music instead of its by-then defunct symbol for the outside forces pressuring results were laid down on a Studer A-80 romance—but the gambit had the opposite the band members to share every piece quarter-inch two-track machine. effect. Now the press and public wanted more of themselves with the world. “The song’s When the album was complete, White than ever to examine the inner workings of the about gossip,” White said at the time. “It’s had no question that “Seven Nation Army” White Stripes’ personal lives. about me, Meg and the people we’re dating. should be the ﬁ rst single. “It just felt like an These issues were weighing heavy on The world constantly tries to dissect people, opening, explosive thing,” he said. The record singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Jack chew them up and spit them out. We get label was skeptical, but eventually relented. White’s head during soundcheck before that all the time—people wanting our songs White’s instincts were soon validated: “Army” a gig at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, for commercials, wanting to know what the became a breakthrough hit for the duo, won Australia, on Jan. 29, 2002. White was inside of Meg’s bathroom looks like.” a Grammy for Best Rock Song and has been tooling around with his 1950s-style Kay The White Stripes recorded “Seven covered by acts as diverse as Metallica, Kelly Hollow Body guitar when he hit upon a Nation Army,” along with the rest of its Clarkson, Audioslave, Jamie Cullum, the simple but compelling seven-note riff. To Elephant album, at Toe Rag Studios in Flaming Lips and the Oak Ridge Boys. “It keep it fresh in his memory, White gave London, a fully analog facility that suited feels good,” White has said of the song’s the nascent song the ﬁ rst working title that White’s less-is-more recording philosophy. success. “I’m happy that something connects popped into his head: “Seven Nation Army,” White’s rumbling opening riff sounds like a with other people. That’s what we’re trying to which he remembered as his own childhood bass guitar, but is in fact his semi-acoustic six- do: connect with other people.” mishearing of “Salvation Army.” “I thought string running through a DigiTech Whammy –Chris Neal 78 M7_Mag_beta7.indd 78 11/17/10 11:53 PM.

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