Tag: Immigration

My Sunday Song – “Icky Thump” by The White Stripes

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For My Sunday Song #463, we are going to talk the still applicable song today, “Icky Thump” by The White Stripes. Why do I say still applicable today? Well, the song is about immigration and was written back in the George Bush administration in 2007. As you know, immigration is a hot topic today with all the ICE raids and Border Patrol operations (who were recently in Charlotte arresting a lot of people). It is a topic that I don’t see going away anytime soon. The song was released on April 26, 2007 and went to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and even #1 on the Alternative Charts going Platinum selling over a 1 million copies. Very successful for sure.

The song was written by Jack and Meg White and they were really having fun this track. The title, ‘Icky Thump’ comes from a Northern English phrase called ‘Ecky Thump’ which are both euphemisms for the word ‘Hell’. I guess that means the song means Hell Hell. Jack is a staunch Democrat and was completely against all the immigration talk back in the day and wanted to remind everyone that the Whites in the U.S. were immigrants at one time too. If they have a problem with immigration they should kick themselves out for that very reason. He was pointing out the hypocrisy of it all. This whole idea of the song is still relevant today.

The song is about a guy that takes a trip to Mexico and has no problems going South into Mexico (unlike those trying to go North into the U.S.). He meets a woman who houses him and feeds him, but she then assaults him and holds him hostage. Which I am sure he greatly deserved. A very weird song lyrically, but the flow is something only Jack White can do.

Musically, it is pure garage rock with lots of distortion. Jack makes his guitar speak a language that is hard to fathom how he does it, In case you are wondering, Jack used a 1959 Univox synth and during the solo he used Zvex Wooly Mammoth and a DigiTech Whammy pedal to get that really cool sound. Meg’s drums were a constant pounding beat like a marching army. It is a rip roaring track that is everything I love about The White Stripes. It is amazing that these two people can make so much incredible music.

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Bon Jovi – ‘2020’ (2020) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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We are now on the 15th Studio album for Bon Jovi. It has been 4 years since their last one due to lack of inspiration or him needing a break. In 2019, the band started working on the new album in Nashville. Jon had recorded all the tracks on his phone and brought them to the studio where the band recorded 23 demo songs in just 11 days. They picked the best 10 and went to work on recording the final product. All was done. Until Covid-19 hit. Everything stopped.

During that time, a lot happened. Inspiration hit Jon and he wrote two more songs for the album. That meant a couple songs had to be cut. They were still used as bonus tracks on the deluxe edition. But those new songs and most of the songs on the album we Jon speaking his mind about world events, political events. The album feels like a Protest album. Jon is laying bear his thoughts and voicing an opinion. I will admit, I admire him for that, however, Bon Jovi is not a Protest band so the songs don’t feel like protest songs. They don’t have the power musically to get the point across. He isn’t Bruce Springsteen or Will Hoge (who writes a lot of protest songs and does them well). This is a band that wrote love songs and sexual songs. Yeah, he had Tommy and Gina, but those were stories. These stories fall flat coming from a band of such privilege.

And another problem is Jon’s vocals. You can tell something is wrong. He isn’t really singing anything. He is speaking more than anything. Now, we know of the problems he was facing. His throat was messed up and he needed surgery. At this point, I don’t think he was ready to admit he had a problem. I feel for him. It is his livelihood. It had to be difficult knowing you can’t do what you used to be able to do. This was the first album that I think I noticed something was wrong and/or different. And from the Bon Jovi documentary, we get to see the anguish and pain he was facing. You hate to see your heroes fall a little, if you know what I mean.

After some delays thanks to Covid, the album was released on October 2, 2020. They picked the name of the album, 2020, for two reasons. Jon was seeing clearly on what was going on in the world. And 2020 was the year of the Pandemic, George Floyd killing and a world of other problems. I think it is a fitting name for the album. The cover embodies that feeling as well. Looking at the cover, Jon looks like he is about to speak his mind as he is giving heavy thought. And look at this glasses as there is an American Flag reflected in the lenses.

The band is the same with Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres as well as Phil X and Hugh McDonald. Unfortunately, John Shanks is still the producer with Jon and it shows. Please replace Shanks as producer…PLEASE!!! The album would hit #19 on the Billboard charts and spawn five promotional singles. It wasn’t that successful overall. I bought it. My copy was released on December 4, 2020 and is the Double LP Gold Edition with 2 bonus tracks (the two songs left off the album and replaced by new ones). I love the effect on the vinyl, it looks like it bubbling up and wrinkling. Cool effect.

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