Tag: Meg White

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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The Original vs. The Cover – “Jolene”

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For the next installment of The Original vs. The Cover we are giving some love to “Jolene” written by Dolly Parton. In fact, she wrote this song the same day she wrote “I Will Always Love You” which would make another great The Original vs. The Cover post. The song was recorded on May 22, 1973 and released October 15th of the same year which became her 2nd #1 solo song. The cover is from The White Stripes and we are going with the studio cover and not the live version as a tough comparison with the live track. The studio track was originally the B-Side to their song “Hello Operator” but was finally issued on their greatest hits album.

The song was inspired by a bank teller that was flirting with Dolly’s husband when the two first got married. Apparently it really bothered her. The physical description of Jolene and here name though were taken from a fan of hers that came running up on stage to get an autograph. The song has Dolly pleading to Jolene to not steal her man as she can’t compete with her beauty, but we know that Dolly and her man are still together today. So she won out in the end.

DOLLY PARTON:

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My Sunday Song – “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

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My Sunday Song #63 is from The White Stripes.  The song is “Seven Nation Army” and is one of their most popular songs.  It is off their fourth album, ‘Elephant’, and went on to hit #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks back in 2003.

What I love about The White Stripes is the quirkiness of the songs and the band itself.  The band only consists of two people, Jack and Meg White.  They were husband and wife at one time, but have since divorced.  The band is no more, but thankfully, their music lives one.

The song that resonated most with me from them was “Seven Nation Army”.  The song was a standout because of that bass line riff that starts off the song and plays throughout.  Imagine my surprise to learn that was not a bass.  The band doesn’t ever use a bass in their music.  They only use a drum and guitar.  According to Wikipedia, to get that effect, Jack White’s semi-acoustic, 1950s-style Kay Hollow body guitar was run through a DigiTech Whammy pedal which was set down an octave.  It is a really cool sound.

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