Jack White compared ‘Seven Nation Army’ to a World War I anthem
The White Stripes’ hit ‘Seven Nation Army’ is not just a well-known song; it is a piece of musical history that has transcended music altogether and become something completely unique. The track, which is often played at sports events and chanted along with alternative lyrics, saw Jack White once sit down with Conan O’Brien to discuss the impact of his creation.
O’Brien recalled a time sitting with White at a Dodgers baseball game when the track was played on the loudspeaker. “They start to go [‘Seven Nation Army’ intro], and I’m just sitting there like, this has become an anthem that is ubiquitous across the globe, and everyone knows how it goes,” he said. “It’s one of the most famous licks, riffs, tunes, ever. I was just sitting there with you, going, oh right, this is you.”
White then opened up on how he felt a kinship with an old song that was popular with American soldiers during World War I. “It’s strange,” he said. “My mother was a huge fan of the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, and I still love it to this day. George M. Cohan had written the big World War I song ‘Over There’, and in the last scene, he walks out of the White House, and there’s a parade of soldiers singing ‘Over There’; he’s walking with them.”
The film was released in 1942 and told the story of George M Cohan, who was known as ‘The Man Who Owned Broadway’. Cohan had indeed written the famous song ‘Over There’, which was used to galvanise young American men to enlist in the Army and join the World Wars.
White continued to explain his kinship with the film, saying: “We’ve got a soldier next to him, James Cagney, he says, ‘what’s the matter, old timer? You don’t know this song?’ And he wrote it, and I think of that every time I hear ‘Seven Nation Army’ on a sports broadcast or TV. It has the same feeling.”
Evidently, there is a magic that occurs when a song like ‘Seven Nation Army’ transcends the artist and comfortably becomes the property of the people. “It’s not mine anymore; it becomes folk music when things like that happen. The more people don’t know where it came from, the happier I am. You know, the more ubiquitous it becomes,” White said. “I’m sure many people chanting the melody have no idea what the song is or where it came from or whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s amazing.”
White then noted that he did not ever think the song was going to become a hit and claimed that his label did not even want to release it as a single. “Other things we were working on, we thought were way more interesting,” he admitted. “No one ever knows; the label didn’t want to release it as a single. It just shows, even when you’ve got it right in front of your face, you still don’t know because you don’t know what’s going to connect with other people.”
