“It doesn’t make sense”: The song Jack White thought would put people to sleep
For most rockstars, behind the bravado of the breakneck and experimental lifestyle, there’s often a method to the madness. However, in the case of Jack White, both extremes can ring true – he’s eloquent and precise in talking through his processes and musicality, but when it comes to stepping on stage, any possibility is there for the taking.
He’s famed for playing shows without a setlist, basically treating audiences to whatever takes his fancy on any particular night. Everything from the electric garage rock thrill of The White Stripes to the folk-infused offerings of his plethora of solo efforts is on the table, but within this, there’s a song that’s garnered cult classic status among the Michigan man’s adoring followers. The only issue is, he doesn’t really understand why.
When dissecting a selection of his off-the-cuff live choices for Rolling Stone in 2018, White admitted that fan favourite ‘Why Walk a Dog?’, taken from the album Boarding House Reach released that year, was a song whose reception blindsided him somewhat. “I thought it was gonna put everyone to sleep because it’s so slow,” he confessed.
Pacing-wise, he’s right that it’s not exactly on the same energy par as something like The White Stripes’ 2001 breakout hit, ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’. There’s only a short burst of electric in the song’s two-and-a-half-minute span, and overall, it’s resoundingly moodier than anything he created at the beginning of the 2000s. “But people keep saying it’s one of their favourites,” he explained. “It doesn’t make sense to me. They must be getting something out of it.”
Indeed, they do because the White diehards lap up this metaphorical alternative country muse with fervour. It’s perhaps rooted in the process of maturing and ageing – the teenage thrashers of the early millennium are now middle-aged connoisseurs of eclectic rock taste, of which this warping ballad is a fine example. Sonic aspects aside, lyrically, the song is deceivingly simple but simultaneously explores the moral and philosophical depths of humans’ relationship with animals. It’s rock music meets literary criticism – and it’s piecing together the parts of this complex puzzle that goes some way in explaining its acclaim.
Although White might not grasp this sleuthing appeal, in many ways ‘Why Walk a Dog?’ epitomises his exact unique selling point within the rock and roll landscape – experimentation. Known for his array of instrumental prowess in everything from guitar and bass to piano and mandolin, the frontman places musicality at the helm of his brand, granting him all the commercial success in his breakout heyday to now having a legion cult following that only the best-seasoned rockers can produce.
Ultimately, much of Jack White’s more recent work can be summed up by the notion of enigma. Gone are the days of bold, explosive love and lust; here, they are replaced with rumbling ruminations on the human condition and life’s existential questions. It’s the mark of a rockstar, still yet to reach 50, whose legacy is firmly stamped – because no matter what he does, the fans will always ride with him.
