The White Stripes
Since they officially announced their breakup a few days ago, here’s a list of 10 of my favorite White Stripes songs. Truth be told, while I loved White Blood Cells and Elephant when they came out and I love the first two albums as well, my enthusiasm for them had definitely waned since then but it never completely faltered and those early records still stand up well while even their last few weren’t bad, either, and had some great moments. Regardless, they left behind a bunch of killer tunes and here are some of them. I purposely included only their originals since I’d need an entirely new list to include some of their many wonderful cover versions.
The White Stripes – “The Big Three Killed My Baby”
A brilliant anti-Big Three screed from their self-titled debut foreshadows the government bailout of GM a decade later and is quite appropriate for a band that started in their native Detroit. Plus, it quotes Black Flag ‘s “Nervous Breakdown”!
The White Stripes – “Astro”
Another cut from their self-titled debut, this one imagines a futuristic dance craze perhaps inspired by the dog on the Jetsons? Regardless, any song this catchy that namechecks both Nicola Tesla and Angus Young is OK in my book.
The White Stripes – “You’re Pretty Good Looking”
The opening cut on their second (and in my opinion best) album De Stijl imagines Jack White and Meg White recast as The Kinks circa 1965 or so. It also has an amazing bridge.
The White Stripes – “Apple Blossom”
This track from De Stijl is, along with “Sugar Never Tasted So Good” and “Suzy Lee” from their debut, one of the first tracks they did that shows that they were capable of more than just bluesy garage-punk. This quiet, almost musichall-ish track features Jack White on piano and goes more for the heartstrings than the jugular.
The White Stripes – “Fell in Love with a Girl”
It would be foolish not to include this breakout hit from their 3rd album, the breakthrough White Blood Cells. Not only is it an amazing song that’s the closest the Whites ever got to emulating a Buzzcocks track, but it also put them on the map and has a pretty nifty video to boot.
The White Stripes – “We’re Going to Be Friends”
A beautiful ballad in the vein of “Apple Blossom” (see entry #4 on this week’s list), this track from White Blood Cells is even better. It recasts Jack White, in his mid 20s at the time, as a pre-teen schoolboy trying to win the affection of a girl. In this way, it’s closer to Big Star ‘s “Thirteen” or a Jonathan Richman track than what’s stereotypically thought of as “garage rock” and yet more proof that they were moving away from the form or perhaps they never adhered to it all that strictly to begin with.
The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
Again, this is a rather obvious choice, but it must be included here if I’m being honest. If “Fell in Love with a Girl” launched them into the spotlight, this opening cut from their fourth album Elephant launched them into the stratosphere, their 1st of only 3 U.S. Top 100 hit and #1 on the “Modern Rock” chart. Massively popular at soccer stadiums in Europe, in recent days it’s also been linked to the pro-democracy protests in Egypt. You can read more about that here.
The White Stripes – “In the Cold, Cold Night”
Other than Elephant‘s closer “Well It’s True That We Love One Another”, this is the only White Stripes song that features drummer Meg White on vocals. On this one, though she takes over lead vocals for the entire song and the result is almost Mo Tucker -like ala “After Hours” from the third, self-titled Velvet Underground album. I like this song quite a bit, but honestly I mostly put it on here as an antidote to those who have criticized Meg’s drumming. Sure, it may be “simple”, but it was absolutely perfect for The White Stripes.
The White Stripes – “The Nurse”
I was going back and forth between including either this one or the closing track from 2005’s Get Me Behind Satan, the wonderful “I’m Lonely But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet”. While the latter is a beautiful, piano-driven ballad, “The Nurse” is one of two tracks on Get Me Behind Me Satan that features Jack on marimba, perhaps a result of the influence of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band ‘s Safe as Milk. Though not a favorite, Get Behind Me Satan is a solid album that featured Jack and Meg adding new instrumentation and stretching out into uncharted territory.
The White Stripes – “Icky Thump”
The sixth and final White Stripes album, 2007’s Icky Thump, is easily my least favorite album in their catalog. Regardless, it’s still enjoyable and this title track is notable for marrying ’70s classic rock riffs with bagpipes and a wonderful line in one of the verses that brilliantly satirizes anti-immigration sentiment with the line “Why don’t you kick yourself out, you’re an immigrant, too”. Indeed.
