Your view on: The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

[fange]

A bit of a departure here from my usual YVO choices, choosing a single rather than an album, but i reckon it's more than justified with 'SNA'; you can very justifiably say it's one of the most import rock songs of this century.

Written and produced by White and released in 2003, it exploded everywhere, winning awards all over the shop for the music and for its video.





What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?


Where does it stand for you in terms of their catalogue, and in the wider music landscape since?


What do you think of the music video?

[DayoRemix]

This is what I said on here in 2020 about the Stripes and it still holds true:

"Decent singles here and there, but the albums are slogs..There are certain aspects of his histrionics that become grating in the long haul.."

This single is their best by a long stretch. It was smart to use effects to tone down the whiny aspects of his vocals. The bass riff, which is not an actual bass, but a semi-acoustic guitar hooked up to a whammy pedal to manipulate the pitch, propels the track. A pretty nifty trick. Combine that with a solid heartbeat drum and it moves nicely. The entire track's mood feels slightly menacing, which is a plus. I'd rate it as pretty good, unlike the majority of their material. I knew about them long before this track and this seemed like a decent progression. (Too bad it didn't make me like them more going forward)

In terms of the video, think it's a good way to present the song. The kaleidoscope effect matches the beat.

[fearlessfreap]

I’ve mentioned my dislike of this band for close to 25 years. I used to focus on the incompetent 3 year old banging on kitchen pots drumming, but over the years, the warbling vocals took center stage for my distaste. I disliked the whole garage rock and post punk revivals- this was the end of rock for me. Seven Nation Army was one of their better ones, though, it rises to the level of “meh.”

[Sneelock]

meh for me too.
I can appreciate that it sounds like he's using tube amps and stuff.
he likes music I like - you can tell. I like the music he likes better than the music he makes.
file under: Lenny Kravitz Syndrome

[oh oooh]

You're all horrible snobs. I like Lenny Kravitz and I like this.

They did a version at some MTV awards show and it was really something. There's a ghostly, magical thing there that you just don't get with most 'modern' artists. At least with this one. They tapped into something.

[Sneelock]

I forgot the FUN part!

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?
it was like Queens of the Stone Age. everybody was talking about them until they stopped. I'd be diplomatic - "uh, pretty good, I guess"

Where does it stand for you in terms of their catalogue, and in the wider music landscape since?
well "elephant" is as good as they got, wasn't it? it was confident and stood out a bit - I'll give it that much.


What do you think of the music video?
it's a good one. it suits the song and it's striking to look at. it DOES make it rather hard to miss Meg's lack of ability when compared to other drummers in rock videos (I'm looking at YOU Def Leppard Guy)

I don't really dig Jack's whole "Edward Scissorhands" thing.

[DarknessFish]

You know, The White Stripes pretty much passed me by unnoticed, I reckon this and possibly one other track (Hotel Yorba??) are the only things I could recognise. I've heard others, I guess, but they didn't impinge upon my consciousness.

Yeah, it's a class track. Simple, effective, catchy. Did quite well commercially, I suspect.

[adamcoan]

"Decent singles here and there, but the albums are slogs..There are certain aspects of his histrionics that become grating in the long haul.."

Sense

I like Lenny Kravitz

Nonsense.

That was a good track.

[Stacy Heydon]

It's a very memorable riff. That's it really.

[fange]

Selling it a bit short there i think, G. The riff is stellar, sure, but without a good "package" around it it wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is (in my opinion, of course).

I love it. A little goes a long way for me with the WS, but this is a killer. Great sound, powerful performance captured, electric guitaring, fun and witty word play, and all with no proper chorus.

A solid-gold classic.

[Stacy Heydon]

I can see it's a very good track for someone, just not for me.

[sloopjohnc]

Good. I do not White's voice most of the time. Sometimes the music and the riffs make me overlook his whiny ass singing voice.

[toomanyhatz]

I'm with Fange.

I will also point out that the riff is beyond memorable. It's classic. You don't get a lot of those these days.

I've always loved the thing to death, and think Elephant is one of the best albums of the last 20 years. Outside of that I like them, but this is the peak for me.

[loveless]

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?



I bought Elephant the day it came out in 2003. I'd really loved the previous record (White Blood Cells), and...I was primed for it. In terms of the big hit single...well, barring five minutes ago, I haven't deliberately listened to it in 21 years. So...I guess I got my fill real quick. It wasn't my favorite song by them or on that album, BUT - yeah, it's undeniable in its way. Most music makers would kill to create something that direct, hooky, identifiable, evergreen. It's a dumb riff (and I mean that as a compliment of the highest order), and...they were lucky to birth it. It really is like this calling card, and...even having tuned the song out for over two decades, you say "Seven Nation Army", and it immediately comes to mind. I like the dynamic iterations (the "faux single note bass", the sound of the chords playing the riff in parallel, and the creamy lead slide gtr. iteration). I voted "good", but...it teeters in some personal neverland hovering between "good", "great", and "meh" (all legitimate responses - the notion that a little goes a long way is difficult to shake, and yet...the repetitive simplicity is 100% a virtue).

I think it bears mentioning that this album was recorded on an 8 track tape machine, which...at the time, was a bold and ballsy and deliberate move. "Kicking against the pricks", if you will. The dry guitar and drum sounds, the immediacy of the whole thing - I absolutely applaud it. 10 years later you'd have people like Grohl talking sort of gormlessly on awards shows about "a garage, with real fuckin' tape and real microphones, man" and...I cringe to even remember it, but...there's a huge difference between a lip-service performative gesture and an honest to goodness sonic aesthetic. And, yeah, I suppose I'm happy that something made with such deliberate limitations has ended up becoming this deathless avatar.


Where does it stand for you in terms of their catalogue, and in the wider music landscape since?



For me? I know it's their big hit, but...if I had a go to White Stripes track in 2024, it wouldn't be "7NA". Something like "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" might be more to my tastes. 

In the contest of music at large? It's a one off. Whatever another band could have learned from it, they didn't. I'm sure the likes of the Killers or Franz Ferdinand went looking for their own dumb riff. They may still be looking.


What do you think of the music video?

No strong feeling, really.

[osgood]

Seven Nation Army was my immediate pick for the 2003 Preludin Canon, so you can guess my feelings about this track. Of course it's the riff, dumb or otherwise, but also how it's been used along the tune. I disagree with fange's statement that the song has no chorus, I think the 'loud' riff assumes that role. The verses are constructed in a way that is building up the expectations that finally get resolved when the loud guitar plays the riff. Exactly what you would expect from a good chorus.

I like the video too, perfectly suited for the song.