The Genius of... Jack White #10

So the last of the Genius series, for now at least. And what a tune to finish on...

#10: Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

Seven reasons why Seven Nation Army is one of the greatest rock songs ever written:

1. That riff. Simple but brilliant.
2. It has been adopted by football fans and teams worldwide: Bayern Munich, FC Brugge, AS Roma, Falkirk, Oldham, Melbourne Victory and the Italian national team. American football, cricket, baseball and basketball teams also use the song. 
3. It's been played by a ship. Yes - a ship!   
4. It's been linked to the pro-democracy uprising in Egypt.  
5. Rolling Stone, NME, Pitchfork, the Observer, Consequence of Sound and Rhapsody all named it as one of the best songs of the 00's. 
6. In just 12 years it has been covered hundreds of times by artists as diverse as the Flaming Lips, Metallica, Audioslave, Kate Nash, Kelly Clarkson and the Pretty Reckless, as well as a host of talent show wannabes who frankly don't deserve to even sing the song in the shower, let alone on TV. 
7. It's the White Stripes, dammit!

You just cannot have a series called The Genius Of Jack White and not feature Seven Nation Army. It has taken on a life of its own, something even White acknowledged when asked about its association with sports fans: "I love that most people who are chanting it have no idea where it came from. That's folk music." In a hundred years time, people will still be singing that riff, mark my words.




This post is dedicated to TheMadster (my eldest sprog), who you may know is a big Jack White fan. This week she was awarded female Sports Personality of the Year at her school's annual Sports Awards, and qualified for the regional heats of the Welsh Schools Athletics Championships at both 800m and 1500m. She deserves a tune, I reckon.