Seven Nation Army

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"Seven Nation Army"
Single by The White Stripes
from the album Elephant
Released	May 13, 2003 (UK)
Format	CD, 7"
Recorded	???
Genre	Alternative
Length	3 min 52 s
Label	XL Recordings V2 Records (CD radio promo)
Producer(s)	Jack White
Chart positions
#7 (UK) #17 (Australia) #76 (USA) #1 (U.S. Modern Rock Tracks) #12 (U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks)
The White Stripes singles chronology
"Candy Cane Children" (2002)	"Seven Nation Army " (2003)	"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (2003)

"Seven Nation Army" is the first track on the album Elephant by American rock band The White Stripes. It was released as a single in 2003, and won a Grammy for Best Rock Song. The song is known for its underlying riff, which plays throughout most of the song. Although it sounds like a bass guitar (an instrument the group had famously never previously used), the sound is actually created by running Jack White's semi-acoustic guitar (a 1950s style Kay Hollowbody) through a whammy pedal set down an octave. The riff was composed at a sound check before a show at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia, according to the set notes in the Booklet which accompanied the Under Blackpool Lights DVD. According to White, "Seven Nation Army" was what he used to call the Salvation Army as a child.^[1]

It has been covered by many rock bands, including Audioslave, The Hives, HARD-Fi, The Flaming Lips, and Metallica. British soul singer Joss Stone has also covered the song. British alternative jazz musician Jamie Cullum also performs the song in some of his live acts.

During his Rap©ital tour, in 2005, the Italian rapper Frankie Hi-NRG MC also covered the song using Fight da faida vocals, song contained in his album Verba manent.

The main riff of the song has turned into a popular chant that has become a staple at various sporting events around the world. "Seven Nation Army" was first sung during the Champions League matches of Bruges F.C. in the season 2003-2004. After the Uefa Cup match between Bruges F.C. and A.S. Roma, the Roma fans have introduced the song in Italy^[2].

Italian football fans often chant the song's signature guitar riff, most notably during Italy's victory in the FIFA World Cup 2006. About 10 million Italians were supposedly singing the song across the nation the night following the championship game^[3]. Coincidentally, in order to win the World Cup, a team has to play against seven different nations. The after-Cup success of the track led it to a second Italian Top Ten entry, peaking at #3.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 8 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2005, NME placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 5 in its list of the 50 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 CD 1.2 7" 1.3 7" (Promo) 1.4 CD (Radio Promo) 2 Music video 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Track listing

[edit] CD

1. "Seven Nation Army" - 3:52
2. "Good to Me" - 2:06
3. "Black Jack Davey" - 5:06

[edit] 7"

1. "Seven Nation Army" - 3:52
2. "Good to Me" - 2:06

[edit] 7" (Promo)

1. "Seven Nation Army" - 3:52
2. "In The Cold, Cold Night" - 2:58

[edit] CD (Radio Promo)

1. "Seven Nation Army" - 3:52

[edit] Music video

The video, directed by Alex and Martin, consists of one seemingly continuous shot through a tunnel of mirrored black, white and red triangles, each containing a picture of either Jack or Meg playing. During the video, when the song reaches a rockish point, lights flash. Images of walking skeleton soldiers (a reference to Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts) also appear regularly. An elephant (referring to the name of their album) appears once near the end. As the pace of the song speeds up, the speed that you are apparently traveling through the tunnel speeds up, and as it slows, the speed through the tunnel slows.

[edit] Trivia

• The track was sampled by the rapper, Apathy for his 12" single entitled It Takes A Seven Nation Army To Hold Us Back.

• The Flaming Lips recorded a version of Seven Nation Army, dubbed "Harry Potter's and George W. Bush's Severed Head Army Mix". The lyrics to this version were evidently inspired by the Butthole Surfers song, "Moving To Florida".

• Following the success of the riff used by the tifosi of Italian national football team, fans of Melbourne Victory FC in Australia's A-League have begun to also use the riff at games. The widespread use of this was largely influenced by the tifosi of Italian national football team, with several fans of Melbourne Victory attending the World Cup, and taking it home and adapting it at Melbourne Victory games.

• The Hives performed this song as a part of a medley, when they got to choose their favourite songs the recent years, when Swedish musicshow "Musikbyrån" celebrated 10 years.

• Metallica performed this song also as a part of a medley during the MTV VMA's 2003.

• The Veronicas also performed this song as part of a medley during shows on their US tour in February 2006

• Freddy De Vadder has famously parodied the song known in Belgium as "De flikken zin min moaten" (Eng: The cops are my friends), starting the song with his trademark sentence: 'k Goan up joen mulle slaon (Eng: I'm going to hit you on the face).

• The band AFI performed a cover of this song at a show on December 12, 2006.

• Occasionally, during home football games, the Penn State Blue Band will play their rendition of Seven Nation Army as the team is driving down the field.

[edit] References

1. ^
2. ^ Belgian Newspaper, De Standaard
3. ^ Sports Illustrated staff writer (2006)."Totti's time" SportsIllustrated.com (accessed July 11, 2006)

[edit] External links

• MoreThings Al Barger's notes on the song.
• White Stripes.net. Retrieved September 9th, 2005.
• White Stripes.net FAQ Retrieved September 17th, 2005.
• "Seven Nation Army" remix, with commentary from Italian sports commentator Fabio Caressa

Preceded by "Send the Pain Below" by Chevelle

Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single July 12, 2003

Succeeded by "Just Because" by Jane's Addiction

The White Stripes
Jack White | Meg White
Discography
Albums and extended plays: The White Stripes | De Stijl | White Blood Cells | Elephant | Get Behind Me Satan | Walking with a Ghost | Icky Thump
Singles: "Let's Shake Hands" | "Lafayette Blues" | "The Big Three Killed My Baby" | "Hand Springs" | "Hello Operator" | "Lord, Send Me an Angel" | "Party of Special Things to Do" | "Hotel Yorba" | "Fell in Love with a Girl" | "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" | "We're Going to Be Friends" | "Red Death at 6:14" | "Candy Cane Children" | "Seven Nation Army" | "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" | "The Hardest Button to Button" | "There's No Home for You Here" | "Jolene (Live Under Blackpool Lights)" | "Blue Orchid" | "My Doorbell" | "The Denial Twist"
DVDs: Candy Coloured Blues (unofficial) | Under Blackpool Lights
Other projects: Aluminium | The Go
Related articles
Third Man Records | Ian Montone | Triple Inchophone | The Raconteurs
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