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Seven Nation Army

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"Seven Nation Army"
Single by the White Stripes
from the album Elephant
B-side"Good to Me"
ReleasedFebruary 17, 2003 (2003-02-17)
RecordedApril 2002[1]
StudioToe Rag Studios, London
Genre
Length3:52
Label
Songwriter(s)Jack White
Producer(s)Jack White
The White Stripes singles chronology
"Candy Cane Children"
(2002) 		"Seven Nation Army"
(2003) 		"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"
(2003)
Music video
"Seven Nation Army" at YouTube

"Seven Nation Army" (also stylized as "7 Nation Army") is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Elephant, in March 2003, and reached number one on the Alternative Songs chart for three weeks in a row. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

Background[change | change source]

"Seven Nation Army" began with a guitar riff created by singer and guitarist Jack White at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, while the White Stripes were on the Australian part of their tour in January 2002.[2] He showed the riff to Ben Swank, an executive with the White Stripes' record label Third Man, who felt White could "do better".[2] White later said that Swank "didn't even think that rhythm was that great, either".[3]

White originally wanted to use the riff for a possible James Bond theme, however decided to use it into a White Stripes song after saying how slim his chances were of ever being asked to create a Bond theme.[2] (Five years later, he would write and perform "Another Way to Die" with Alicia Keys as the theme for the 2008 Bond movie Quantum of Solace).[2]

"Seven Nation Army" is seen as an alternative rock,[4] garage rock,[5] blues rock[6] and punk blues.[5] The song is three minutes and 52 seconds.

The title of the song comes from when Jack White, as a young child in Detroit, misheard "The Salvation Army" as "The Seven Nation Army".[7]

Reception[change | change source]

The song became popular in multiple countries. Critics liked the song because of its distinctive riff and drumbeat and some have called the song one of the best songs of all time.[8][9] and Pitchfork's[10] In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Seven Nation Army" 36th on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[11]

Popularity[change | change source]

"Seven Nation Army" has become a sports anthem. Audience at these events tend to chant the song in which they yell "oh" sounds or the name of an athlete is sung to the tune of the song's riff. It has also has became a theme song for sports teams, personalities, and events, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[12]

Following a speech by Jeremy Corbyn at Wirral Live music festival in May 2017, supporters in the audience began to chant Corbyn's name to the tune of the song's riff. This was repeated on several times in the run-up to the British general election 2017, and afterwards at the 2017 Glastonbury Festival, where Corbyn appeared on the Pyramid stage.[13][14]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Gallucci, Michael (April 2023). "20 Years Ago: White Stripes Spark a Rock Revolution on 'Elephant'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Martin, Dan (May 13, 2013). "20 Things You Might Not Know About 'Seven Nation Army'". NME. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ Boilen, Bob (April 17, 2012). "Jack White: How I Made 'Blunderbuss'". NPR (video). Retrieved September 1, 2018. 17 minutes, 11 seconds in.
  4. ↑ Angermiller, Michele Amabile (August 14, 2015). "Watch Haley Reinhart & Postmodern Jukebox's Jazzy 'Seven Nation Army' Cover". Billboard. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Maginnis, Tom. "Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes". AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  6. ↑ Brown, Helen (September 11, 2017). "The story behind 'Seven Nation Army', an anthem of the World Cup football terraces". Financial Times. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Music | True believers". Archived from the original on June 20, 2003.
  8. ↑ "200 Best Songs Of The 00s". NME. May 29, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  9. ↑ "WFNX's top 101 songs of the decade". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  10. ↑ "The 200 Best Songs of the 2000s". Pitchfork. August 21, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  11. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far". Rolling Stone. June 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ Siegel, Alan (June 13, 2012). "How The Song 'Seven Nation Army' Conquered The Sports World". Deadspin. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn!': how the Labour chant all started". The Guardian. London, UK. June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Watch Wolf Alice cover 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' at anti-Tory demonstration". Dork Magazine. Hastings, UK. July 1, 2017. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
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