A seven nation army couldn't hold me back
They're gonna rip it off
Taking their time right behind my back
And I'm talking to myself at night
because I can't forget
Back and forth through my mind
behind a cigarette
And the message coming from my eyes
it says leave it alone
Don't want to hear about it
every single one's got a story to tell
Everyone knows about it from the Queen of England
to the hounds of hell
And if I catch it coming back my way
I'm gonna serve it to you
And that ain't what you want to hear,
but that's what I'll do
And the feeling coming from my bones
it says find a home
I'm going to Wichita
Far from this opera forever more
I'm gonna work the straw,
make the sweat drip out of every pore
And I'm pleading, and I'm pleading,
and I'm pleading right before the Lord
All the words are gonna bleed from me
and I will think no more
And the stains coming from my blood
tell me go back home
The White Stripes were an American rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, and vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, and vocals). They were a leading group of the 2000s indie rock and garage rock revival.
Beginning in the late 1990s, the White Stripes sought success within the Detroit music scene, releasing six singles and two studio albums, their self-titled debut album (1999) and De Stijl (2000). They rose to prominence with their critically acclaimed albums White Blood Cells (2001) and Elephant (2003), which propelled them to the forefront of the garage rock revival scene. The single "Seven Nation Army", which used a guitar and an octave pedal to create the opening riff, became one of their most recognizable songs. The band released two more albums, Get Behind Me Satan (2005) and Icky Thump (2007), and the documentary Under Great White Northern Lights (2009), before dissolving in 2011 after a lengthy hiatus from performing and recording.
The White Stripes used a low-fidelity approach to writing and recording. Their music featured a melding of garage rock and blues influences and a raw simplicity of composition, arrangement, and performance. The duo were also noted for their fashion and design aesthetic which featured a simple color scheme of red, white, and black—which was used on every album and single cover they released—as well as the duo's fascination with the number three. Their discography consists of six studio albums, two live albums, one extended play (EP), one concert film, one tour documentary, 26 singles, and 14 music videos.
Over the course of their career, the White Stripes earned numerous accolades, which include winning a Brit Award from six nominations, six Grammy Awards from eleven nominations, and six MTV Video Music Awards from eighteen nominations. Two of their albums have been included on various editions of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 2015, the same publication named them the sixth greatest duo of all time. In 2023, in their first year of eligibility, the White Stripes were nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but were not inducted.
