Seven Nation Army

"Seven Nation Army"
Single by The White Stripes
from the album Elephant
B-side	"Good to Me"
Released	March 7, 2003 (US) May 12, 2003 (UK)
Format	CD, 7"
Recorded	Toe Rag Studios, London April 2002
Genre	Garage rock, alternative rock
Length	3:52
Label	XL Recordings V2 Records (CD radio promo)
Writer(s)	Jack White
Producer	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)

"Seven Nation Army" is the first track on the album Elephant by American alternative rock band The White Stripes. It was released as a single in 2003. "Seven Nation Army" reached #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks for three weeks and won 2004's Grammy Award 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 never previously used), the sound is actually created by running Jack White's semi-acoustic guitar (a 1950s style Kay Hollowbody) through a DigiTech 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. This riff was inspired by the main theme of Anton Bruckner's Fifth symphony.^{[citation needed]}

According to White, "Seven Nation Army" is what he used to call the Salvation Army as a child. The song ranked #1 on UpVenue's 10 best The White Stripes songs.

Music video

The video, directed by Alex and Martin, consists of one seemingly continuous shot through a kaleidoscopic tunnel of mirrored black, white and red triangles, touching on Jack's love of the number three. Some triangle slides contain images of Jack or Meg playing, and at some points marching skeletons and an elephant can be seen, referring to the name of the album "Seven Nation Army" appeared on. As the pace of the song speeds up, the speed that one triangle passes through the tunnel speeds up, and as it slows, the speed through the tunnel slows in unison. During the video, when the song begins to intensify, the lights in surrounding the triangles flash and other effects build up as well.

Single track listing

1. "Seven Nation Army" (Jack White)
2. "Good to Me" (Brendan Benson/Jason Falkner)
3. "Black Jack Davey" (Traditional)

The 7" single only contains the first two tracks.

Reception

Critical

This song was number six on Rolling Stone's 2009 list of the 50 Best Songs of the Decade. In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 8 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In September 2005, NME placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 5 in its list of the 50 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade. It was also called the 75th greatest hard rock song by VH1. In May 2008, Rolling Stone placed this song at number 21 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. "Seven Nation Army" also earned 20th place in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. The song was also listed at #30 on Pitchfork Media's top 500 songs of the 2000s, and at number 2 in Observer Music Monthly's top 75 songs of the decade, behind Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love". It also came in second on Channel V Australia's top 1000 songs of the 00s. In 2009, US website Consequence of Sound named this as their top rock track of the 2000s, as did Boston's WFNX Radio. On Rolling Stone's updated version of their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Seven Nation Army" was listed at number 286. It was also ranked #1 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 23 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Popularity

Sporting events

The song is very popular in European football stadiums even becoming the anthem of Italy's World Cup win in 2006 and of the Euro 2008. Its emergence as a popular sporting anthem can be traced to a bar in Milan, Italy where on October 22, 2003 supporters of Club Brugge K.V. overheard the song while preparing for a UEFA Champions League group match against A.C. Milan and began to sing along. After a 0-1 upset win, the fans brought the song back with them to Belgium, where Brugge began playing it during matches. After Brugge hosted A.S. Roma in a UEFA Cup match on February 15, 2006, the Italian side brought the song back home with them. By the time the World Cup had began in June, the song had become the national team's unofficial anthem.

In response to the song's popularity in Italy, Jack White said:

I am honored that the Italians have adopted this song as their own... Nothing is more beautiful than when people embrace a melody and allow it to enter the pantheon of folk music. As a songwriter it is something impossible to plan. Especially in modern times. I love that most people who are chanting it have no idea where it came from. That's folk music.

The song is also played at home games of A-League team Melbourne Victory following a team goal, the song has become an almost un-official anthem for the club's fans.

The song has also become increasingly popular at American college football games, being used at many large venues throughout the country, and it was used in 2011 at M&T Bank Stadium as the official hype-song for the Baltimore Ravens.

In other media

This song was used many times during the baseball documentary 10th Inning by Ken Burns.

As a protest song

It was also featured on the February 1, 2011 broadcast of Democracy Now!, where it was linked to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations then occurring in Egypt. Speaking with Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy, host Amy Goodman said "That music is in your ears and head all the time, you said, Mona," to which Eltahawy replied:

It’s a loop, Amy, because every time I hear the opening lines—"I’m going to fight them off. A seven-nation army couldn’t hold me back"—it just takes me to Egypt, where people—I’ve never seen anything like it. Literally, nothing can hold them back. Mubarak shuts down the internet, shuts down the train system, shuts down almost the entire country, and still they come. It’s beautiful.

Chart performance

Chart (2003–2008)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Charts	17
Austrian Singles Chart	18
German Singles Chart	4
Italian Singles Chart	3
Irish Singles Chart	22
Dutch Mega Top 50	22
UK Singles Chart	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	76
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	12
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2008)	Rank
German Singles Chart	57

Certifications

Country	Certifications (sales thresholds)
Germany	Gold

Cover versions

The song has been covered by the country group The Oak Ridge Boys, funk metal band Living Colour, rock supergroup Audioslave, indie band Hard-Fi, alternative rock band The Flaming Lips, English indie singer Kate Nash, French soul singer Ben l'Oncle Soul, hard rock band The Pretty Reckless, pop singer Kelly Clarkson and pop singer Marcus Collins from X Factor UK 2011.

Marcus Collins version

"Seven Nation Army"
Single by Marcus Collins
from the album Marcus Collins
B-side	"Break These Chains"
Released	March 4, 2012
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2011-12
Genre	Pop
Length	2:56
Label	RCA Records
Marcus Collins singles chronology
"Seven Nation Army" (2012) Mercy, Mercy (2012)

British singer and X Factor runner-up Marcus Collins covered the song as his debut single, in a version based on the cover by Ben l'Oncle Soul. It will be released in the United Kingdom on 4 March 2012, a week prior to his debut album Marcus Collins.

Marcus Collins, revealing that he has received a lot of abuse from White Stripes fans, said: "I know I can't please everyone. A lot of people have got opinions on it, but they can always listen to the White Stripes version. Why are they listening to me if they don't like it? Listen to the original if you don't like my singing. It's just the X Factor connection but, you know, why are people kicking off about it now?"

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Seven Nation Army" was first released onto YouTube on 16 February 2012 at a total length of two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Digital Spy

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy noted Collins' "distinctive soul-pop" vocals and wrote that, "Truth be told, we wish he'd fought a little harder to get one those eight original compositions he has on his forthcoming record out first."

Track listing

Digital download
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Seven Nation Army"	2:56
2.	"Break These Chains"	2:27

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
United Kingdom	4 March 2012	Digital download	RCA Records

External links

• White Stripes.net. Retrieved September 9, 2005.
• White Stripes.net FAQ Retrieved September 17, 2005.

References

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