Seven Nation Army
Encyclopedia
"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
.
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.
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
, French soul
singer Ben l'Oncle Soul
, hard rock
band The Pretty Reckless
and pop
singer Kelly Clarkson
.
, 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.
The 7" single only contains the first two tracks.
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
, "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".
and of the Euro 2008. This song was used many times during the baseball documentary 10th Inning by Ken Burns. The song is also played at home games of Australian team Melbourne Victory following a team goal, the song has become an almost un-official anthem for the club's fans. 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:
The song has also become increasingly popular at American college football games, being used at many large venues throughout the country.
|-
! Country
! Certifications
(sales thresholds)
|-
|Germany
|Gold
Elephant (album)
Elephant is the Grammy winning fourth album by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album marks the band's major label debut...
by American
American music
The music of the Americas is very diverse since, in addition to many types of Native American music, the music of Africa and the music of Europe have been found there for some five centuries, creating many hybrid forms that have influenced the popular music of the world.-See also:*Canadian...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
. It was released as a single in 2003. "Seven Nation Army" reached #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
for three weeks and won 2004's Grammy Award
Grammy Awards of 2004
The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The big winners were Outkast, who won three awards including Album of the Year & Beyoncé Knowles, who won 5 Awards...
for Best Rock Song. The song is known for its underlying riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, which plays throughout most of the song. Although it sounds like a bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(an instrument the group had never previously used), the sound is actually created by running Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
'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
Corner Hotel, Richmond
The Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria is one of Melbourne's most popular and respected medium-sized rock venues. In 2005 it celebrated its 10th anniversary with the current owners , however it has been a pub since the 19th century and a live music venue since the 1940s.-History:In 1871 David and...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, according to the set notes in the booklet which accompanied the Under Blackpool Lights
Under Blackpool Lights
Under Blackpool Lights is the first official DVD released by The White Stripes. It has since been out of print and hailed as a must for White Stripes fans....
DVD. This riff was inspired by the main theme of Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
's Fifth symphony
Symphony No. 5 (Bruckner)
The Symphony No. 5 in B flat major of Anton Bruckner was written in 1875–1876, with a few minor changes over the next few years. It was first performed in public on two pianos by Joseph Schalk and Franz Zottmann on 20 April 1887 at the Bösendorfersaal in Vienna...
.
According to White, "Seven Nation Army" is what he used to call the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
as a child. The song ranked #1 on UpVenue's 10 best The White Stripes songs.
The song has been covered by the country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
group The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
, funk metal
Funk metal
Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...
band Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
supergroup Audioslave
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...
, indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Hard-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
, French soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer Ben l'Oncle Soul
Ben l'Oncle Soul
Ben l'Oncle Soul is a French soul singer and songwriter.After graduating in 2004, he started singing in a gospel group called Fitiavana. He often wears a bow tie like Uncle Ben from Uncle Ben's Rice...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Reckless are an American rock band from New York. The current members are Taylor Momsen , Ben Phillips , Mark Damon and Jamie Perkins ....
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
.
Music video
The video, directed by Alex and MartinAlex and Martin
Alex and Martin were a music video directing duo consisting of Alex Courtes and Martin Fougerol. They directed several music videos with artists such as The White Stripes and U2....
, consists of one seemingly continuous shot through a kaleidoscopic
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...
tunnel of mirrored black, white and red triangles, touching on Jack's love of the number three. Some triangle slides contain images of Jack
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
or Meg
Meg White
Megan Martha "Meg" White is an American drummer best known for her work in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes.-Early life:...
playing, and at some points marching skeletons
Human skeleton
The human skeleton consists of both fused and individual bones supported and supplemented by ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage. It serves as a scaffold which supports organs, anchors muscles, and protects organs such as the brain, lungs and heart....
and an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
can be seen, referring to the name of the album
Elephant (album)
Elephant is the Grammy winning fourth album by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album marks the band's major label debut...
"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
- "Seven Nation Army" (Jack White)
- "Good to Me" (Brendan BensonBrendan BensonBrendan Benson is an American musician and songwriter. He sings and plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released four solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs....
/Jason FalknerJason FalknerJason Falkner is an American pop and rock musician. Active since the late 1980s, he has performed with several bands. In addition to releasing several albums as a solo artist, he is a prolific session musician and producer who has contributed to dozens of other recordings by other bands and...
) - "Black Jack DaveyThe Gypsy Laddie"The Gypsy Laddie" , also known as "Black Jack Davy" and "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies" among many other titles, is a Border ballad , possibly written about 1720 on the Scottish side of the border...
" (Traditional)
The 7" single only contains the first two tracks.
Critical
This song was number six on Rolling StoneIn March 2005, Q magazine placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 8 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In September 2005, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
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
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
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
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. The song was also listed at #30 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
'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
WFNX
WFNX is a New England commercial alternative rock radio station. The station began broadcasting on Monday, April 11, 1983. It was one of the first American commercial stations to play alternative rock and has become a leading radio station for breaking new alternative music.WFNX broadcasts on 101.7...
Radio.
On Rolling Stone
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
, "Seven Nation Army" was listed at number 286. It was also ranked #1 on Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade. In October 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 23 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Popular
The song is very popular in European football stadiums even becoming the anthem of the Italians' world cup win in 20062006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
and of the Euro 2008. This song was used many times during the baseball documentary 10th Inning by Ken Burns. The song is also played at home games of Australian team Melbourne Victory following a team goal, the song has become an almost un-official anthem for the club's fans. It was also featured on the February 1, 2011 broadcast of Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, where it was linked to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 and is still continuing as of November 2011. The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil...
then occurring in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Speaking with Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy, host Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
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. MubarakHosni MubarakMuhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
shuts down the internet, shuts down the train system, shuts down almost the entire country, and still they come. It’s beautiful.
The song has also become increasingly popular at American college football games, being used at many large venues throughout the country.
Chart performance
| Chart (2003–2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Charts ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
17 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 18 |
| German Singles Chart | 4 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
22 |
| Dutch Mega Top 50 | 22 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
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 Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
57 |
Certifications
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Country
! Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
(sales thresholds)
|-
|Germany
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
|Gold
External links
- White Stripes.net. Retrieved September 9, 2005.
- White Stripes.net FAQ Retrieved September 17, 2005.