“Seven Nation Army”: How a tuning before a concert became the anthem of the stadiums

2003. Rock gets a second wind. A blessed era carried by the indie riffs of the Libertines and the Strokes, the brutal feedback of System of a Down or Linkin Park or the amorous pop of Oasis and The Verve. In this hubbub of electric saturation, the duo The White Stripes tries to find the way to success. Ever since their first draft in 1999, recently divorced couple Jack and Meg White have been muddying the waters.

To protect their underground garage music from personal indiscretions, they appear to everyone as brother and sister. The deception, for their fourth studio chapter, “Elephant”, still holds. We are the 1^is April 2003 and the success machine is racing. Finally. Thanks to the single title “Seven Nation Army” and its “half-ground-half-re-do” riff. A planetary tube, discovered somewhat by chance.

Six months after the release of “Elephant”, on October 22, 2003, AC Milan hosted FC Bruges in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. Around the San Siro stadium, Belgian supporters gulp down their hoppy national drink on the zinc. In one of the most welcoming bars, on the old speakers of the manager, resounds “Seven Nation Army”.

The air leads the Bruges supporters. They hum it, before finishing their pint and heading to the stadium. At the 33^e minute of play, Andrés Mendoza scores the first and only goal of this meeting. « Night night night night night night », always in all Belgian ears, is taken up spontaneously in chorus in the bleachers. “Seven Nation Army” becomes, in one match, a song of exaltation and victory for football aficionados.

« Night night night night night night »

As proof: a few years later, in 2006, as if in revenge, the Italian adversaries boasted with this title of the White Stripes each time they won the Football World Cup. It even becomes the almost official anthem of their consecration, winning the final against France, marked by Zinédine Zidane’s unfortunate headbutt against Marco Materazzi.

Back in January 2002. When Jack White played these few notes for the first time during soundchecks, he was far from expecting such success. At the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, this “half-G-half-D-do” sequence played in a loop on her neck allows her to calibrate herself with Meg’s drums. In the shadows, Ben Swank, collaborator on the Third Man label, is intrigued by this fifth. And let the guitarist from Detroit know.

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Initially, Jack White intends to jealously guard his notes to imagine a future
end credits of an episode of “James Bond”. Before resolving to record it for the album “Elephant”, during the two weeks of sessions scheduled at Toe Rag Studios in London. To sound a vintage universe, the guitarist decides to connect his Kay Hollow Body to a Digitech Whammy pedal. His semi-acoustic guitar from the fifties now has more trunk and makes this very simple “mi-sol-mi-ré-do” sound like a bass. Everything goes perfectly with Meg White’s toms.

Twice Jack White was right. “Seven Nation Army” became his biggest hit and allowed him, five years later, in a duet with Alicia Keys, to write “Another Way to Die”. Title chosen for the “Quantum of Solace” by Marc Forster, the 22^e installment of the series of investigations of 007.

Simple as rock

Thanks to this simple title of 3 minutes and 52 seconds, the career of White Stripes and Jack White flies away. Until participating in the revival of garage rock, a genre that emerged in the United States in the mid-1960s, notably through the Nuggets compilations and groups such as MC5, the Stooges or the New York Dolls. An unexpected success for such an easy melody.

In this sense, many of Meg White’s detractors did not hesitate to criticize the drummer for her lack of technicality. By the binary simplicity of his game, they tried to support their sexist theory, in a rock world dominated by men and their machismo. It must be admitted: being a woman at that time, moreover a threshing machine, was a challenge.

Yet holding that perfect metric at 123 BPM (beats per minute) is not a given. Especially when you know that this four beat rhythm is a real backbone for “Seven Nation Army”. It was therefore necessary to be perfectly mastered to accentuate its heady side. Like a quick military march. Incredible talent of Meg White!

wedding song

If you listen attentively, this martial beat has nothing to do with music for soldiers. This title, through its lyrics, evokes the return of a teenager to his native countryside, after several years of wandering. Pointed out, he has to face many rumours. A story inspired by what Jack and Meg White had experienced. The title also has nothing to do with war. This “Army of the Seven Nations” actually comes from the way Jack White, as a child, pronounced the Salvation Army (“The Salvation Army”).

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All these myths have allowed White Stripes to become one of the most influential groups, and “Seven Nation Army”, one of the most emblematic songs of this new millennium. By winning the award for best rock song at the 46^e ceremony of the Grammy Awards 2003, it will even stimulate the sales of “Elephant” up to 3 million copies. Twenty years later, the success of this title remains immortal. At the counter of a bar, in the bleachers of a stadium, it resonates. As well as some less traditional than usual entries for the newlyweds.