Seven Nation Army

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"Seven Nation Army"
Single by The White Stripes
from the album Elephant
B-side "Good to Me"
Released March 7, 2003
Format
Recorded April 2002 at Toe Rag Studios, London
Genre
Length 3:52
Label
Writer(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" on 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, on March 7, 2003, and reached number one on the Modern Rock Tracks—maintaining that position for three weeks. It also became the third best-performing song of the decade on the same chart. It was well received commercially as well, and won the 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, 1950s-style Kay Hollowbody guitar through a DigiTech Whammy pedal set down an octave. A combination of the song's popularity, recognizable riff, and defiant lyrics led to it becoming the band's signature song, and has been used widely at sporting events and political protests internationally.

Development

Jack White has stated that he was saving the song's guitar riff in case he was ever asked to do a James Bond theme song. Eventually White concluded that such an offer was unlikely and decided to incorporate the riff into a White Stripes song instead[1] (White would later perform, with Alicia Keys, the song "Another Way to Die" for the 2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace). The title of the track comes from what White used to call The Salvation Army as a child.[2] The track was named as such as a placeholder before any lyrics were written however the name stuck and thus was released as such.[1]

Billboard called the song a "sparse affair led by a simple bassline (actually played on guitar, with an octave effect), and is much more of a straightforward rock song" than "Fell in Love with a Girl."[3]

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. The triangle slides alternate between images of Jack or Meg playing, interspersed with marching skeletons and an elephant, referring to the name of the album "Seven Nation Army" appeared on. The speed at which the triangles move forward through the tunnel speeds up and slows down in unison with the dynamics of the song. 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

"Seven Nation Army" received overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim. Remarking on the White's reputation as a "garage rock" band, Billboard remarked of the song that even "adventurous rock programmers might want to join the 'Army.'"[3] AllMusic call the song "breathtaking," and said that it delivers "some of the fiercest blues-punk of the White Stripes' career."[4]

The song featured on many "end-of-year" and "best-of" lists. In 2004, "Seven Nation Army" was ranked at number three on the Pazz & Jop critics' poll, by the American music magazine The Village Voice. It was number six on Rolling Stone's 2009 list of the 50 Best Songs of the Decade.[5] In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 8 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.[6] In September 2005, NME placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 5 in its list of the 50 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade.[7] 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.[8] "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,[9] as did Boston's WFNX Radio.[10] On Rolling Stone's updated version of their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Seven Nation Army" was listed at number 286.[11] It was also ranked #1 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.[12] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 23 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[13] In February 2013, listeners to BBC Radio 6 Music placed the song at number 6 in "6 Music's 100 Greatest Hits", the top songs released in the station's lifetime.[14]

Popularity

Sporting events

The song is played after every goal scored by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena

The song is very popular in European football stadiums, even becoming the unofficial anthem of Italy's World Cup win in 2006 and was used in both Euro 2008, when the teams walked onto the pitch at the start of the game[15] and in Euro 2012 and in U-21 Euro 2013, when it was played when a goal was scored. Its emergence as a popular sporting anthem started when, on October 22, 2003 supporters of Club Brugge K.V. overheard the song being played in a bar in Milan, while preparing to attend 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 in Jan Breydel Stadium 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 and it began to be played inside the stadium. By the time the World Cup had begun in June, the song had become the national team's unofficial anthem.[16]

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.[17]

During the Scottish Cup semi-final in April 2006, where Hearts met local rivals Hibernian, this song gained infamy as when Paul Hartley had scored his hat-trick and Hearts fourth goal against Hibs, this song was played to which the Hearts fans started chanting to the chorus "Oh the Hibees are gay". In later years Hibernian used the song to taunt Hearts about their financial troubles by singing "All the Hibees get paid" to the song's main riff.

Falkirk fans have also taken to singing the main riff whenever they win a corner to the words "We're the navy blue army". Oldham fans also use the chorus, singing "we're following Oldham" to it. The song is also sung by Sheffield United, who sing "we're the red and white army"; their main rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, subsequently changed the lyrics into their own chant, "dirty red and white bastards", sung to taunt their rivals or, increasingly, any other team that plays in red.

The song is also played at home games of A-League team Melbourne Victory following a team goal, the song has become an almost unofficial anthem for the club's fans.[18][19][20] The song was also chosen by the newly formed Western Sydney Wanderers FC as their goal scoring music. The club did not know the song was already connected to Melbourne Victory, and once the Wanderers active support group the Red & Black Bloc informed the club they stopped using the song.

Every time the German club Bayern Munich score, a remixed version of the song is played. Also the song was played every time a team scored a goal in the Amsterdam Arena at the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final, in Wembley Stadium for the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, which Bayern Munich won 2–1 against Borussia Dortmund. And in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup the song was played again, every time a team scored a goal, which saw Bayern Munich win the match against Chelsea, in a penalty shooutout 5–4, after the match ended 2–2 in normal and extra time.

Darts player Michael van Gerwen uses the song as his walk-on song. Fans asked him to change his walk-on song from Breathe by The Prodigy, and Sky Sports chose Seven Nation Army, and the darts audience took an immediate liking to it, chanting his name to the beat of the song.[21]

The song has also become increasingly popular at American college football games, being used at many large venues throughout the country.[22] Introduction of the song to college football can be traced to the Penn State football program, where in 2006 the communication and media director, Guido D’Elia, was inspired after hearing a Public Radio International story about A.S. Roma's use of the song. At about the same time, Arrangers' Publishing Company began to sell sheet music of the song for marching bands and by January 2012 had sold around 2,000 copies.[16] The University of Southern California marching band plays the song in reference to quarterback Matt Barkley's jersey number 7[citation needed]. The Oregon Marching Band plays the tune every time the Oregon Ducks Football defense comes onto the field during football games. The song can also be heard at all home games of traditional rivals Ohio State and Michigan before kickoff following a home team score.[16]

The song has been used since 2011 as the official hype song of the Baltimore Ravens.[23] During the 2012 season, it was cited in an ESPN story declaring M&T Bank Stadium the top home field advantage in the NFL.[24] During Super Bowl XLVII, Ravens fans could be heard chanting the song as the power went out during live TV coverage in the third quarter.[25] It has also been used by the Baltimore Orioles following its positive reception at Ravens games, being heard during key moments in games during and since the Orioles' turnaround 2012 season.

At many college and some pro American football games, the six note hollow-body guitar sequence that is repeated throughout most of the song can be heard spontaneously chanted (wordlessly) by the fans, with no accompaniment from the official stadium audio system. It is also played before tip-off at New York Knicks games.

The song is also used at college basketball games in the United States at schools such as NC State University, Saint Louis University, Wichita State Shockers men's basketball (Wichita State University) and Butler University.[citation needed]

The song was played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum when the New York Islanders are on the power play.

In November 2013, the song replaced Bon Jovi's "This Is Our House" as the goal song of the New Jersey Devils. The change came after a fan vote in response to the controversial replacement of Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll" with "This Is Our House", due to concerns by team staff surrounding a mocking "Hey, you suck!" chant done to the former.[26][27][28]

The song has been used in the hype videos played before each Miami Heat home game in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. The famous underlying riff of the song is also sung frequently by Heat fans as a chant. After the Heat's popularization of the song's main riff as a "battle cry", many other NBA teams have started using it for the same effect, and it is now in essence the NBA "battle song". During the 2013 NBA Finals 3rd game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Heat, Spurs fans used the chant when they won the game to mock the Heat's use of the song in their hype video.[29] The fans also used the chant in game 5 of the 2014 NBA Finals, also against the Heat, when the Spurs won the NBA championship in five games.[30]

The song was played in-between innings during the 2012–2013 home games of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The accompanying hype video takes inspiration from the Seven Nation Army music video and ends with baseball gloved hands making the famous LA sign. Fans of the Baltimore Orioles are known to chant the signature guitar riff during home games at Camden Yards.

Usage in media

This song was used many times during the baseball documentary 10th Inning by Ken Burns. An exclusive remix by The Glitch Mob was featured in the trailer to the film G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the trailer of season 12 of the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation. This is also a playable song in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, DLC for Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3, and Fantasia: Music Evolved.

Egyptian 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.[31] 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.[31]

Hamburg Port Anniversary Celebration

On May 9, 2014, during the 825th Hamburg Port Anniversary celebration, the cruise ship MSC Magnifica used the ship’s horns to blast the song while entering the harbor. The event was caught on video and posted to YouTube.[32]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2003–14) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Charts 17
Austrian Singles Chart 18
Dutch Mega Top 50 22
France (SNEP)[33] 48
German Singles Chart[34] 4
Irish Singles Chart 22
Italian Singles Chart 3
UK Singles Chart 7
US Billboard Hot 100[35] 76
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[36] 1
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[37] 12

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Rank
German Singles Chart[38] 57

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Germany (IFPI)[39] Gold 200,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 245,822[40]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

The song has been covered by blues musician C. W. Stoneking as well as the country group The Oak Ridge Boys (with bass singer Richard Sterban singing the original guitar riffs),[41] funk metal band Living Colour, rock supergroup Audioslave, indie band Hard-Fi, alternative rock band The Flaming Lips, English indie singer Kate Nash, British soul singer Alice Russell, hard rock band The Pretty Reckless, pop singer Kelly Clarkson, heavy metal band Metallica and Argentine electrotango band Tanghetto. The song was also covered by Becky Hill on the 2012 season of The Voice (UK), Jamar Rogers during his blind audition for the second season of The Voice (USA), and Garrett Gardener's blind audition on the fourth season of The Voice (USA). The song has been remixed by The Glitch Mob as well. It has also been covered by James Valentine leading guitar of Maroon 5 during his most recent tour Overexposed. The song was also covered by KT Tunstall (as a medley with her own "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree") on her 2013 Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon tour.

Ben l'Oncle Soul version

"Seven Nation Army"
Single by Ben l'Oncle Soul
from the album Ben l'Oncle Soul
Released 8 March 2010 (promo)
24 September 2010 (CD Maxi)
Format Digital download, CD single
Recorded 2009-2010
Genre soul, funk
Length 2:57
Label Motown Records
Writer(s) Jack White
Producer(s) Guillaume Poncelet, Gabin Lesieur
Ben l'Oncle Soul singles chronology
"Seven Nation Army"
(2010)		 "Soulman"
(2011)

The French soul singer Ben l'Oncle Soul covered the song on his self-titled album Ben l'Oncle Soul. The album had commercial success and "Seven Nation Army" became the debut single from the album and Ben l'Oncle Soul's first international hit charting in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, also reaching number 16 on the Belgian (Wallonia) charts. The version was also included in a number of compilations including NRJ Hits 2010 Vol. 2 on Warner Records and Les hits de l'été 2010 on Universal Music Group label.

Chart performance

Charts (2011) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[42] 16
Germany (Official German Charts)[43] 51
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[44] 57
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 54

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, CD single
Recorded 2011-12
Genre Pop, soul, funk
Length 2:56
Label RCA Records
Writer(s) Jack White
Producer(s) Matt Furmidge, Alex Smith, Brian Rawling
Marcus Collins singles chronology
"Wishing on a Star"
(2011)		 "Seven Nation Army"
(2012)		 "Mercy"
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Digital Spy 3/5 stars[46]

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 was released in the United Kingdom on 4 March 2012, a week prior to his debut album Marcus Collins.

Revealing that he has received a lot of abuse from White Stripes fans, Collins 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?"[47]

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.[48] Critically, Lewis Corner of Digital Spy noted the "distinctive soul-pop" vocals showcased by Collins 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."[46]

Track listing

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

Chart performance

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[49] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[50] 51
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[51] 9
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[52] 9

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United Kingdom 4 March 2012[53][54] Digital download, CD single RCA Records

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Taylor, Chuck (March 29, 2003), "Seven Nation Army (Music release)". Billboard. 115 (13):32
  4. ↑ Phares, Heather (date unknown), "Elephant". AllMusic. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  5. ↑ Hermes, Will; Hoard, Christian; Rosen, Jody; Sheffield, Rob (December 24, 2009), "50 Best Songs of the Decade". Rolling Stone. (1094/1095):59-62
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time
  9. ↑ Seven Nation Army Songfacts
  10. ↑ WFNX's top 101 songs of the decade, Boston Phoenix. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  11. ↑ [1] Archived June 29, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years | NME.COM
  14. ↑ [2]
  15. ↑ Seven Nation Army: the indiest football anthem ever?, guardian.co.uk
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Masoud: This is what college football is all about (Sept. 12) - Irish Football - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College
  23. ↑ Ravens adapt "Seven-Nation Army" as hype-up chant | Baltimore Sports Report
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EizzaBMm1rc
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Goodman, Amy (Feb. 1, 2011) "Mubarak is Our Berlin Wall": Egyptian Columnist Mona Eltahawy on How the Youth Drove the Uprising in Cairo and Implications for Democracy in the Region, Democracy Now!. Retrieved October 11, 2014
  32. ↑ http://youtube.com/watch?v=f8K1yPECJeQ?t=1m22s
  33. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The White Stripes – 7 Nation Army" (in French). Les classement single.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/419422/white-stripes/chart?f=379
  36. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/419422/white-stripes/chart?f=377
  37. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/419422/white-stripes/chart?f=376
  38. ↑ [3] Archived March 11, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Five-Star Fridays The Agitator (Mar. 25, 2011)
  42. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ben L'Oncle Soul – Seven Nation Army" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  43. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Ben L'Oncle Soul – Seven Nation Army". GfK Entertainment.
  44. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ben L'Oncle Soul – Seven Nation Army" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  45. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ben L'Oncle Soul – Seven Nation Army". Swiss Singles Chart.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Marcus Collins unveils 'Seven Nation Army' new video - watch - X Factor News - Music - Digital Spy
  48. ↑ Marcus Collins - Seven Nation Army. YouTube
  49. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2012-03-17". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  52. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2012-03-17" UK Singles Chart.
  53. ↑ Seven Nation Army: Marcus Collins: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads
  54. ↑ iTunes - Music - Seven Nation Army - Single by Marcus Collins
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
July 12, 2003		 Succeeded by
"Just Because" by Jane's Addiction
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