"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	Alternative rock, garage rock revival, punk blues
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 and is arguably the band's most well-known song. "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.

According to White, "Seven Nation Army" is what he used to call the Salvation Army as a child.^[1]

Music video [edit]

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 [edit]

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 [edit]

Critical [edit]

This song was number six on Rolling Stone's 2009 list of the 50 Best Songs of the Decade.^[2] In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 8 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.^[3] In September 2005, NME placed "Seven Nation Army" at number 5 in its list of the 50 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade.^[4] 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.^[5] "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,^[6] as did Boston's WFNX Radio.^[7] On Rolling Stone's updated version of their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Seven Nation Army" was listed at number 286.^[8] It was also ranked #1 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.^[9] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 23 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[10] 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.^[11]

Popularity [edit]

Sporting events [edit]

The song is very popular in European football stadia even becoming the 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^[12] and in Euro 2012, 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 stadia. By the time the World Cup had began in June, the song had become the national team's unofficial anthem.^[13]

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.^[14]

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 songs main riff.

Liverpool fans sang the name of player Javier Mascherano in the tune of "Seven Nation Army" before he departed the club. Arsenal fans sing the name of player Santi Cazorla - "Oh Santi Cazorla". Manchester United fans sing the name of player Robin van Persie - "Oh Robin van Persie". Reading fans sing the name of player Adam le Fondre - "Oh Adam le Fondre".

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 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. Melbourne Victory's home ground in fact is down the road from the Corner Hotel where the guitar riff was originally composed.

Every time the German club Bayern Munich score, a remixed version of the song is played.

The song has also become increasingly popular at American college football games, being used at many large venues throughout the country.^[15][16] Introduction of the song to college football can be traced to the Penn State football program, where in 2006 a spokesman 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.^[13] The University of Southern California marching band plays the song in reference to quarterback Matt Barkley's jersey number 7^{[citation needed]}. The song can also be heard at all home games of traditional rivals Ohio State and Michigan before kickoff following a home team score.^[13]

It was used in 2011 at M&T Bank Stadium as the official hype-song for the Baltimore Ravens.^[17] It continued to be used throughout the 2012 Championship football season, being cited in an ESPN story declaring M & T Bank Stadium #1 in home field advantage in the NFL ^[18] During Super Bowl XLVII, Raven's fans could be clearly heard chanting and signing multiple renditions the "Seven-Nation Army" rally song as the power went out during live TV coverage in the 3rd quarter. ^[19]

At many college and some pro American football games, the seven-note bass 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 tipoff at New York Knicks games. Michael van Gerwen a Dutch Professional Darts Player uses this song for his walk on.

The song is also used at college basketball games in the United States at schools such as NC State University, Saint Louis University, and Butler University.^{[citation needed]}

At football matches between The Netherlands and Germany the song can be heard with the lyrics "Alle Duitsers zijn homo('s)!", meaning "All Germans are gay".^[20] The song is played at New York Islander home games when the Islanders are on the power play.

In other media [edit]

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.

Egyptian protest song [edit]

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.^[21] 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.^[21]

Chart performance [edit]

Weekly charts [edit]

Year-end charts [edit]

Certifications [edit]

Cover versions [edit]

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),^[26] 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, French soul singer Ben l'Oncle Soul, 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 VOICE UK and Jamar Rogers during his blind audition for the second 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.

Marcus Collins version [edit]

"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	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	[27]

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 04 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?"^[28]

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.^[29] 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."^[27]

Track listing [edit]

Chart performance [edit]

Release history [edit]

External links [edit]

• White Stripes.net. Retrieved September 9, 2005.
• White Stripes.net FAQ Retrieved September 17, 2005.
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

References [edit]