Dan’s appreciation of the White Stripes’ Elephant upon its 20th anniversary makes a convincing case for “Seven Nation Army” as the song of the century so far. The hook, the sheer ubiquity of it — at the least, it is an enduring and iconic rock song at a time when few are still being recorded.
We could bicker all weekend about which song deserves this title — I more-than-somewhat suspect that was Dan’s intention — but I’ll pick just one nit. While “Seven Nation Army” is a lean and muscular and memorable chunk of rock that will pump up stadium crowds and campaign rallies decades from now, for my money you can find a better and more muscular song on this very album (which, as Dan said, deserves to be consumed in full).
Look no further than “Ball and Biscuit,” arguably the best example of Jack White’s explosive power as a fundamentally blues guitarist who arrives in the recording studio with exactly none of the restraint of a blues guitarist. Iconic? Not in the traditional sense, no. But it’s the most animalistic statement on Elephant, enough to overpower a seven-nation army in my book. I’m not alone.