Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite White Stripes Songs of the 2000s

Along with The Beatles and Def Leppard, the White Stripes are one of my three favorite bands, so I couldn't do them justice by just featuring one of their songs during this Rocktober of the aughts -- which really should be called Raughtktober, but that's a bit cumbersome for even the keenest reader.  Anywho, I decided to honor Jack and Meg by doing a Tuesday Top Ten of my favorite White Stripes songs from the '00s.  I have to add the decade part in there because they did release their first album in 1999.  However, the bulk of their material came out in the 2000s, releasing five studio albums in the first seven years of the decade:  2000's De Stijl, 2001's White Blood Cells, 2003's Elephant, 2005's Get Behind Me Satan, and 2007's Icky Thump.

Their backstory is nearly as interesting as their music.  Singer/guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White were married when they started the band, but divorced before De Stijl was released in 2000.  They didn't let a silly little thing like divorce stand in the way of the music, though, which is frankly quite impressive.  I know plenty of divorced couples who remain friends, but to work with each other and go on the road with each other?  That's insane.  Thank God they kept the band together because they pumped out some of the finest music of the first decade of this young millennium.

Jack is, quite simply, a guitar god, as well as a hell of a songwriter, and Meg is like the Ringo Starr of garage rock.  She may not have been the best drummer in the world, but she was perfect for the band she was in, and the White Stripes could not have existed with another drummer.

Like many, I discovered the band in 2001 when I heard "Fell In Love With a Girl."  It was straight punk, and it was like a breath of fresh air.  It felt exciting, even more so when I found out the band was only two people, and from Detroit no less.  Of course, I had no idea that there was a burgeoning garage rock scene in Detroit at the time.

But anyway, I got White Blood Cells and loved it, so I bought their first two albums pretty quickly after that, as well as their next three as soon as they came out.  What I think sets the White Stripes apart from most other bands of the era -- and most other bands, period -- was the versatility of their songs.  They didn't confine themselves to one genre.  Their songs ranged from punk to blues ("Ball and Biscuit," among many others) to Motown-inspired soul ("My Doorbell") to heartfelt ballads ("We're Going to Be Friends") to arena-ready, international sports anthems ("Seven Nation Army") to garage rock ("Hello Operator," among many others) to tongue-in-cheek songs ("It's True We Love One Another," "It's Not My Fault For Being Famous") to Help!-era Beatles pop ("Hotel Yorba") to fuzz rock ("Icky Thump") to bluegrass ("Little Ghost") to songs that could fit in on Led Zeppelin III ("As Ugly As I Seem") to glam ("Blue Orchid") to a song based entirely on dialogue from Citizen Kane ("The Union Forever").

I'm still bummed that they broke up, especially because I had tickets to see them at the Aragon in 2007 -- when they canceled their tour because Meg was suffering from acute anxiety, never to tour or record again before officially breaking up in 2011 -- but I'm glad I got to see them in 2005 at the Murat Theater in Indy.  They put on one hell of a show.  While Meg has since (presumably happily) retreated from the public eye, Jack, of course, has continued to be a force in the rock world, with The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and his solo material -- not to mention Third Man Records, which I think has the coolest record club around.

It was tough to narrow down my many favorite White Stripes songs of the '00s to my top ten, but by Jove, I had a great time today listening to the band's catalog in my attempt to do so.  And did you know that "by Jove" is a reference to the Roman god Jupiter?  Fuckin' a', you learn something knew every day.  Anyway, to keep you guessing as to my true ranking, I'm just going to list them in chronological order.

1. "You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)" (De Stijl, 2000)
Every one of The White Stripes' six album starts off with a great song. This one kicks off their sophomore album, De Stijl. It's a two-minute garage pop masterpiece. Something about the song has always drawn me to it. Even after listening to this song for 20 years, I'm not sure exactly what it means. It appears to be about an above-average-looking female with a broken back.

2. "Hotel Yorba" (White Blood Cells, 2001)
This is one of their great pop songs. Like I said before, this song could easily be on The Beatles Help! album. This one was definitely on my wedding cocktail hour mix, not that anyone remembers much of it.

3. "Offend in Every Way" (White Blood Cells, 2001)
This is a gritty, garage-y song with a distorted guitar intro that leads into self-loathing lyrics about a guy who just can't seem to say anything without offending someone. The first line of the second verse has always been a favorite: "I'm comin' through the door / But they're expecting more / Of an interesting man."

4.  "Ball and Biscuit" (Elephant, 2003)
This song is seven minutes of ballsy electric blues, and if you didn't know Jack was a kickass guitarist, then his multiple solos on this song will sufficiently inform you.

5. "Black Math" (Elephant, 2003)
This song just blazes from the beginning, aside from the slowed-down bridge. Jack has a phenomenal guitar solo about two-thirds of the way through.

6. "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" (Elephant, 2003)
This is a cover of a Burt Bacharach song, and The White Stripes kill it (in a good way). Meg's drums are crisp and Jack's guitar is jagged. Its sweet start is thrown to hell during the violent, wailing choruses, where Meg crashes away and Jack fuzzes out. It says a lot about this song that it's my favorite song off of Elephant.

7. "Jolene" (live) (Live Under Blackpool Lights, 2004)
The band has several live covers of this Dolly Parton classic, but this version is my favorite.  It's extra creepy with Jack's wavering vocals. There's something about this version that is kind of hypnotic. And then, of course, the band rocks it out during the choruses.

8. "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" (Get Behind Me Satan, 2005)
This is one of the songs on Get Behind Me Satan that featured a marimba, but somehow made it work. It's a nice little song where each verse starts with just Jack and a marimba, then adds some drums, and eventually builds into Jack belting out the chorus.

9. "My Doorbell" (Get Behind Me Satan, 2005)
This is just a great pop song with a great beat. It's like "Lady Madonna" meets Motown. It's catchy as hell, and I love it, and that's about all I have to say about it.

10. "A Martyr For My Love" (Icky Thump, 2007)
An organ and crashing cymbals kick the song off, followed by a somewhat muted verse. The chorus is what makes this song for me. You know I love the use of anticipation in songs, and this one makes great use of it. You can tell the song is building. Then, when you're least expecting it, boom! The chorus kicks in and the organ, drums, and cymbals wail along with Jack.