Seven Nation Army

Lyrics Information

I'm gonna fight 'em off
a seven nation army couldn't hold me back
they're gonna rip it off
taking their time right behind my back
and I'm talking to myself at night
because I can't forget
back and forth through my mind
behind a cigarette
and the message coming from my eyes
says leave it alone

don't want to hear about it
every single one's got a story to tell
everyone knows about it
from the queen of england to the hounds of hell
and if I catch it coming back my way
I'm gonna serve it to you
and that ain't what you want to hear
but that's what I'll do
and the feeling coming from my bones
says find a home

I'm going to wichita
far from this opera for evermore
I'm gonna work the straw
make the sweat drip out of every pore
and I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding
right before the lord
all the words are gonna bleed from me
and I will think no more
and the stains coming from my blood
tell me go back home

Performed by The White Stripes
Written by Jack White
(Peppermint Stripe Music, BMI)
BMI # 6406560

Releases

  • Elephant
  • Seven Nation Army 7"/CD
  • Elephant (Japan reissue with video)
Quotes

Jack White:

    "I wrote that riff in a soundcheck in Australia at a show that we played down there. I was working on this phrase that I used to say when I was a kid. I used to call the Salvation Army 'Seven Nation Army' because I thought that's what the name was. So I was working around that and it just became a song about gossip. When I wrote that, I thought if I ever got asked to write the next James Bond theme, that would be the riff for it."
Jack White:
    "that's not a bass at the start but my guitar with an octave pedal. The song's about gossip. It's about me, Meg and the people we're dating. The world constantly tries to dissect people, chew them up and spit them out. We get that all the time, people wanting our songs for commercials, wanting to know what the inside of Meg's bathroom looks like."
Jack White:
    "It felt strong when we mixed the album down. It felt like it should be the first track on the album. It just felt like an opening, explosive thing. I thought it would be interesting to release that at first."
Meg White:
    "Jack basically wrote (Seven Nation Army) around the idea of this guy who comes into town and all his friends are gossiping about him. It gets so bad, he wants to leave town and then he decides not to."
Notes

There is a video for [Seven Nation Army]. It's rumored that [Seven Nation Army] was to appear on 'White Blood Cells'