The White Stripes - Elephant
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- Apr 1
- 5 min read
Written By: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 01.04.2003
"Popolopopopopo, popolopopopopo, popolopopopopo"
Fan chants… who can really explain the way they make their way into the heart. No one could have expected that a song by a blues/garage rock duo would reach the mainstream of sports fans worldwide, but that’s exactly what happened to "The White Stripes", whose fourth album "Elephant" was released on April 1, 2003 and no, it wasn’t a prank.
"The White Stripes" were formed in 1997 in Detroit when an aspiring musician named John Anthony Gillis was reading his poetry at the restaurant “Memphis Smoke”, where he met the waitress Meg White. The two became friends and began frequenting cafés and music venues. Eventually they became a couple, and in September 1996 they got married, with Gillis taking Meg’s last name and renaming himself Jack White.
John Anthony Gillis was born in July 1975 in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of ten children. His mother was of Polish descent, and his father was Scottish-Canadian. Both of his parents worked for the archdiocese, his father as a building maintenance supervisor and his mother as a secretary to the cardinal.
As a young child, he began playing drums he found in the attic. His musical development included classical music, later "The Doors", "Pink Floyd", and "Led Zeppelin", and eventually he gravitated toward blues and 1960s rock.
Among his heroes were guitarist Blind Willie McTell and drummers Gene Krupa, Stewart Copeland, and Crow Smith.
White later said that his future could have looked completely different: He said that he was accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin and planned to become a priest, but he had just gotten a new amplifier, and figured they wouldn’t let him take it with him to the seminary, so he went to public school instead.
Meg White (born Megan Martha White in December 1974) attended Grosse Pointe North High School in Michigan. According to one of her friends, she was always very quiet and introverted. Speaking about her shyness, she once said that the more you talk, the less people listen. Already in high school she decided to pursue a career as a chef, but after she began working at Memphis Smoke, she met John Anthony Gillis, and both of their lives changed.
After their marriage, on Bastille Day (July 14) 1997, Meg tried playing on Jack White’s drum kit. He immediately felt something unique in her playing that sparked his own musical creativity. Soon after, they formed the duo "The White Stripes", named after Meg’s last name. They developed a distinct identity, hiding the fact that they were married and instead promoting the idea that they were siblings. They also consistently appeared dressed in red, black, and white, and frequently incorporated the number three into their aesthetic.
In 1998 they released their debut single after Dave Buick, owner of the independent label Italy Records, was impressed by them and offered to fund it. Toward the end of 1998, they released their second single "Lafayette Blues", and in June 1999 their self-titled debut album arrived.
A year later, in June 2000, they released their second album "De Stijl", but their real breakthrough came in July 2001 with "White Blood Cells", where the world was first introduced to Jack White’s short, fast songs, his nasal, youthful vocal delivery, and Meg’s more restrained drumming. That restraint, however, would not define "Elephant", released as mentioned on April 1. Most of the album was recorded in just two weeks in April 2002, together with engineer Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios in London. Jack White produced the album himself, using vintage equipment, including an 8-track tape machine and recording gear from the late 1950s.
The first single, "Seven Nation Army", became a global phenomenon thanks to its riff, which sounds like a bass guitar and repeats throughout the song. To achieve that sound, White plugged a semi-acoustic guitar into a pitch-shifting effects pedal (DigiTech Whammy) and dropped it an octave. His vocals are strained and distorted, while Meg White drums steadily like a heartbeat. The electric guitar and cymbals eventually break the built-up tension and drive the song to its peak.
In October 2003, fans of Club Brugge KV began chanting the melody during an away match against AC Milan. Brugge won, and the song became their unofficial anthem. From there, it gradually spread across the world, with the 2006 FIFA World Cup providing a massive boost to its global adoption as a fan chant. The song tells the story of a man entering a town, hearing people gossip about him, and deciding to leave. It deals with gossip and the negativity it brings. "Seven Nation Army" went on to win a Grammy Award in 2004.
"There's No Home for You Here" is a brutally sharp breakup song, where Jack White pulls no punches, delivering lines that come across as cold and dismissive toward his partner. On the other hand, "You've Got Her in Your Pocket" reveals a different kind of arrogance, as he looks down on the relationship from a position of control.
"Ball and Biscuit" draws from an American folk belief that the seventh son is granted supernatural powers. The lyrics follow the perspective of that seventh son as he courts a woman, blending myth with raw blues swagger.
The second single, "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself", is a cover of the song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It is followed by one of the most rhythmically repetitive tracks on the album, "The Hardest Button to Button", driven by a steady 128 BPM pulse that gives it a hypnotic, mechanical feel.
On "In the Cold, Cold Night", you can hear Meg White stepping forward as the lead vocalist, raising the question of why her voice wasn’t featured more often. She returns again on the closing track "It's True That We Love One Another", sharing vocal duties with Jack White, offering a rare glimpse beyond her typically reserved presence.
This is an album that shifts gears as it progresses, moving from deep blues roots toward garage rock, with its final stretch leaning heavily into fast-paced punk energy.
The album also features appearances by television presenter Mort Crim and garage punk artist Holly Golightly. "Elephant" went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2004.
The album cover presents Jack and Meg White seated in a composition that subtly resembles the shape of elephant ears, reinforcing the album’s visual identity.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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