12:00 a.m. (b)
Jack White uses an effects pedal to make his guitar sound like a bass and howls about a rage so intense, he could take on an army all by himself. Result: the greatest riff of the decade and a massive, career-changing hit that every college marching band in the nation plays to this day.
Jack White told Rolling Stone that the riff was composed while they were soundchecking before a show at the corner hotel in Melbourne. He said “There’s an employee here at Third Man named Ben Swank, and he was with us on tour in Australia when I wrote that song at soundcheck. I was playing it for Meg and he was walking by and I said, ‘Swank, check this riff out.’ And he said, ‘It’s OK.’ [Laughs] He added: "I didn’t have lyrics for it until later on and I was just calling it ‘Seven Nation Army’ – that’s what I called the Salvation Army when I was a kid. So that was just a way for me to remember which one I was talking about, but it took on a new meaning with the lyrics.”
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Verse 1:
"I'm gonna fight 'em off"
Jack is trying to set up a story that is similar to what The White Stripes were experiencing at the time. They had started to build up a little fame, and then came back home to hear everyone talking about them. The same is happening to this story’s protagonist, and he wants to take action.
Everyone in this case seems to be doubters, haters, people out to get him etc. He’s pissed off enough at them that there’s no more holding back. He’s just going after them.
Also, it was recently discovered that Jack and Megan were exes, not siblings as they had previously claimed. Everyone wanted to hear more about this and Jack doesn’t wanna talk about it. He will fight them off.
"A seven nation army couldn't hold me back"
As a child, Jack White called the Salvation Army, the “Seven Nation Army”. When he first created the riff for this song, he named it “The Seven Nation Army Song”
The meaning for this is that the protagonist’s rage against all these people who are out to get him is stronger than the force of a seven nation army.
"They're gonna rip it off
Takin' their time right behind my back"
According to Jack, himself:
“The song’s about gossip. It’s about me, Meg and the people we’re dating.”
Jack narrows his rage from everyone down to people who go behind his back, especially all the fake friends that enjoy this gossip.
Although Jack and Meg were divorced by this time, “the people we’re dating” could refer to their relationship, or else their other relationships.
"And I'm talkin' to myself at night because I can't forget"
The protagonist can’t get over the fact that the people he trusted crossed him like that. Even if he wants to.
"Back and forth through my mind, behind a cigarette"
The protagonist keeps trying to forget about all the gossip going on around him, or act like it wasn’t a big deal but it’s not working. So he turns to drugs to try and wipe this memory out. Which makes sense since Jack White is a notorious smoker.
