And so, on Groundhog Day 2011, Jack and Meg White dissolved one of the most influential and popular bands of the last decade.Although there were rumblings of a new album, the break-up wasn't a huge surprise. In recent years, now-uberstar and all-around badass Jack White had become involved in other projects like The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, soaring to new heights of popularity. (As my brother quipped, "Jack was really holding Meg back.")
And while tragic (especially the fact that I never saw them live), there's a bit of satisfaction in knowing that The White Stripes didn't wear out their welcome by sticking around too long, denying their decline, cranking out mediocre album after mediocre album. There's something to be said about a graceful exit that enhances the reputation of a legend.
If you know me, then you know that my love for The White Stripes will always run deep. It's amazing that they were able to accomplish so much with such elementary, uncomplicated, almost crude songwriting. Drummer Meg White picked up a pair of drumsticks for the first time only months before The White Stripes came into being, having received no formal training, instead learning as she went. Many songs (Icky Thump's closer "Effect & Cause" comes to mind) manage to fill 3 minutes of time using only 3 chords -- and it actually sounded good. If you ever see the rock-umentary It Might Get Loud, you'll see that the song that most influenced Jack White ("Son House") consists of a single man crooning the blues while clapping a rhythm. No instrumentation. Just emotion.
With great anticipation, I look forward to the day when I totally embarrass my future children by driving them to school with "Hotel Yorba" cranked all the way up and the windows rolled all the way down. But because that's at least a decade away, this will have to do:
(Oh, by the way, if you want a little more energy with that, check out the live version.)
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