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White Stripes Get Unobtrusively Political With Video For “Icky Thump”

5/24/07, 3:18 pm EST

White Stripes, Icky Thump“Icky Thump,” the White Stripes first single off their new album of the same name (out June 19th) is clearly inspired by the ongoing immigration controversy in the United States. “Well Americans/What, nothin’ better to do?/Why don’t you kick yourself out?/You’re an immigrant too,” Jack seethes between guitar shrieks. It’s a ridiculously awesome song from an album we are extremely excited about, but we worried a bit about how they would pull off this video. As we see it, they could have fucked it up in two major ways:

1. By releasing a sanctimonious political platform-pushing clip. That would have been annoying.

2. By doing the opposite and releasing a piece of MTV-friendly eye candy that totally abandoned the song’s political undertones. That would have felt cowardly.

Fortunately, the video they actually made manages to deal with the political stuff without coming across as preachy, and retains a sense of dirty punk rock fun. Shots of Meg and Jack playing together (and looking remarkably like their 2001-era selves in all red) are cut with a larger narrative in which Jack travels down to Mexico and encounters Meg, decked out as a red-haired temptress. This story line builds on the song’s pimp/prostitute dichotomy: “Who’s usin’ who?/What should we do?/Well you can’t be a pimp/And a prostitute too.” The video ends with a damaged-looking Jack staggering past construction workers erecting “The Great Wall of Mexico.” It’s a simultaneously badass and earnest moment. Check it out.


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Comments

ExileOnMassSt | 5/24/2007, 3:56 pm EST

So um…..how do we see it?

max | 5/24/2007, 3:59 pm EST

yeah howbout that link?

max | 5/24/2007, 3:59 pm EST

yeah howbout that link?

Jeebus | 5/24/2007, 4:04 pm EST

You don’t, until RS stops linking unauthorized YouTube clips and gets actual permission to show it. Looks as though my previous post mentioning copyright violation was “corrected”, so this one will probably be corrected as well.

james | 5/24/2007, 4:23 pm EST

if you cats actually read the article the link is embedded.

Don Vito | 5/24/2007, 4:26 pm EST

My mom loves wetback wang.

N.O.Y.B. | 5/24/2007, 4:31 pm EST

Don Vito is the only reason I visit this site anymore.

Austin | 5/24/2007, 4:41 pm EST

Man, Meg is such a fox

The Truth | 5/24/2007, 4:48 pm EST

There is no more ass left…because the White Stripes whipped it all.

How good does Meg look?

Pershing Auditorium
September 6th
I’m already there biyaaatch!!

B. Breeg | 5/24/2007, 5:04 pm EST

White Stripes are way overrated by the critics. Jack, of course is talented, but writes some really bad songs sometimes. And Meg, Seriously, she is just BAD and drumming and rides Jack’s coat tails. Skeet.

kyguy | 5/24/2007, 5:22 pm EST

B. Breeg: Remember always, statements carry more credibility when ended with the word “skeet.” Keep it up. I’m sure you’ll go far.

Cornelius T. Pepperpot | 5/24/2007, 5:44 pm EST

oh yeah i forgot to mention: Skeet

Ryan T. | 5/24/2007, 7:00 pm EST

That is a kick ass video and a great song. Meg looks banging hot in it, hey now.

Crimson Citizen | 5/24/2007, 7:03 pm EST

meg = hot

HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! | 5/24/2007, 7:12 pm EST

UTTER CRAP FOR LOSERS!

HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! | 5/24/2007, 7:12 pm EST

Meg = FAT cow.

re:"unauthorized U-tube Clips" | 5/24/2007, 7:16 pm EST

All U-Tube videos are authorized per the People’s Free Trade Agreement wherein music and movies are freely traded across all languages and borders. The recording/movie industries have been raping the consumer for decades. It’s time to fight back! Log on to SoulSeek, the most amazing file sharing site out there. Download the world!

Fyodor Dostoevsky | 5/24/2007, 7:36 pm EST

Sure, all of our families were illegal immigrants at some point. But when contemporary illegal immigrants are coming in, taking over stores (like your local dunkin donuts) and squeezing money out of it until it is run into the ground it can be a problem. I’m not saying we aren’t benefited by the illegal immigrants too (who else is going to build all of these houses) I’m just saying that it’s a problem that needs to be dealt with. they’re either illegal or their not, we need to figure this out. I vote that they’re illegal (for the sake of the legal immigrants who went through all the funding and paperwork necessary) and that they should be rounded up and kicked out.

matt | 5/24/2007, 7:36 pm EST

The White Stripes are the best band in the world

Hunter | 5/24/2007, 8:53 pm EST

didnt like the song or video, but I will be buying the album anyway.

Chris A. | 5/24/2007, 10:24 pm EST

dude….soulseek does kick ass.

Hunter | 5/25/2007, 12:36 am EST

Jack should take his politics and stick them up where nobody has to listen to them.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION IS AMAZING!
ILLEGAL IS WRONG.
Try going to Mexico illegaly… you will find yourself in jail.
Perhaps he and Sheryl Crow should have a kid together that doesn’t recognize borders or uses toilet paper.

Robert | 5/25/2007, 3:38 am EST

To Hunter:
“Try going to Mexico illegaly????”

Man you don’t need any papers to go to Mexico is a free country and you can go there and make businnes (like many americans do), buy a house or just hang out, YOU DON’T GO TO JAIL FOR THAT.

Do you know that Americans ILEGALY invade Panama, Irak, Vietnam and so many countrys just for the benefit of $$$$$$$$$ (and they killed people doing that).

Do you know that americans ILEGALY throw away toxic waste in to Mexico every year?

It’s easy to point fingers when you don’t know all the facts, AMERICANS have been doing ILEGALY things to weaker countrys for along time, now is pay back time, KARMA TIME.

Jack | 5/25/2007, 8:37 am EST

Decent. Meg looks great too!

kenosha... | 5/25/2007, 9:30 am EST

i enjoy the song…but must say that the thoughts on immigration by mr white and ms crow are just completely absurd.They should learn to keep their mouths shut…a sheriff’s deputy in the county I live in was murdered last week by, of all things, an illegal immigrant. Kind of hard to listen to Crow/White when this happens.

kenosha... | 5/25/2007, 9:30 am EST

i enjoy the song…but must say that the thoughts on immigration by mr white and ms crow are just completely absurd.They should learn to keep their mouths shut…a sheriff’s deputy in the county I live in was murdered last week by, of all things, an illegal immigrant. Kind of hard to listen to Crow/White when this happens.

mustard tiger | 5/25/2007, 9:56 am EST

N.Y.O.B is a cum guzzeler too!

Pinkie | 5/25/2007, 10:00 am EST

Euro Trash Racist Hypocrites, Scum, Trash, Filth, American!

Hey, let’s kill us some Indians, take their land, get us some slaves and then say that we “discovered” the New World. What a novel idea. And then, let’s continue this model until the end of time. What say? Who’s with me? I could use some good Christians here.

Go Jack White!

mustard tiger | 5/25/2007, 10:09 am EST

Don Vito’s mom is really manbearpig!

MANBEARPIG | 5/25/2007, 10:26 am EST

Plz dont compare me to that bitch!

Pinkie | 5/25/2007, 10:32 am EST

I love America. Greatest country in the world.

mustard tiger | 5/25/2007, 10:34 am EST

My mom is even more of a dirty, filthy slut than Don Vito’s mom.

MANBEARPIG | 5/25/2007, 10:37 am EST

the guy who keeps stealing my username on here is such a dickless vagin face! he/she (or maybe a lil of both) think their funny or pissin me off or something, but in reality hes a 400 lb transvestite who has got sand in their vagina! tell you what bud pick ur own name then come back and say something!

Sincerly
Don Vito

MANBEARPIG | 5/25/2007, 10:50 am EST

My mom slurps donkey jizz for breakfast.

Sam | 5/25/2007, 10:51 am EST

Pinkie, You are what is wrong with America. Stop with the truth already. You could get jailed for that. And whoa, the anger. You may need some coping medicine like the rest of us. God bless President Bush and his war of terror. Love it or leave it, buddy!

Hunter | 5/25/2007, 11:13 am EST

Pinkie, get your head out of your ass.
Slaves have been around forever. Every culture pretty much has had them. Even your sacred Indians. Even blacks and especially Muslims.
It might surprise you to know that there are still slaves in the world today. So please either shut up or grow a dick and learn your history.

Pinkie | 5/25/2007, 11:16 am EST

Hunter,
Well then it’s OK. If the Muslims do it and the Africans too, then what am I complaining about. God Bless America! And Hunter, too. You are the best! A true American hero.

Joe | 5/25/2007, 11:34 am EST

The Mexicans are the modern equivalent to the slaves of old. The Dems want them because of human rights, the Repubs for the slave factor.

Joe | 5/25/2007, 11:36 am EST

The Mexicans are the modern equivalent to the slaves of old. The Dems want them because of human rights, the Repubs for the slave factor. US is still better than the opportunity in Mexico, which is what we really should be addressing.

? | 5/25/2007, 11:42 am EST

Great video. Can this band make a bad video? I think not.

? | 5/25/2007, 11:45 am EST

My mom loves wetback wang.

Chuck | 5/25/2007, 1:54 pm EST

I love how the only postive comments posted about Meg are along the lines of “dude, she’s hot”.

Chucky | 5/25/2007, 2:22 pm EST

Becuz I think Jack White is super dreamy ;)

Chuck | 5/25/2007, 2:43 pm EST

lol…..in a skinny, pale, half dead sorta way

Johnny LaRue | 5/25/2007, 5:23 pm EST

Icky Thump, that’s the same sound I made in the bathroom this morning.

MANBEARPIG | 5/25/2007, 7:16 pm EST

the only thing good thing about those wetbacks is the invention of the “Mexican Shower”

hmmmm | 5/26/2007, 9:20 am EST

It costs money to put them through school. It costs money to support them medically, it costs money to deal with employing them illegally. who makes up these dividends? america’s tax payers. It’s not about race it’s about breaking the law and getting rewarded for it…

Jim | 5/26/2007, 10:37 am EST

Hang on a tick,don’t the White stripes not sing about politics as a rule?

iainttalkinfastujuzlisteninslo | 5/26/2007, 1:54 pm EST

actually yall got the line wrong..it’s “white americans/what nothin better to do/why dont u kick urself out/ur an immigrant too” by the way i dont even really like rock( im more into underground hip hop) but thiz song is undeniably killer

nordstrom | 5/26/2007, 3:22 pm EST

So kenosha … I suppose you would have felt better about the sheriff’s deputy in your county being murdered if it hadn’t been committed by an illegal immigrant? Wow. Doncha just love that Bill O’Reilly school of logic?

sacul | 5/26/2007, 9:11 pm EST

this video is awesome! meg died her hair

becky | 5/27/2007, 9:41 am EST

I love them. They make me proud to be a Michigander.

Jimmy Feltersnatch | 5/27/2007, 4:20 pm EST

Great video, great topic that needs to be addressed. Until the disparity between two countries is lessened, there will always be an influx from the poorer country to the wealthier. Simple economics 101…

Kick ass music, though.

Primordial stuff | 5/27/2007, 5:57 pm EST

I wish I could immigrate back to the Netherlands. Where I could have low cost healthcare, top of the line levees that actually work, eat mushrooms legally and have most of the taxes go back into the community instead of war and military. Why are they so strict about American illegals? Oh and the White Stripes are always an inventive and creative band with great music and as long as they continue this I will buy their records regardless if they are for Mexican illegals.

david | 5/28/2007, 1:38 pm EST

uh, im here to say that meg white did great druming in this song, `cuz the only positive comments about her here are along the lines of “meg looks HOtt!1″

keith | 5/30/2007, 11:33 pm EST

great song…i just hope there will be some badass riffs on the new album.

oxymoroni | 6/18/2007, 2:56 pm EST

why must musicians and movie stars always delve into politics? do i care what jack white’s opinions are on immigration? no i don’t. what has always made the white stripes so attractive is that they focus on minimalism. they’ve blown that. now they are just another rock band with a political agenda. what’s next, jack white funds the cure for aids in africa? if a person has to take their marching orders from a rock star then that person does not have the capacity to think for themselves. musicians should play music and actors should make movies. the end.

confuzzled | 6/19/2007, 4:19 am EST

Wait, so are the white stripes in favors of mexicans/immigration?????????? ???????? i’m confuzzled lol

Ugh | 6/28/2007, 6:08 pm EST

I have to leave the town I’ve spent 28 years in due to an increase in taxes as an effect of the major influx of illegal aliens we’ve seen. School taxes just went up, yet again, by $800/yr because we need to find a way to pay for all the kids whose parents aren’t paying taxes for them. Crime here has grown…sorry to burst the ignorance bubble, but an obsurd proportion is committed by illegals. I love the song…but, please, nothing is black and white. I love NY, I love Long Island, but I literally can’t live here anymore.

raja gursahani | 7/21/2007, 11:28 pm EST

get all yours heads out of your asses. the white stripes rock and the issue they tackled is pretty rad for a rock band. the mexican issue is relevant and the fact that we can’t be truthful about such issues is what pisses me off as well as others.

later alligator

Tess | 8/11/2007, 10:10 pm EST

“what’s next, jack white funds the cure for aids in africa?”

Oh, wow, what a horrible person he would be if he would do that. Oximoroni, movie stars and musicians are people too. They can have an opinion and express it; first amendment, you know. I, for one, applaud celebrities who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. That goes for Republican celebrities, too, even if I would sooner cheer for the Yankees than agree with them.

mexico owns america | 10/3/2007, 5:21 pm EST

go mexico! lol

Mexican | 11/24/2008, 5:49 pm EST

hey guys well let me tell you that Latino immigrants contibute 600 billion to the economy. You think the government can’t kick them out? They can’t but they allow them to come in and lure them in because low wages is the only wan that the U.S. can compete with countries like China. I don’t see anyone complaining about the cost of food being cheaper because most of the companies hire illegal immigrants or maybe I just missed it. However, i do hear many americans complain when things get expensive. furthermore, in Los Angeles where I live all the American companies have ads in Spanis because they make million and millions of dollars off of immigrants.

It’s simple. it is all about money. As long as money is being made off immigrants the government will do anything real to kick them out and American companies love illegal immigrants because their costs go down and so they can sell their products cheaper and compete with other countries.

Come on guys. Let’s read a little about economics and trie to be less naive. Read the statistics. If all illegal immigrants left for one day this nation would crumble and this is something that everyone agrees with.

Mexican | 11/24/2008, 5:51 pm EST

Jack white obviously understands this. He grew up in a Latino community

Mexican | 11/24/2008, 5:54 pm EST

Do you know where the U.S. gets 40% of their oil. you guessed it Mexico. At cheaper and preferential prices too. Why don’t people know? Ignorance. I mean 1 out of every 4 Americas can’t point o the U.S. on a map.

Mexican | 11/24/2008, 5:54 pm EST

Do you know where the U.S. gets 40% of their oil. you guessed it Mexico. At cheaper and preferential prices too. Why don’t people know? Ignorance. I mean 1 out of every 4 Americas can’t point o the U.S. on a map.

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