Icky Thump (song)
From Stripespedia
Contents |
Releases
- Icky Thump (2007)
- Icky Thump single (2007)
- Under Great White Northern Lights (2010)
- Live in Mississippi (2011)
Other Appearances
Credits
Performers
- Jack White: electric guitar, synth, lead vocals
- Meg White: drums
Production
- Originally recorded by The White Stripes.
- Written by Jack White.
- Produced by Jack White.
- Mixed by Jack White and Joe Chiccarelli.
- Recorded by Joe Chiccarelli, assisted by Lowell Reynolds.
- Recorded at Blackbird Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.
- Mastered by Vlado Meller at Sony Mastering.
Meaning
- The lyrics talk about someone (perhaps Jack White himself) taking a trip to Mexico in a wagon, easily crossing the border to Mexico, as opposed to the difficulties illegal Mexican immigrants face while crossing northwards. It then mentions a Mexican lady giving him a bed to sleep in, then tying him up and holding him hostage. When finally able to escape, White decides to start doing his own house chores (referring, most likely, to the hiring of illegal immigrants as very low paid house servants). In the video, when White escapes the lady's house and crosses back to the USA, he passes by Mexican workers building a wall, likely the so-called Great Wall of Mexico.
- The song deals with the topic of immigration to the United States. The song itself criticizes contemporary American immigration policy, something seen also in the video. It is thus the first political White Stripes track since "The Big Three Killed My Baby", off the band's debut album.
Band Quotes
Trivia
- Live guitar: The Airline in standard tuning. Jack plays the synth parts on a Moog Little Phatty.
- A Zvex Woolly Mammoth and Digitech Whammy were used to record the guitar solo.
- The synth used in the song is (most likely) a 1946 Jennings Univox J-10 Concert synth, purchased by Jack in New Zealand. According to Joe Chiccarelli, "it’s a suitcase synth with a speaker built into it, no DI. It’s very reedy, very mid-rangy, and it sounded so good in the room that the ambience you hear on [the song] is just the room ambience."
Lyrics
Yah-hee, icky thump, who'da thunk? Sittin' drunk on a wagon to Mexico. Ah, well, what a chump -- well, my head got a bump when I hit it on the radio. Redhead señorita looking dead came and said, "Need a bed?", en español. I said, "Gimme a drink of water; I'm gonna sing around the colla' and I don't need a microphone." Icky thump with a lump in my throat, grabbed my coat and I was freakin', I was ready to go. And I swear besides the hair, she had one white eye, one black (nk) stare, lookin' up, lyin' there. On the stand near her hand was a candy cane, black rum, sugar cane, dry ice, something strange. La-la-la... White Americans, what? Nothing better to do? Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant, too. Who's using who? What should we do? Well, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too. Icky thump, handcuffed to a bunk, robbed blind; looked around and there was nobody else. Left alone, I hit myself with a stone, went home and learned how to clean up after myself. La-la-la...
Video
The video was directed by Jack White and the Malloy Brothers. The Malloys also directed the videos to "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" and "My Doorbell".
