“Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

"Seven Nation Army" was the lead single from Elephant, the White Stripes' fourth studio album, in 2003, and it's built on the cheekiest trick of the decade: that fat, thudding bass line isn't a bass at all, but a guitar pushed down through a pitch shifter. Jack White wrote it, produced it, and mixed it with Liam Watson, who recorded the whole thing.

Meg White keeps it primitive, a stomping, minimal beat that leaves the riff all the room it wants, and Jack's distorted vocal snarls over the top until the song finally bursts open into full-bore guitar. It's garage rock stripped down to bones and swagger, and it gave the band their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Grammy for Best Rock Song followed, Alex and Martin's video won Best Editing at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, and the song helped push the garage rock revival along. Then it escaped the rock crowd altogether: it's now chanted at sporting events, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and sung at political gatherings in the UK.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.