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Cover of Elephant by The White Stripes
Cover: Elephant

Song · The White Stripes

“The Hardest Button to Button” by The White Stripes

From the album Elephant (2003)

“The Hardest Button to Button” by The White Stripes appears on 49 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 2003 and 2025. It was first released in 2003 on the album Elephant. Its best result is #10 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #5 alternative song of 2003, #1,212 alternative song of all time and #61 of the '00s.

49countdowns
28stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
2003–2025years charted

Watch

The White Stripes - The Hardest Button To Button (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (The White Stripes). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"The Hardest Button to Button" comes off the White Stripes' 2003 album Elephant, and it's the duo at its most bare-knuckled: Meg White's drums stomping out a stop-start beat like somebody pounding on a locked door, Jack White's guitar answering with a low, fuzzed-up growl. Jack wrote it, words and music, and produced it himself.

The credits read like a two-person workshop. Jack handles guitar and piano, both Whites sing, and Liam Watson recorded it and shared the mix with Jack. There's nothing extra to hide behind, and that's the point: the silence between the hits does as much work as the hits themselves, and the tension never quite breaks.

Rock countdowns picked it up in 2003 and kept it around for more than a decade.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 15 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2003 107
2003 14 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2003 91
2003 10 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2003 106
2003 26 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 101
2003 24 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003 100
2003 31 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2003 92
2003 58 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 37 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2003 89
2003 34 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 101
2003 20 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 27 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2003 66 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2003 107
2003 31 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003 99
2003 47 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 105
2003 19 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 2003 104
2003 22 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2003 196
2003 22 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 50 Songs of 2003 50
2003 10 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2003 103
2003 49 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2003 103
2003 84 102.1 The Edge Dallas-Fort Worth, TX KDGE Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2003 14 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003 100
2003 44 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2004 84 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2004 107
2004 78 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004 106
2004 73 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2004 100
2004 32 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 77 Songs of 2004 77
2004 57 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2004 102

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 1940 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1941 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 229 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 45 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the New Millennium 96
2005 304 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 1932 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 85 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the Millennium (December 2006) 107
2006 357 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 293 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 235 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 223 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 58 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 2009) 101
2009 493 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 207 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 59 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210
2010 186 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 166 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2018 869 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2022 277 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s 907
2025 345 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909

Also listed as: The Hardest Button To Button; Hardest Button to Button; Hardest Button To Button.

Charting alongside it in 2003

Best songs of 2003 →
  1. 1Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes
  2. 2Like a StoneAudioslave
  3. 3Bring Me to LifeEvanescence
  4. 4Somewhere I BelongLinkin Park
  5. 5Times Like TheseFoo Fighters
  6. 6Weak and PowerlessA Perfect Circle

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