18: dead leaves and the dirty ground-- the white stripes

something big was about to happen. i could feel it. the flowering of my generation was imminent. everyone would be jammin to garageish rock. boy bands would evaporate. flashy rap would disintegrate. there would be a woodstock and heightenedawareness and everything. standing at the forefront of this wouldbe revolution was the white stripes, donned in red and white. it would be glorious.

this, as you may know, never happened. but i wanted it to, especially after hearing this song. i had really dug the white stripes for a while when i heard 'dead leaves and the dirty ground.' the first i heard of them was their cover of "ashtray heart" or "sugar never tasted so good" or something like that. their alleged siblingness and frayed edges made the band especially intriguing. while i really liked them, i remember thinking they would never be big when i first heard them. later, they were surrounded by hype and media attention and i thought, at last, it is all happening. the white stripes along with bands like the strokes and the hives would revive rock music and lead us into the future. this song, the first track on 'white blood cells,' represents all those possibilities.

the song fit my expectations of what i wanted the white stripes to sound like. unkempt, hard, lovesick-- it was flawless. it was everything i wanted in music at the time. the line "every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me" embodied what i liked about the white stripes so much-- it was endearing and a tad off. which was great. i have listened to this song innumerable times, but jack white's guitar still sounds like it could slice through a brick wall.

i credit this song for being the crux of my imagination about a new music revolution in 2001. but it also has remained a song i still appreciate from a band that i still think is awesome. and while they may not have started a music revolution, they have continued to make quality, quality stuff for some time. and thats good enough for me.

parfait: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tr3OAWw1vc