Elliott's Eccentricities- Rag and Bone by The White Stripes

Jack White is always on the right. Or is he...?

I swear, Jack White is not a human being. He can’t be; he is just too weird to be from this universe. I am convinced that he is a real life Johnny Depp character from a Tim Burton movie. I mean look at him! I don’t know how he managed to pull a reverse Viewtiful Joe, but I am glad he did.

The funny thing is that, despite how crazy White looks or acts, most of the music he makes is fairly normal. The White Stripes has made some really incredible music that manages to split the divide between popular and artistic. I really don’t know a lot of people, be they hipsters or mainstreamers, who object to the White Stripes. That being said, every Beatles has their Revolution #9, and Jack White is no exception.

Rag and Bone might not be the White Stripes most eccentric track, but it is probably my favorite. Jack and Meg’s Deppesque personalities really shine through. The track follows them as they beg for free stuff. I like to imagine that the song is completely serious; that Jack and Meg really do wander into random people’s houses and creepily ask for stuff.

The thing is the track masks it’s bizarreness behind what sounds like a completely normal Stripes song. The general structure and chorus are fairly standard (and fantastic). It fits perfectly with the rest of Icky Thump and the entirety of the Stripes catalog. The song is so subtly eccentric that a couple members of the blog didn’t think that it really deserved an Eccentricity (don’t worry Eric, I will get on that suggestion next week). However the crazy is there if you pay attention.

On the eccentricity scale ranging from 1 to 10
1- I saw Ghostrider 2.
10- I thought it was a good movie.
Rag and Bone -1/10
Jack White in general – 10/10

The single greatest part of this track is Meg White in the background. She randomly interjects with whispers that just make me crack up. She whoos when she sees the inside of the house, randomly asks what stuff is, and mutters to herself. She completely sells the song; I can see her picking up things and pocketing them as Jack distracts the owner of the house. She says the second best line in the song, “I saw some stuff in your yard, are you gonna give it to us….or not….?” The line is so great that even Jack can’t ignore it, chastising her for being rude.

I said that Meg has the second best line in the song because Jack says one of the greatest, most eclectic lines I have ever heard. Towards the end of the song Jack devolves from coherency and starts saying random words that rhyme. What is great is that it works perfectly; it doesn’t feel out of place. To paraphrase, he claims that they are going everywhere from the west-side, to the middle-east, to twilight zones in search of everything from “techniques, turntables, to gramophones”. So take the last lick of your ice cream cone, because Jack White will steal it if you don’t. Wow, that is a terrifying mental image…

Wait, here is a scarier one...

You know you're weird when you're
in a photo with the insane clown posse
and YOU'RE the weird one...