Icky Thump
The White Stripes Lyrics
Ah, icky thump
Who'd a thunk?
Sittin' drunk on a wagon to Mexico
Ah, well
What a chump
Man my head got a bump
When I hit it on the radio
Redhead señorita
Came and said
Need a bed in Español
Said, gimme a drink of water
I'm gonna sing around the collar
And I don't need a microphone
Icky thump
With the lump in my throat
Grab my coat
And I was freaking
I was ready to go
Yeah, I swear besides the hair
She had one white eye
One blank 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 la la la la la la la
White Americans
What, nothing better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You're an immigrant too
Who's usin' 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
There was nobody else
Left alone
I hit myself with a stone
Went home
And learned how to clean up after myself
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: John Anthony White
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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"Icky Thump" is a Grammy Award-winning song recorded by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Written by Jack White, it is the first single released from Icky Thump.
The name of the track comes from the Northern England exclamation "Ecky Thump," roughly meaning "what the heck?" The title was then changed to "Icky" so that "teenagers would understand it better back in America," in the same way Led Zeppelin took out the "a" so Americans wouldn't call them 'Lead Zeppelin' (pronounced 'leed')" . Read Full Bio"Icky Thump" is a Grammy Award-winning song recorded by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Written by Jack White, it is the first single released from Icky Thump.
The name of the track comes from the Northern England exclamation "Ecky Thump," roughly meaning "what the heck?" The title was then changed to "Icky" so that "teenagers would understand it better back in America," in the same way Led Zeppelin took out the "a" so Americans wouldn't call them 'Lead Zeppelin' (pronounced 'leed')" . The phrase was popularized in an episode of The Goodies.
Though grounded to a greater degree than the Get Behind Me Satan singles in straightforward garage rock, the song differed radically from previous White Stripes singles in its unusual construction: angular tempo-changes, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, and chaotic improvised snake-charming solos, played on a Univox synthesizer.
The song deals with the topic of immigration [7]. The song itself seems to criticize the current 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 White Stripes.
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 Mexican immigrants face while illegally 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 defining verse against immigration policies comes near the end of the song:
White Americans What? Nothin' 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.
The song also ended the 15-week run of "What I've Done" by Linkin Park at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is the second song by the White Stripes to top the chart, after "Seven Nation Army." The song is sandwiched between the 15 week run at number 1 of "What I've Done and "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters 18 week run, separated by only the 1 week appearance of "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven.
The name of the track comes from the Northern England exclamation "Ecky Thump," roughly meaning "what the heck?" The title was then changed to "Icky" so that "teenagers would understand it better back in America," in the same way Led Zeppelin took out the "a" so Americans wouldn't call them 'Lead Zeppelin' (pronounced 'leed')" . Read Full Bio"Icky Thump" is a Grammy Award-winning song recorded by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Written by Jack White, it is the first single released from Icky Thump.
The name of the track comes from the Northern England exclamation "Ecky Thump," roughly meaning "what the heck?" The title was then changed to "Icky" so that "teenagers would understand it better back in America," in the same way Led Zeppelin took out the "a" so Americans wouldn't call them 'Lead Zeppelin' (pronounced 'leed')" . The phrase was popularized in an episode of The Goodies.
Though grounded to a greater degree than the Get Behind Me Satan singles in straightforward garage rock, the song differed radically from previous White Stripes singles in its unusual construction: angular tempo-changes, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, and chaotic improvised snake-charming solos, played on a Univox synthesizer.
The song deals with the topic of immigration [7]. The song itself seems to criticize the current 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 White Stripes.
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 Mexican immigrants face while illegally 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 defining verse against immigration policies comes near the end of the song:
White Americans What? Nothin' 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.
The song also ended the 15-week run of "What I've Done" by Linkin Park at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is the second song by the White Stripes to top the chart, after "Seven Nation Army." The song is sandwiched between the 15 week run at number 1 of "What I've Done and "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters 18 week run, separated by only the 1 week appearance of "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven.
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Leonard Simonis
Maybe my musical tastes are, say, a bit mellower and more avant-garde-ish, but I'll recommend some anyway
-Jar Of Flies, Facelift, Dirt - Alice In Chains
-Distant Satellites, The Optimist, Weather Systems - Anathema
-Audioslave - Audioslave
-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Paranoid, TYR, Heaven & Hell - Black Sabbath
-Agents Of Fortune, Spectres (and others...) - Blue Öyster Cult
-Garlands, Heaven Or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
-Dreamtime, Love, Electric, Sonic Temple, Ceremony, Hidden City - The Cult
-Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, The Book Of Souls - Iron Maiden
-Red, In The Court Of The Crimson King, Thrak, Discipline, Beat, (maybe their other albums as well) - King Crimson
-Everything by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, especially "infest The Rat's Nest", "Nonagon Infinity", "Flying Microtonal banana", "Polygondwanaland", "Fishing For Fishies" and "Omnium Gatherum".
-Also every Led Zeppelin Album
-Ragged Glory, Mirror Ball, Toast, Chrome Dreams II, Le Noise, Psychedelic Pill, Harvest - Neil Young
-The Firstborn Is Dead, Your Funeral My Trial, Tender Prey, Henry's Dream, Let Love In, Murder Ballads - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (and if you like those, their later releases are also great, just not that dark and wild. They began to do ballads and chamber pop and soul music, and lately they began to use synthesizers and created floating soundscapes rather than structured songs. But those are so beautiful, I highly recommend to listen to it. Try out "Push The Sky Away" and "Carnage". They'll make you ready for their two masterpieces "Skeleton Tree" and "Ghosteen", which deal with the death of Nick Caves son Arthur. They're sad albums, but also very beautiful and full of love-messages...
And they also did garage rock as well. Grinderman is the project they formed for this. Just as insane as The White Stripes. No Pussy Blues is just amazing!!!)
-Rid Of Me, To Bring You My Love, Stories From The City Stories From The Sea, Let England Shake, The Hope Six Demolition Project - PJ Harvey
-Placebo, Without You I'm Nothing, Black Market Music - Placebo
-Grace For Drowning, Hand Cannot Erase, The Raven That Refused To Sing - Steven Wilson
-2112. Moving Pictures, Signals, Hemispheres, Caress Of Steel - Rush
-Suede, Dog Man Star, Coming Up, Head Music - Suede
-also everything by SWANS, try out their debut "Filth". If that's too hard and headache-causing, try out "White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity" or "The Great Annihilator". And if you want super dark post-rock, check out their three opuses "The Seer", "To Be Kind" and "The Glowing Man".
-First & Last & Always, Floodland, Vision Thing - The Sisters Of Mercy
-Bloody Kisses, October Rust, World Coming Down - Type O Negative
-Salisbury, Look At Yourself - Uriah Heep
no hard rock music or rock music at all, but you could check out Dead Can Dance's "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun" or "Spiritchaser", Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode (especially Delta Machine, Violator or Songs Of Faith & Devotion), In Dream by Editors, Tusk, Say You Will, then Play On, Rumours and Tango In The Night by Fleetwood Mac, and maybe Nursery Cryme, A Trick Of The Tail, Duke and Abacab by Genesis.
FT N
@Paul Egan I've heard better drumming at a High School talent show than I've ever heard from The White Stripes.
Aesthetics are appearances, not sound. You are correct though: they're both visually unappealing.
I don't need progressive jazz or progressive metal to compare her to.
All professional jazz, blues, big band drummers are on a completely different level of talent than White Stripes are. Professional LIVE (not sampled) hip hop and soul drummers also outclass her. Most professional metal, grunge, and rock drummers also outclass her.
She's boring, straight, stiff, and has no comprehension of fills. The band rarely has any tempo or time signature changes, which isn't doing them any favors either. You could handle the entirety of The White Stripes discography with 1 hi-hat, 1 crash, 1 Tom, 1 snare, and 1 bass and you'd never have to focus on more than 2 of those at any one time.
Even if I did want to listen to a no-talent 4/4 snooze-fest, there are better options.
Shawn Faddoul
A song so good it doesn't even need a chorus. Let's the guitar do the work.
Rob Murrah
It's a riff chorus
Matthew Green
@David C Chorus' absolutely don't have to have words. Like, whatsoever. Instrumental jazz pieces and classical pieces had chorus' quite frequently.
rvaugh230
Phish must be the greatest band ever.
Shandon Sahm
Verses are also The choruses at the same time genius
teneeley
@Bern not at all true
Greg xPand
The White Strips are a masterpiece of a band, people will still be listening to this in hundreds of years.
Fonzee
Heck yeah, I love breath strips. I meant “white strips” I mean white stripes. Dang
To many dabs
Jimmy1982*Playlists
@fourcrippledhorses Oh, the lizard people are gonna LOVE them! 🤣
[Liam]
@Coh 😂😂😂