Farewell, White Stripes.

As many of you probably know by now, The White Stripes have called it quits. After 13 plus years of making some of the most wonderful (and wonderfully simple) music I can possibly think of, they have this to say:

“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong
to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is
that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your
involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful."

I seriously was about to cry when I heard this news today. The White Stripes were my first favorite band, the first band that I can say I religiously followed. Back in that awkward stage of middle school, I discovered them and that was pretty much it. I dreamed of getting to see them live and bought every album.

The White Stripes were one of the most important bands of the last decade, there's no doubt about that. They, along with The Strokes, pushed indie garage rock into the mainstream music scene. 10 years ago, before "White Blood Cells," the idea of a brother-and-sister duo making a racket playing Son House and Leadbelly covers would have never made any waves in the music business. But now, "Seven Nation Army" is considered one of the best songs of the 2000s, and Jack White is considered one of the greatest geniuses in modern music. Their near perfect blend of pop and blues gave The White Stripes an edge that nobody else had at the time, and now you can't find a guitar player who isn't inspired by Jack.

I respect them for their decision to end it now though. In another quote from the band, they claimed that the breakup was "for a myriad of reasons" and that they want "to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way." Good for them, I say. They had a great thing going, with not a bad album to their name. After 4 years of Jack working on other projects and Meg starting a family, it probably just didn't feel right anymore. I wish more bands would do that, to be honest. Far too often, bands release records just to stay within the business and make money, it doesn't matter if the album is one or two good songs plus 10 songs worth of filler. I applaud you, White Stripes, for having the decency to call it quits when you know it just doesn't feel the same.

That's all I really have to say about the whole situation. Third Man, Jack's label, says that they'll continue to release old studio and live recordings through their Vault subscription service as well as commercially, so it's not like they died or anything. Just kind of sad, really.

Thank you, Jack and Meg.