The Best Accidental DVD Purchase We've Ever Made

Liz here. Gonna talk about the White Stripes.

First of all, we Chapman Paper Sleevers are madly in love with the White Stripes. Especially Jack White. We were fans when we heard the music, we became enamored after watching the film "It Might Get Loud," and it was undeniable, hopeless love after watching "Under the Great White Northern Lights."

Jack mentions in this tour documentary that he heard someone once say that "White Stripes are simultaneously the most fake band in the world and the most real band in the world." And I'm inclined to agree. The outfits and instruments only in black, red, and white can come off as more of a gag than anything else (cough cough this blog has the same color scheme coincidentally though it wasn't a conscious shout-out cough cough). Their inconsistent statements on their relationship is a big red flag (no pun intended) regarding their integrity.

(Note: For years, they billed themselves as brother and sister, despite suspicions that they are/were married. The truth? They were married, and have since been divorced. The lie was based on a desire to keep the focus on the music, according to Jack White, who in 2005 told Rolling Stone, "When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, 'Oh, I see . . .' When they're brother and sister, you go, 'Oh, that's interesting.' You care more about the music, not the relationship – whether they're trying to save their relationship by being in a band.")

All of the above makes it difficult to accept anything they do or say as being completely true. Jack says they don't use a set-list for their shows. Which I absolutely love. But is it true? I don't know. But I'm beginning to feel it's not as important. The things that make them "the most real band in the world" are.

And they're real. Why? Because you can't fake honesty in your music. Perhaps that's a doe-eyed belief, but I can't bring myself to accept that you can lie in a song and have it be as powerful as some of Jack's are. Whether he wrote them or is just singing them, there is power and raw feeling in his voice that I haven't seen or heard since Janis Joplin (whom, granted, I haven't seen or heard in her hey-day, but I worship her now). Take "Jolene": (spoiler from the DVD, so don't watch if you'd rather see it in context)



When Jacob and I watched this, we were overwhelmed. I had to stop the DVD and recover before we could keep watching. I turned to Jacob and said "That was one of the most honest, pain-filled, real performances I have ever seen in my life."

Charlie Parker once said "Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your [instrument]. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." It doesn't matter if you wrote it or not. It doesn't matter if you're a woman who's true love is being taken away by a woman named Jolene. If you've ever hurt, if you've ever loved, you can sing about it. And Jack White does. And I think that despite the maintaining the "gags," he really wants to remain genuine.

On the Canadian tour that's the subject of the documentary, Jack and Meg play "day shows" in addition to the ticketed events that are on the schedule. They would give between 10 minutes and an hour's notice--start a rumor on the internet or tell one or two people in town--and play a song or two anywhere they could set up...a tiny platform in a town square, a fishing boat, a daycare, or at the local bowling alley. Shows like that aren't about anything but the music. Just one more way to push yourself as a musician.

In the documentary, Jack White also discusses the ways in which "constriction leads to creativity." He purposely does things during shows that make things just a tiny bit harder...they don't use a set list, he doesn't keep extra guitar picks handy (so if he loses or breaks one, he has to walk all the way to the back of the stage to get another), he places the keyboard just out of immediate reach, etc. (Although he does have microphones all over, so that he can sing wherever he is onstage.) But he argues that giving yourself limitations and structure allow you to be creative in ways you wouldn't otherwise know about. Almost as though thinking "inside the box" helps you to push against it.

But when all's said and done, the White Stripes are anything but inside the box. Let's just take a minute to acknowledge that this is probably because Jack White is one of the coolest people that has ever lived. Did you know that he was going to be a priest, but decided to go to public school instead? And then he became an upholsterer, formed a band with his co-worker, and released an album with him called "Makers of High-Grade Suites" as The Upholsterers. He then opened his own upholstery business, but it turned out to be unprofitable because of what people saw as "unprofessional business practices" like writing out bills in crayon and writing poetry inside the furniture. So he decided to pursue music full-time. And we're glad he did, because then things like "Under the Great White Northern Lights" are created, and there's a little more truth and beauty in the world.

It would be so much better for you to just go out and get the DVD. Rent it, Netflix it, buy it. But if you don't, take one moment to just feel the music. Don't try and figure it out, don't analyze it. Just feel it. Let it take you wherever it takes you. (This is also a highlight of the DVD...probably one of the best moments, so if you're planning on watching the film, just wait on watching this.)