White Stripes Nation Manifesto IV: "You're Pretty Good Looking"
Published October 31, 2005
Your back is being broken by The Man, by the oppression of the Bush regime. No personal issues can be addressed until this pressure is removed and enemies of the revolution such as Kenny Chesney have been Dealt With.
LM: Al, you better not be making threats over there. For those of you interested in logic.... This is tongue-in-cheek love song. The object of desire is too popular for her own good, and has let it go to her head... and Jack is telling her that while she's a hottie and he would like to hit that, he's not gonna get down on his knees and kiss her feet just because all the other boys do. And I say, right on!
This is an anthem TO feminism... ladies, if you want to be truly equal in all things, including relationships, you can't hold a stable of boy toys and yet expect respect, no matter what Madonna and Sex in the City tells you. So sayeth the Monkeygirl, at least.
Oh yeah you're pretty good looking for a girl
but your back is so broken
and this feelings still gonna linger on
until the year 2525 now
Yeah you're pretty good looking for a girl
your eyes are wide open
and your thoughts have been stolen by the boys
who took you out and bought you everything you
want now
GA: The White Stripes also get credit here for brevity. They make a whole song- complete with a bridge- and then get the hell out in 111 seconds. Concision is an underappreciated artistic virtue.
So many songs these days are compromised or ruined by just being drug out past the breaking point that the underlying composition can support. If you've got a three minute song, and you're still playing it five or six minutes later- you're losing rather than gaining points.
LM: Psst, Alberto — that's the punk influence creeping in, my man. Short, simple, loud and sweet. That said....
VIVA LA REVOLUTION! And see where it all began.
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LegendaryMonkey Alisha Karabinus provides the inner voice of sweet reason for evolved primates at Sudden Nothing.
Al Barger plots the overthrow of the government and his continuing crusade for Moorish dignity at More Things.
- White Stripes Nation Manifesto IV: "You're Pretty Good Looking"
- Published: October 31, 2005
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Part of a feature: White Stripes Nation
- Writer: monkey2man
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Comments on this articleComments
Our revolutionary council is still debating Chesney's fate. The bleeding heart pinko Monkey urges compassion and forgiveness- perhaps euthanasia.
I, on the other hand, demand Justice. He should be locked in a room, and forced to listen to modern commercial country radio 24/7 for the rest of his unnatural life.
Great series and fantastic banter, folks. This is a truly spectacular gem of a raw-esque pop tune. I agree completely that it's brightly garage circa early Kinks.
I seem to like all WS albums about equally. I find about half completely off-the-charts brilliant and compulsive while the other half is just "nice," in the I'll listen if it's on and enjoy but won't run it down on the iPod while flying through traffic.
EB, sounds like you need a dose of the convincing stick!
Er. I mean logic. Al, stop threatening to shoot Kenny Chesney, too. I mean, he IS a pretty sad excuse for a "musician," but frankly, those simply aren't our people. PUT 'EM ALL AGAINST THE WALL!
Hmm. I'm not very sweetly revolutionary today, am I?
Oh, I'm on the viva la revolucion bandwagon, LM, I just have a somewhat unusual take on their albums.
Oh, I follow. There are a few songs I'm rather "meh" about, but ever since my car became the Stripes mobile, all White Stripes Radio all the time, I've even gotten to like most of those.
They're insidious.
Is "Your Southern Can Is Mine" on your list? That song just about sends me pan-dimensional.
Sorry, just saw this! We're going to do a separate set on covers and such... songs that weren't written by Jackie boy himself. We'll cover it there. Which is why we're not doing Death Letter in this series.
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(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/38697)
So, what happened to Kenny Chesney after the Revolution?