LegendaryMonkey: Welcome, music fans, to part five of White Stripes Nation, wherein the Generalissimo and I attempt to convince — or in his case, force — you to accept Jack and Meg White as your personal saviors. Or at least, as a really, really good band. Today's offering?

"Hello Operator"
De Stijl, 2000

Generalissimo Alberto: Right here's my top favorite from anything on the first two albums. One good point of reference for this hard guitar pop would be your early Who. Those nice, hard clean guitar chords would sound right in your iPod next to, say, "The Kids Are Alright."

But an even closer comparison stylistically would be the immortal 1977 Ram Jam classic "Black Betty." That Leadbelly song became a rock hard guitar record, yet still totally catchy radio bubblegum. Likewise, "Hello Operator" rates as one of the most direct fulfillments of the whole candy-cane aspect of the White Stripes idea.

Note also how the Ram Jam recording speaks prophetically of the White Stripes revolution to come: "Black Betty had a child, bam a lam. The damned thing's gone wild, bam a lam." Thus, Ram Jam foretell how the black man will soon be rising up against the current regime, helping to sweep Jack White into power, becoming the first black president.

LM: Al? Honeychile? I think you done lost your mind there. Jack White is about as black as a little blonde nymphet from Livonia, Michigan. And while Livonia is technically part of Detroit... well, that ain't the point. Point is, the boy may have soul, but ain't no law as says a white boy can't have soul. It just don't make him black. But the music, Alberto... talk about the music!

GA: Jack's at least as black as Bill Clinton. At least there'll be no damned whitebread Fleetwood Mac crap at this inaugaration.

LM: Mama's gonna confiscate your weed and send you to bed with no dessert if you don't hush this foolishness and get back on track.

GA: Yes, ma'am. This record speaks well to Jack's strengths as a guitar player. He is often rightly touted as one of the all time great rock guitarists. But many people scoff at this claim, saying that Jack just isn't all that technically.

Technically, that's right. "Hello Operator" has some of Jack's best playing- but it's not all that fancy or athletic. Any decent local bar band should be able to more or less reproduce what he's doing.

Theoretically, Yngwie Malmsteen can play rings around Jack White. He can certainly play faster, more precise flurries of notes than Jack ever will- and you probably won't remember a lick of it five minutes later.

But you'll likely be struggling to get these relatively simple chords of "Hello Operator" out of your head so you can try to think of something else. It's the same principle as classic Chuck Berry: It's how meaningful and memorable the lines are, not how difficult they are to play. The hard part is thinking them up, not the actual playing.