Pop
Jack White hoped Seven Nation Army would land him a James Bond theme
Producer Liam Watson says Jack White originally imagined Seven Nation Army as a potential James Bond theme while recording Elephant in 2003.
Jack White originally hoped Seven Nation Army would end up in a James Bond film, according to producer Liam Watson, who has recalled the track’s creation during sessions for the White Stripes’ 2003 album Elephant.
Speaking to Uncut, Watson said White raised the idea several times while working at Toe Rag Studios.
He shared: “When we did Seven Nation Army, Jack said it would be great to get it on a Bond film."
Watson said the recording setup was unusually complex.
He recalled: “The recording was more complicated as Jack was going through two guitar amps, with two mics on each amp going down to a single channel. Half the mixing was done as it was played, and it took over an hour to get all the elements right, but they didn’t mind playing it again and again.”
White has previously mentioned the same ambition. In the 2009 documentary It Might Get Loud, filmed with Jimmy Page and U2’s The Edge, he said: “For a second I left [the riff] and thought ‘oh, maybe one day if I ever have to do a James Bond theme song or some spy movie, maybe I’ll use it.’”
He also described how the riff first appeared during a soundcheck in Australia.
He said: “I started playing that riff… and I thought ‘oh, this is really cool.'"
White tested it on his friend and roommate Ben Swank, who didn’t immediately share his excitement.
He recalled: “I said ‘what do you think of this?’ and he said ‘…it’s alright.'
“It’s great when people say that, because it makes you get defensive in your brain – you think, ‘no, there’s something to this, you just don’t see it yet!’”
