Jack White says he’s not a fan of the Taylor Swift-style of autobiographical lyrics. One reason why: he’s not interested in putting his most painful experiences into lyrics just for “some idiot on the internet to stomp all over.”
The recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee sat down for an interview with The Guardian to promote Jack White Complete Lyrics and Selected Writing — a collection of lyrics from every song he’s written outside of The White Stripes, from poems and Instagram posts, to notebook scans (which was published last December). As a songwriter who has also written for artists like Beck (“Go It Alone”) and Beyoncé (“Don’t Hurt Yourself”), White has developed a distinctive approach: keeping too much of himself out of his songs. In the lengthy conversation with The Guardian, he explained why that is.
“Now, it’s become very popular in the Taylor Swift way of pop singers writing about all of their publicly aired break-ups, which I don’t find interesting at all,” White shared. “I think it’s a little bit boring for me to write about myself.”
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“Even if I’ve had a really interesting day, I feel like I’ve already lived that, I don’t need to go through it every time I sing this song,” he continued. “If it’s something really painful, I’m not going to put this important, painful thing that I went through out there for some idiot on the internet to stomp all over. So I put a percentage of that into what I do and then morph it into somebody else’s character. I can’t really learn about myself until I put it into somebody else’s shoes.”
Though he doesn’t write autobiographically like Swift and others, White revealed that he does write about characters who recur across different songs. “I don’t give them names or anything, but I have these imaginary folks that pop into my head while I’m doing it,” White explained. “You can learn by asking, what would this other person say? That’s a lot more interesting than preaching to people, here’s the problem and here’s how to solve it, as if you’re so smart and so wise.”
White also broke down his belief that lyrics and poetry are the same. “It’s all poetry to me,” he said. “I think all music is the blues, and I think all lyrics are poetry. When I hear a song, it bugs me when I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
It’s not hard to see what White means when he points to Swift: Few major artists have made autobiography as central to their music as she has. Throughout her career, Swift has kept the world invested in her every romantic relationship, and how they ended, with breakup anthems like “Back to December,” “Dear John,” and “Style,” about Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, and Harry Styles, respectively. Though the former White Stripes frontman may not be a huge fan of this style of songwriting, the globe is; she’s the best-selling album artist of the 21st century, with more than 245 million albums sold.
Meanwhile, White is widely considered to be one of the most influential rock songwriters of the 21st century. He’s made countless memorable songs that feature abstract, character-driven lyrics, such as The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and “Little Ghost.” His music has earned him 12 Grammys (across his work with the band and his solo releases) and several critically acclaimed projects.
Different strokes, for different folks, I guess. What one legendary musician likes isn’t guaranteed to be viewed the same way by another.
Elsewhere in his interview with The Guardian, White discussed the distinction between political speech and political art.
