2007Released
4:15

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Icky Thump. By Songfacts®.

On the UK music show Later With Jools Holland (June 1, 2007), Jack White explained that he had heard his British wife, model Karen Elson, use the expression "Ecky Thump," a Northern English phrase that means "What The Heck." He changed it to the more American sounding "Icky" (meaning disgusting) so that teenagers would get it, citing how Led Zeppelin dropped the "A" in "Lead" for the same reason. Jack liked the expression and wrote the song around it with his bandmate Meg White.

The song is a commentary on immigration, and how immigrants are treated unfairly in America.

The lyrics, "I'm gonna sing around the collar" is a play on "Ring around the collar," which refers to the tough-to-remove sweat and dirt stains on the inside of shirt collars. It is typically used in laundry detergent commercials.

Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Icky Thump.
AKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
95BPM

Album

The album Icky Thump is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Icky Thump.
XL Recordings
2007 The White Stripes / Third Man Records, LLC exclusively licensed to XL Recordings, Ltd.
2007 The White Stripes / Third Man Records, LLC exclusively licensed to XL Recordings, Ltd.

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