10 Amazing Songs Written In 30 Minutes Or Less

The White Stripes’ 2003 smash hit, featuring one of the most iconic guitar riffs in modern rock, was written hastily during a soundcheck in Melbourne. The band were preparing for one of their gigs and Jack White was playing the song for his wife/bandmate Meg.

This was in the run-up to their fourth studio album (eventually titled Elephant), so they were already a fairly established band, with hits like Fell In Love With A Girl and We’re Going To Be Friends to their name. But neither of those could compare to Seven Nation Army, whose meteoric rise propelled the Detroit duo to global stardom.

“I was playing it for Meg,” Jack said. “Then Ben Swank walked by and I said, ‘Swank, check this riff out.’ And he said, ‘It’s okay.’”

While it clearly wasn’t a very deep artistic conversation, the tune that came out of it became an instant classic, rising up to number one on the Billboard charts (and staying there for three weeks), earning the band a Grammy award, and continuing to feature at seemingly every sporting event known to man.

Its simplicity definitely worked in its favour, making it very recognisable and very easy to hum along to in packed football stadiums. One wonders if the song would be as simple – or as popular – if more time was spent on writing it.

“It’s okay” sounds about right.