Weep Themselves To Sleep

Album: Blunderbuss (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Jack White said in NME magazine: "I'm jealous of how rap and hip-hop lyrics can get away with a lot more metaphors than the world I come from is allowed to get away with. The character in this song is bragging, but it's also self-depreciating at the same time."
  • The song features some stand out piano playing by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Brooke Waggoner. Brooke won the Nashville Music Award for "NBN Emerging Artist" of the year in the fall of 2009 and her songs have been featured in TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Ghost Whisperer.
  • The song finds White virtually rapping the lyrics. He told UK newspaper The Sun: "If I'd sat down and said I wanted the delivery of a Hip-Hop artist, I might not have succeeded. It just came out subconsciously. The White Stripes song 'Icky Thump' — 'Icky thump with a lump' — also sounds very much like a rap."
  • White explained the song's meaning to The Sun: "I was thinking about Jay-Z and Kanye West and the freedom of expression they have that I don't have," he said. "It's about a character singing, (breaks into a rap) 'No one can blow the shows or throw the bones that break your nose like I can'. I was trying to make that statement braggadocious and self-effacing at the same time."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"They're Playing My Song

With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.