"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" is a song by American garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 band The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, featured on their 2001 third studio album White Blood Cells

White Blood Cells (album)

White Blood Cells is the third studio album by American alternative rock duo The White Stripes, released on July 3, 2001. Recorded in less than one week at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by frontman and guitarist Jack White, it was the band's final record released...

. Written and produced by vocalist and guitarist Jack White

Jack White (musician)

Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...

, "Dead Leaves" was released as the third single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from the album in August 2002 and charted at number nineteen on the United States Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and at number twenty-five on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

.

Music video

The music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for this song, directed by Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...

, depicts Jack White

Jack White (musician)

Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...

 coming back to his trashed house and surveying reckless destruction. While he goes from room to room, sepia video of the party events that led to the decimation (and of his and Meg's relationship before he left) is superimposed over the scene, until in the final scene she leaves him.

Reception

In a review of the song for allmusic, Tom Maginnis describes "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" as a "grimy rocker", noting it as a display of the duo's "keen understanding of musical dynamics".

Track listings

All songs were written by Jack White

Jack White

Jack White may refer to:* Jack White , with the rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather* Jack White , UK soldier* Jack White , German producer of disco music...

, except "Stop Breaking Down" by Robert Johnson.

7" vinyl (XLS 148)

1. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
2. "Stop Breaking Down
   Stop Breaking Down
   "Stop Breaking Down" or "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" is a country blues song recorded by Robert Johnson in 1937. Described as an "upbeat boogie with a strong chorus line", the song became popular largely through later interpretations by other artists....
   
   " (Robert Johnson cover; live at the BBC Studios, Maida Vale
   Maida Vale
   Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...
   
   )

CD single (XLS 148CD)

1. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
2. "Suzy Lee" (live at the BBC Studios, Maida Vale)
3. "Stop Breaking Down" (live at the BBC Studios, Maida Vale)

DVD single (XLS 148DVD)

1. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" (music video)
2. Interview with Arthur P. Dottweiler

Cover versions

• Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile
  Chris Thile
  Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic...
  
   covered "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" on his 2006 album How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
  How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
  How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a 2006 album by Chris Thile & the How to Grow a Band, credited to Chris Thile. It was released on Sugar Hill on September 12, 2006...
  
  in a bluegrass
  Bluegrass music
  Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
  
   style.
• Nina Persson
  Nina Persson
  is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish pop group The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and appearing on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited...
  
   covered this song in the 2006 film Om Gud Vill (God Willing).
• Jack White
  Jack White (musician)
  Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
  
   performed this song with Jimmy Page
  Jimmy Page
  James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
  
   and The Edge
  The Edge
  David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
  
   in the 2009 documentary It Might Get Loud
  It Might Get Loud
  It Might Get Loud is a documentary by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. It explores the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film received a wide release on August 14, 2009 in the U.S...
  
  .
• The main riffs and vocal patterns were borrowed in "Weird Al" Yankovic
  "Weird Al" Yankovic
  Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
  
  's 2009 White Stripes style parody "CNR".