The Hardest Button to Button
Encyclopedia
"The Hardest Button to Button" is a 7"
single
by the American alternative rock
band The White Stripes
. It is the third single from their album Elephant
. The cover of the single is an allusion to the graphics of Saul Bass
, seen in the movie posters and title sequences of films such as Anatomy of a Murder and The Man with the Golden Arm.
Jack White
says that the song is about a child trying to find his place in a dysfunctional family
when a new baby comes.
for "The Hardest Button to Button" is the third White Stripes video directed by Michel Gondry
, after "Fell in Love with a Girl
" and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
" (two years later, he would direct the music video for "The Denial Twist
").
The video utilizes pixilation animation
to create the effect of dozens of drum kits and guitar amplifiers multiplying to the rhythm of the song as Jack and Meg perform. For example, in one sequence, Meg is seen playing the bass drum at a PATH
train station. On every beat, a new drum materializes just ahead of her and she instantly appears behind it to play that beat, leaving all the previous drums vacant. This effect was achieved by first setting up a trail of bass drums. Then, Meg would be filmed performing a single beat on the last drum in the line, which would then be removed; she would move back one drum, play another beat, and so on. The final video is edited to include the drum beats with the sequence reversed, making it appear as if the drums are being added to the beat, appearing out of thin air. Gondry used 32 identical Ludwig drum kits, 32 identical amplifiers, and 16 identical microphone stands during the shoot. The drum kits were donated to a music school after the shoot.
Much of the video was filmed around Riverside Drive and the Columbia University area near Grant's Tomb and around the 125th Street exit and surrounding neighborhood, - all part of the Upper West Side in Manhattan - New York City. Parts of the video were filmed at the 33rd Street
PATH
station.
There is a short cameo by Beck
about two and a half minutes(2:25) in as a man in a white suit presenting Jack with a "box with something in it".
episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats
", with The White Stripes guest starring as themselves. Bart Simpson
starts playing to the song, imitating the video routine, until eventually crashing into Meg's drumkit. She and Jack chase Bart until he leaves them suspended in midair over an open drawbridge
at the end of a riff, and they fall onto a garbage barge.
The song is a playable track in Rock Band 3
.
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
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...
by the American alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
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...
. It is the third single from their album Elephant
Elephant (album)
Elephant is the Grammy winning fourth album by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album marks the band's major label debut...
. The cover of the single is an allusion to the graphics of Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
, seen in the movie posters and title sequences of films such as Anatomy of a Murder and The Man with the Golden Arm.
Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
says that the song is about a child trying to find his place in a dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
when a new baby comes.
Music video
The music videoMusic 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 "The Hardest Button to Button" is the third White Stripes video 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 :...
, after "Fell in Love with a Girl
Fell in Love with a Girl
"Fell in Love with a Girl" is a song by the American garage rock band The White Stripes, written and produced by Jack White for the band's third studio album, White Blood Cells . Released as the album's second single in 2002, it reached number twenty-one on both the U.S. Bubbling Under Hot 100...
" and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" is a song by American garage rock band The White Stripes, featured on their 2001 third studio album White Blood Cells...
" (two years later, he would direct the music video for "The Denial Twist
The Denial Twist
"The Denial Twist" is the third single released from American alternative rock band The White Stripes' 2005 album, Get Behind Me Satan.-Track listing:*CD version# "The Denial Twist" – 2:35# "Shelter of Your Arms" – 3:30...
").
The video utilizes pixilation animation
Pixilation
Pixilation is a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a kind of living stop motion puppet...
to create the effect of dozens of drum kits and guitar amplifiers multiplying to the rhythm of the song as Jack and Meg perform. For example, in one sequence, Meg is seen playing the bass drum at a PATH
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
train station. On every beat, a new drum materializes just ahead of her and she instantly appears behind it to play that beat, leaving all the previous drums vacant. This effect was achieved by first setting up a trail of bass drums. Then, Meg would be filmed performing a single beat on the last drum in the line, which would then be removed; she would move back one drum, play another beat, and so on. The final video is edited to include the drum beats with the sequence reversed, making it appear as if the drums are being added to the beat, appearing out of thin air. Gondry used 32 identical Ludwig drum kits, 32 identical amplifiers, and 16 identical microphone stands during the shoot. The drum kits were donated to a music school after the shoot.
Much of the video was filmed around Riverside Drive and the Columbia University area near Grant's Tomb and around the 125th Street exit and surrounding neighborhood, - all part of the Upper West Side in Manhattan - New York City. Parts of the video were filmed at the 33rd Street
33rd Street (PATH station)
The 33rd Street PATH station, opened on November 10, 1910, is located on Sixth Avenue , between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan, under Greeley Square and just south of Herald Square....
PATH
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
station.
There is a short cameo by Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
about two and a half minutes(2:25) in as a man in a white suit presenting Jack with a "box with something in it".
7"
- "The Hardest Button to Button" (Jack White)
- "St. Ides of March" (Johnny Walker, Ben Swank)
CD
- "The Hardest Button to Button"
- "St. Ides of March"
- "The Hardest Button to Button" (video)
In popular culture
The song and video concept is used/spoofed in The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats
Jazzy and the Pussycats
"Jazzy and the Pussycats" is the second episode of The Simpsons eighteenth season and first aired on September 17, 2006. When Bart turns a quiet funeral into a chaotic mess, Homer and Marge are faced with angry Springfielders who've had enough of Bart's mischievousness...
", with The White Stripes guest starring as themselves. Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
starts playing to the song, imitating the video routine, until eventually crashing into Meg's drumkit. She and Jack chase Bart until he leaves them suspended in midair over an open drawbridge
Cartoon physics
Cartoon physics is a jocular system of laws of physics that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect. Normal physical laws are referential , but cartoon physics are preferential ....
at the end of a riff, and they fall onto a garbage barge.
The song is a playable track in Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
.