Hear Me Out: Meg White is irreplaceable

This article was originally published on Far Out

“People should write books about Meg White,” Jack White previously said. “To me, she’s like Hank Williams or Jimi Hendrix. They are one in a billion. One in a billion”.

Despite the Detroit native’s entry-level proficiency as a percussionist, her touch is what made the White Stripes so unusual. Take away Meg and all you’re left with is Jack, literally and spiritually, and that’s fine, but you can’t bring in just any other drummer because her bits seem easy to execute and expect to get away with calling the duo by the same name.

Excellence in music is typically measured by skill, but taste is what ultimately saves the day. Even the most proficient instrumentalists or singers can only do so much when they don’t know how or where to position themselves. There’s certainly an allure to the fullness of metal and prog-rock, but that mustn’t diminish the raw prestige of tactful unruliness as seen in punk and garage either.

The White Stripes were from a city known for adding a disruptive twist to tried-and-tested formulas, and somehow making them even better. This makes sense when you remember that Jack White has never cared for how things work; rather, he thrives on the challenges of constraint, disrepair and scarcity. Whereas he was without question the mastermind behind the White Stripes’ exuberant reductionism, Meg always kept him anchored.

The two had an unmatched telepathy that is clearly visible in pretty much any recording of them performing together. However, what makes her part in it all so remarkable is that Jack, who is a highly skilled instrumentalist, has no regard whatsoever for time or structure, but she still never missed a beat.

This is what passerby critics fail to acknowledge every single time: Meg White was the perfect role player, which is exactly what Jack needed to pull off the White Stripes. Those who think John Bonham or Neil Peart would’ve made the group better have simply failed to see the bigger picture, because virtuosity has no place in a pursuit so innately minimal. In this case, ‘ripping’ and 'boring' would essentially become interchangeable.

“I don’t think she understood how important she was to the band, and to me and to music,” Jack said back in 2014. “She was the antithesis of a modern drummer. So childlike and incredible and inspiring. All the not-talking didn’t matter, because onstage? Nothing I do will top that.”

Don’t forget the Third Man Records boss is a criminally underrated drummer himself, which is evident from his work with the Dead Weather or the James Bond soundtrack he made with Alicia Keys. He could’ve done it all on his own with overdubs and hired guns, so it’s important to ask why he chose not to.

Meg understood the assignment from day one, which was that there was no assignment besides trying to keep up with her mad-scientist bandmate. Anyone else could have technically done it, absolutely, but the White Stripes was never a technical project to begin with. Contrarily, it was about innovation and making something out of nothing, with their music essentially allowing people who think they don’t have what it takes to realise that it actually takes nothing more than sincerity and passion.

Meg White the percussionist, Meg White the singer and Meg White the mascot of the red, white and black brand, all served to galvanise listeners and turn them into creators. Jack said it best at the duo’s recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony: “Get your hands dirty and drop the screens and get out in your garage or your little room and get obsessed. We all want to share in what you might create.”

Though he would typically do most of the talking even back in the day, her limited word count shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness either. Shy and meek in person, her drumming was always loud, fierce and, above all, succinct. At no point was her instrumental work ever supposed to be the centrepiece of the White Stripes, and it is precisely because she ensured that nothing ever got in the way of her partner’s indulgences that they fulfilled their purpose with such panache.

Jack White knows better than to ever try and replace Meg, surely out of respect but also because he’s sharp enough to understand there can never be another. Pretty much anyone can recreate the drum solo from ‘Hello Operator’ because the whole point is for more and more people to get involved and hopefully come up with something of their own along the way. That said, only one person can sit beside Jack as his other half and get away with doing the bare minimum with the utmost proficiency, because his genius just won’t surface in anyone else’s presence quite the same. In fact, rumour has it that he has only been able to continue being as great as he is because he took Meg’s last name.

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