Talk:Seven Nation Army

I'm pretty sure there was an earlier SNA video where a different video effect was used to repeat Meg and her drum set all over the screen in various scenes. Anyone know where I can view that one? --J. J. 19:41, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Thats not SNA its Hardest Button to Button

Yeah, JJ. There is only one Seven Nation Army video. The one that you are talking about is Hardest Button to Button from the same album. The video is probably on YouTube or Google Videos. It might also be on Yahoo! Music. --S-MAN

Why the heck did we delete my category? That was a damn good category with time well spent. --S-man 22:58, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm just wondering why the lyrics of the song aren't posted on this wiki or any other wiki based on a single. I don't know if it's some copyright issue but I'm just wondering.

Because it's dumb.

Lyrics aren't usually posted on Wikipedia, except for certain reasons such as in The Trial by Pink Floyd. Also, unless there is a lyrics sheet put out by the artist, they tend to be wrong and generate controversy. Plus, it looks kinda un-encyclopedic FinalWish 00:35, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

While I concur with reverting the information by 212.34.164.166 for now since it was uncited, I wonder if the information regarding the spread of the "fan chant"-version of SNA should not be included, I've been to a couple of German grounds this year and there was virtually no match where I didn't hear the Seven Nation Army-riff being sung. Furthermore I've also read the story of the Roma fans bringing the song along from Belgium, so should we include this once there is a citable source on this or is that too much unnecessary information. --Jinxo 13:39, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

is not a b-side, so I removed it.

I removed this comment because the "bass" line is not really similar to "Subway Song" at all; at least certainly not similar enough to be note worthy. Saying otherwise is merely an isolated opinion, not a belief that is widely supported by rock critics and the like.

I think that the signature riff is almost identical.--Timtak (talk) 22:50, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

I think the word "live" should be taken out in the line "The band has been known to perform a cover of this song in their live concerts" because isn't that just redundant? I mean, all concerts are, essentially, live. --DancexwithxmexXx 14:34, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

• Agreed. It's gone. Martpol 09:40, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

I am unsure, the article says the single said "7". --69.92.47.74 03:04, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Whether or not you write out the number, there should be a hyphen in it. It's a 7-nation army (or seven-nation...) 199.3.21.242 (talk) 23:56, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Can someone give me a source about APC's cover of this song? I can't find any. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.219.130.242 (talk) 11:25, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone know what key this song is in? I know wikipedia tends to have that on a lot of songs, why not this one?

It is in the key of E. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.131.127.40 (talk) 17:30, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

10 November change by 68.84.239.23 seems to make no sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.89.96.36 (talk) 04:31, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I cannot hear any resemblance between Seven Nation Army and Bruckner’s fifth symphony. The only sites suggesting such a connection simply copy and paste the first paragraph of this article. Stanislao Avogadro (talk) 00:45, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

I'll tag the claim as needing a citation.--RDavi404 (talk) 01:39, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

The similarity is to the main theme of the Allegro section of the first movement (it returns in the last movement as well), played first by the violas and cellos at measure 55 (just after rehearsal letter B) of the 1878 edition, which begins Bb Db Bb Ab Gb F, exactly the same melody as the Seven Nation Army riff. However, I cannot find a source for the claim that the resemblance is intentional. Dfan (talk) 22:51, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Recently there has been a dispute about whether or not the Marcus Collins cover version should have its own section and infobox or whether it should be mentioned with the other cover versions, so I am starting a discussion here.

The article is about the song and all notable cover versions of the song, not just the original version of the song. Most song articles on Wikipedia that have notable cover versions have sections and infoboxes for those versions in the articles. By charting on four national charts and having numerous reliable sources, Marcus Collins's cover version is a notable cover version and if it was an original song it would have its own article passing both WP:NSONG and WP:GNG. From what I can tell reading the article, none of the cover versions are notable or would pass WP:NSONG if they were original songs. By reducing the cover version down to a single sentence you lose all the information about the cover version which makes it notable. The size of the section should not be a reason since it is only one sixth of the article.

Since the discussion has been started and the information has been in the article since February 2012, it should stay in the article unless there is a consensus to remove the information. Aspects (talk) 20:30, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

The size of the piece is the discussion, precisely because it is one sixth of the article. The claim that it charted in four countries is pretty irrelevant if you examine that claim - no.51 in Ireland is barely noteworthy, and neither is no.9 in Scotland as the UK position is given (it seems to be clutching at straws). If it was condensed to two/three lines, or given its own paragraph, in the cover version section, then it wouldn't be an issue, but it is given far too much space for its relevance - as shown by the use of song in popular culture, which all stem from the White Stripes' original version (in Europe they were generally adopted prior to the covers' release, and in the US, the cover gained little to no exposure).

As I pointed out, songs like All Saints' cover of Under the Bridge (which reached no.1 in the UK) aren't given that prominence in their respective article. DoubleDoubleDouble (talk) 21:14, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

The size of the piece should not really be the discussion since you did not even mention it until the third time you deleted the section and if it is, then being one sixth of the article, mostly in coding, is not given that much space. Also pointing out one example of a notable cover version not having its own section and infobox actually works against you because I can turn around and show you that most notable cover versions have their own sections and infoboxes. Also that version is a particularly bad example because the main information is located at "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade", where it should not be since this is two cover versions and should be listed in both "Under the Bridge" (where it is not located) and "Lady Marmalade" (where it is located). Since "Under the Bridge" is a featured article I am going to add some merge templates instead of completing the merge myself. Aspects (talk) 16:29, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

I already commented on the Alternative Rock page about this – IMHO, The White Stripes and a number of other bands called "Alternative" are not. Therefore, I deleted a large section on the Alt Rock page about that; and I'm deleting that reference from this page. Damienivan (talk) 19:27, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Just letting everyone know — I removed the following images, per this discussion on NFCR. We concluded that the non-free use rationale for those images was insufficient, since the recordings themselves are of questionable notability (i.e., not discussed much in the article beyond their chart performance) and because the article does not specifically discuss the album art for the covers. This decision was made with WP:NFCC#3a and WP:NFCC#8 in mind. If you disagree with this choice, feel free to discuss either on this talk page, my talk page, or the NFCR page.

• File:SevenNationArmy.jpg
• File:Seven-Nation-Army-by Ben-loncle-soul.jpg

–GlottalFricative^(talk) 01:26, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

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What does the song mean?--Timtak (talk) 23:08, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

I've restructured the "Sporting events" section, as it was in need of some cleanup: it was getting quite long, and it was more a list of instances in which the song was used in sporting events rather than an encyclopedic overview of its usage in sporting events. I did my best to work most of the noted appearances of the song into prose; however, I could not find reliable sources for each instance, and besides, not every appearance of the song needs to be (or should be) included in an encyclopedic overview of the song's usage in sporting events. I believe this structure is much easier to read and gives a clearer overview of the history of its usage in sports. It should be noted that even for instances that were included, I've removed many details that I believe are unnecessary. It should also be noted that the Bayern Munich's use of the song is no longer mentioned in this section, as I could not find a reliable source for it, so I'll probably remove the image of the Allianz Arena soon (and, ideally, replace it with another one—I think a free image of a 2018 FIFA World Cup crowd would work well here). Thanks, Hadger (talk) (contribs) 10:38, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

> He misheard "The Salvation Army" as "The Seven Nation Army".

I think a link to Mondegreen should be included there Geirhau (talk) 12:22, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Done but feel free to be bold. Robvanvee 12:28, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

This song has been used as a chant for Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez, at least in Mexico City, wherein it was sung as “Ho, Checo sabroso” 2601:409:4100:9370:54E6:19AF:63B1:9256 (talk) 00:42, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

GA review

Passed. _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 23:13, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

This review is transcluded from Talk:Seven Nation Army/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: RTSthestardust (talk · contribs) 05:24, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: SignedInteger (talk · contribs) 21:06, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Hello! No, don't worry, I'm totally not humming this song's riff in my head right now! (I'm a bad liar...) but I'll be handling this one, shouldn't take too long but I'll get the basics (copyvio, 5 and 6, and the like) out of the way first! _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 21:06, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Copyvio bot check: 36.7% (violation unlikely), comparing with what it matched up, the main one it lists is the NME article. But again, it says "violation unlikely", so all good here. _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 21:11, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Link dispenser doesn't seem to be working for this one...unfortunately. _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 21:23, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Congratulations, @RTSthestardust! This is your first GA. I recommend that you try your hand at reviewing other GANs to help clear the backlog, but it is ok if you don't want to. _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 23:12, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Source spot-check table

This table checks 43 passages from throughout the article (25.0% of 172 total passages). These passages contain 52 inline citations (23.4% of 222 in the article). Generated with the Veracity user script. _{S.G. (They/Them) (Talk) (Edits)} 21:35, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

More information Reference #, Letter ...

Reference #	Letter	Source	Archive	Status	Notes
"Seven Nation Army" began with a guitar riff devised by singer and guitarist Jack White at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, while the White Stripes were on the Australian leg of their tour on January 29, 2002.
1	b	Blackwell, Ben (2023). Elephant UHQR (booklet). Third Man Records.			Correct
3	a	deadspin.com	web.archive.org		Correct, stated so in the source.
The lyrics were written the night before the song was recorded.
1	c	Blackwell, Ben (2023). Elephant UHQR (booklet). Third Man Records.			Correct, stated in the booklet.
blues rock
9	b	allmusic.com	web.archive.org
10		ft.com	ghostarchive.org
song with a length of three minutes and 52 seconds.
11		itunes.apple.com	web.archive.org
The riff uses five pitches and consists of seven notes; it begins with a held note followed by four syncopated notes, ending with two notes that appear frequently in laments.
16	a	npr.org	web.archive.org
The 7-note riff of "Seven Nation Army" has been noted to be similar to the main theme (movements 1 and 4) of Bruckner's 5th symphony.
17		ft.com	ghostarchive.org
Maginnis described the lyrics as presenting an "obstinate attitude", citing the opening lines: "I'm gonna fight 'em off / A seven nation army couldn't hold me back / They're gonna rip it off / Taking their time right behind my back".
9	e	allmusic.com	web.archive.org
and in 2003 it was released as a promotional single alongside Elephant track "In the Cold, Cold Night".
21	a	Handyside, Chris (2004). "Discography". Fell in Love with a Band: The Story of the White Stripes. S…	archive.org
On January 3, 2014, Third Man Records announced a limited edition clear 7-inch vinyl reissue of "Seven Nation Army" as part of a package for subscribers to its Vault service.
22		thirdmanrecords.com	web.archive.org
23	a	thirdmanrecords.com	web.archive.org
The music video won Best Editing in a Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, and was nominated for Best Group Video, Best Rock Video, and Best Special Effects.
24		billboard.com
25		billboard.com	web.archive.org
In particular, "Seven Nation Army"'s central riff has been the subject of praise since the song's release. A writer for Rolling Stone described it as the best riff of the 2000s decade,
27	a	rollingstone.com	web.archive.org
and Phares said it was "explosively minimal".
26	b	allmusic.com	web.archive.org
and listed as the number-one song of the year on the 2003 KROQ Top 106.7.
32		radiohitlist.com	web.archive.org
and Pitchfork's
38		pitchfork.com	web.archive.org
In late 2023, for the chart's 35th anniversary,
42		billboard.com	web.archive.org
It debuted at number 38 on Billboard's Mainstream rock chart on July 12, and it reached its peak position of 12 on November 8.
46	a	billboard.com
47		billboard.com	web.archive.org
On June 22, the song debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at its peak position of number 17.
54	a	australian-charts.com
It debuted on the Official German Charts at number 69 on June 27; it peaked at number four two weeks later.
55	a	offiziellecharts.de
The song was awarded several certifications in the 2010s. It was certified gold by Germany's Federal Music Industry Association in 2010, indicating over 150,000 sales of the single.
62	a	musikindustrie.de
The song was certified gold by the FIMI in 2014; three years later, it received a platinum certification, having sold over 50,000 copies.
64	a	fimi.it
After its initial run on music charts, the song—especially its riff—grew in popularity as a result of its usage in sports. In 2012, Deadspin's Alan Siegel described the "riff-turned-anthem" as "ubiquitous",
3	b	deadspin.com	web.archive.org
—and Nate Sloan said that the four notes following the riff's first note create a feeling of "urgency that makes [the riff] much more memorable".
16	b	npr.org	web.archive.org
it was re-ranked it at number 36 in its 2021 revision.
74		au.rollingstone.com
The publication ranked "Seven Nation Army" at number four on their 2025 list of the "250 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century So Far".
78		rollingstone.com	web.archive.org
They continued the chant after Club Brugge striker Andrés Mendoza scored a goal.
3	e	deadspin.com	web.archive.org
16	e	npr.org	web.archive.org
and "Seven Nation Army"—known as the "po po po po po" song among Italians—became the team's "unofficial theme".
3	g	deadspin.com	web.archive.org
80		bbc.co.uk	web.archive.org
After Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup final, the riff was sung in Rome's streets.
3	h	deadspin.com	web.archive.org
"Seven Nation Army" has served as an official anthem at various sporting events; NPR's Rick Karr remarked that the song is "arguably... the world's most popular sports anthem".
16	l	npr.org	web.archive.org
Multiple sports teams and personalities have also used "Seven Nation Army" as their official song or walkout music, including boxers Gennady Golovkin and Anthony Joshua,
86		abcnews.go.com	web.archive.org
87		espn.com	web.archive.org
American football teams the Baltimore Ravens,
88		cbsnews.com	web.archive.org
baseball team the Baltimore Orioles,
91		baltimoresun.com	web.archive.org
Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork was unable to ascertain which video had prompted the post, though he mentioned a fan-made video that "featur[ed] Trump imagery and audio of his speech at the Republican convention, set to 'Seven Nation Army'".
100		pitchfork.com	web.archive.org
"Seven Nation Army" made multiple appearances at events leading up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election. Following a May 2017 speech by then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at the Wirral Live music festival at Prenton Park in Birkenhead, Merseyside, supporters in the audience began to chant "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" to the tune of the song's riff.
103	a	theguardian.com	web.archive.org
Corbyn's name was again widely chanted throughout football games and public gatherings in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
107		bristolpost.co.uk	web.archive.org
The song was performed during the final task of The Amazing Race 31 at Hart Plaza in Detroit.
111		ew.com	web.archive.org
The Glitch Mob remix of the song appears as a playable track in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and in Guitar Hero Live's online GHTV mode.
135		gamespot.com	web.archive.org
136		gamesradar.com	web.archive.org
the Netherlands,
142	a	dutchcharts.nl
British singer and The X Factor 2011 finalist Marcus Collins performed a cover of "Seven Nation Army" based on Ben l'Oncle Soul's cover.
144	b	digitalspy.co.uk	web.archive.org
Priya Elan of NME concluded that although the cover may have seemed "disturbing in theory", it was ultimately "disposable and forgettable as a McChicken sandwich [...] but not bad".
147		nme.com	web.archive.org
rock supergroup Audioslave,
156		chaoszine.net	web.archive.org
French neofolk group SKÁLD covered the song in 2019 for the Alfar Fagrahvél edition of their album Vikings Chant, with minor changes to the lyrics, with the city of "Wichita" changed to "Uppsala".
164		open.spotify.com	web.archive.org
The song was covered during Maroon 5's Overexposed Tour in 2012, with lead guitarist James Valentine providing guitar and vocals and lead vocalist Adam Levine providing drums.
165		rollingstone.com.mx	web.archive.org
They also performed the song at the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony in honor of The White Stripes' induction.
170		stereogum.com	archive.today

Close

GA Criteria Table

More information Rate, Attribute ...

Rate	Attribute	Review Comment
1. Well-written:
	1a. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct.	Did a quick check and found no problems to speak of.
	1b. it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.	I compared this to Hey Jude, which is a song FA, and it is similar in terms of layout and other such and such. Obviously, that does not mean it is on that level yet but still, I wanted to mention that.
2. Verifiable with no original research, as shown by a source spot-check:
	2a. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline.	No comments here.
	2b. reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose).	See source spot-check table.
	2c. it contains no original research.	See source spot-check table.
	2d. it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.	See source spot-check table.
3. Broad in its coverage:
	3a. it addresses the main aspects of the topic.	The song's history, production, music video, initial reception, and cultural legacy are all covered. Cover versions are also covered.
	3b. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).	No random mentions of this being played at some high school game or whatever, no mentions of obscure stuff that shouldn't matter. No, none of that. Solid work.
	4. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.	Nothing for me to add here.
	5. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.	Nominator is second in authorship, but still at 23%, so no drive-by worries here, also only one edit at all from this past week, so yeah this is stable.
6. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
	6a. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content.	There are a total of 7 images. 3 of which are non-free cover arts with non-free rationale, while the other 4 are on Wikimedia Commons and have proper CC licences. The sound sample did have a rationale, but the notice just said that it didn't; I have fixed this to no longer display that.
	6b. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.	3 are cover art, so, no comments on if they should be here or not. the 4 Commons images are relevant and the captions fit neatly. The sound sample is good and relevant.
	7. Overall assessment.

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The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.