Jack White on Meg White After White Stripes drummer got hate

People have been talking a lot about The White Stripes drummer Meg White lately. This current wave of discourse began earlier this week when journalist Lachlan Markay wrote in a now-deleted tweet: “The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would have been with a half-decent drummer. Yeah yeah I heard all that, ‘but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannn!’ takes. I’m sorry Meg White was awful and no band is better suited to having crappy percussion.”

This drew a range of reactions from the likes of The Roots drummer Questlove and Jack White’s ex-wife Karen Elson. Now Jack himself got involved.

However, rather than addressing what was said directly, he came to Meg’s defense through a poem he shared on Instagram last night (March 15). It is reading:

“To be born in another time,
any era but our own would have been fine.
in 100 years
in 1000 years
another distant, another time.
one without demons, cowards and vampires that seek blood,
one with positive inspiration to promote good.
an empty field where no tall red poppies are cut down,
where we could lie all day, every day, on the warm and fine ground,
and know exactly what to say and play to conjure up our own sounds.
and be one with the others around us,
and even those who came before
and serve us all their love,
and pass it on again.
have bliss upon bliss upon bliss,
without being afraid, negativity or pain,
and get up every morning and be happy to do it all over again.

III.”

Jack’s post came about a day after Markay retracted his original statement, and shared a multi-part apology on Twitter that begins: “By now, you’ve probably seen an ill-advised (and since deleted) tweet I sent out yesterday about that White Stripes and Meg White. It was an over-the-top version of TWS and White as drummer and, let’s be honest, it was just plain awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just wrong.”

Meg has dealt with this type of criticism for decades: In a 2002 interview, she said: “I appreciate other types of drummers who play differently, but that’s not my style or what works for this band. i get [criticism] sometimes, and I go through periods where it really bothers me. But then I think about it and realize that’s what this band really needs. And I just try to have as much fun with it as possible.”

Find Jack’s post below.