In response to a music critic Tweeting a common but fairly awful opinion that Meg White, Jack’s other half in the White Stripes, is a bad drummer, Jack posted a photo of Meg with a delightful little poem, joining the ranks of drummers, critics, and musicians who have leaped to Megs defense. The poem read:

To be born in another time,
any era but our own would’ve been fine.
100 years from now,
1000 years from now,
some other distant, different, time.
one without demons, cowards and vampires out for blood,
one with the positive inspiration to foster what is good.
an empty field where no tall red poppies are cut down,
where we could lay all day, every day, on the warm and subtle ground,
and know just what to say and what to play to conjure our own sounds.
and be one with the others all around us,
and even still the ones who came before,
and help ourselves to all their love,
and pass it on again once more.
to have bliss upon bliss upon bliss,
to be without fear, negativity or pain,
and to get up every morning, and be happy to do it all again.

III

Normally, we wouldn’t write about anything this gossipy, but it is such a common and bullshit opinion that we’d consider it newsworthy. The skill of a musician, particularly in a duo and particularly a drummer, is not about bashing away at as quick a pace as possible so much as it’s about sounding like only you sound and being able to read your bandmates’ rhythms, patterns, and movements, anticipating those movements, and improvising growth based on those movements. Ringo is a master of reading John, George, and Paul. Meg is possibly the one and only drummer who can read the one and only Jack White. Just look how they interact on stage completely understood and completely without words (above). Without Meg, there could be no Jack, and no White Stripes, and that’s a sad world to imagine.