Jack White’s “I Don’t Belong Here” Quote Clarified by Label

Posted by RiffYou On May 26, 2015 0 Comment

After passages of an online chat between Jack White and his fans emerged yesterday, many media outlets assumed something was up with the Lazaretto-maker.

The one quote from White that largely stood out from the pack was the one that read: “I don’t belong here, and most of the time [it’s] torture trying to find reasons to stay.” That led some to believe (Riffyou.com included) that White was perhaps struggling with certain aspects of his career/life. Turns out, everything was just a misunderstanding.

Well, after much online activity about the matter, Third Man Records has made a statement to clarify White’s remarks. Here’s an excerpt:

JACK WHITE CLICK BAIT BINGO EXHAUSTION

From the desk of The Third Man Council For Internet Regulation and Journalistic Integrity…

Friends, family, journalists, naysayers, believers, tweeter & ‘grammers… I know we’ve all enjoyed our game of click bait bingo with Jack White this past year… Freeze Frame Cubs Games, Tour Manager Guacamole recipes, Tidal, Poetry as Product Placement, Private Chats with Fans.. Whatever it is, fear not because you are in the age of instantaneous negative internet gratification.

It looks we’re there again with something that seemed harmless and innocuous enough: Jack went into a fan forum and did a Q&A with some fans. This has now ballooned up in the press in a way that is suggesting Jack is going to retire, Jack will never play festivals, Jack won’t speak to Meg, etc ad nauseum.. No offense to any journalists that are “just doing their job” in this current 1 hour news cycle environment, pull quote, tabloid atmosphere but this is what happens when you isolate aspects of a conversation between a musician and his fans in a private forum and put it out into the blogosphere in a sensational way. It completely changes the context and intent of those statements, and the conversation.

So please indulge us so we can shed some light on these things and try and readdress some of these items:

* “I don’t belong here” That quote was Jack teasing Vault members about belonging in the Chat room with them, not him belonging on planet earth. It was not an existential cry to the abyss for attention.

* Never touring again – He never said that, but he IS taking a long break from the road (which was previously announced and discussed drama free over a month ago). He said he’d like to do acoustic shows in sit down venues and electric shows in standing venues. He said he doesn’t like festivals but hey, he does them anyway and he makes them work. Bonnaroo and Coachella were two of the greatest shows he’s ever been a part of (hell, we released his Bonnaroo set as a Vault release cause we loved it so much). He is not quitting music. He’s working with the Dead Weather next week, he’s involved in several projects we’re not even gonna tell you about right now cause we don’t want to ruin the surprise. Oh yeah!

* The stuff about Meg… She doesn’t have to answer her phone. He’s not even complaining about that nor is it depressing. The White Stripes is over and it’s been said a hundred times, and maybe that’s just the quickest way for him to answer that question he gets asked a dozen times a day. Jack loves Meg, and she’s an incredible drummer – nobody can do what she does and did with the White Stripes- but those days are unfortunately gone. Let’s move on, Jack and Meg have. And in the meantime we’re still selling their records (WINK!).

You can read the full statement from Third Man Records right here.