It seems that Jack White is hung up on losing his former musical partner Meg White in 2011. Even though his wife left him in the same year, Meg White leaving the band, The White Stripes, had a profound impact on Jack and his music and his ability to move forward. His first solo album after the split was Blunderbuss in 2012 and it is largely a sad, thoughtful breakup album about young distant women. Since Meg left the band he has not interacted with her much, leading him to think about her too much and say things about her in interviews that he probably shouldn’t like calling her a “hermit” when speaking to Rolling Stone recently about his second solo album, Lazaretto. He also said of the time he spent with Meg White creatively that, “all the not-talking didn’t matter, because onstage? Nothing I do will top that.” This shows that White cannot get Meg White off his mind. Even though they rarely talk and she is not on stage or on screen with him, he still talked about a female that he sees as dominate, like Meg was in their creative partnership, who has left him alone. In his most recent album he sings “it’s not enough that I love you/ there’s all these things I have to prove to you…I love you, but honey, why don’t you love me?” On the title track of this new album he references a God that is really a caustic woman with a riff that says, “she grabs a stick and then she pokes it at me/ when I say nothing, I say everything.”

The trouble for White is that these grumpy numbers do not really appeal to his fans that he won with his uncanny ability to ooze sex and evil in songs like “Ball and Biscuit” when he does his guitar solo. The real question is where will Jack White go next? He has good songs, but with all of this melancholy pining after women it is not interesting to reflect on anything that he produces. Even though his musicianship has been improving as he continues to produce, his outlook on life is not pleasant to listen to. Even though he was most of the musical meat behind White Stripes, Meg White brought a beautiful truth and sincerity to the band that is unparalleled.