"Jimmy the Exploder", one of the few White Stripes songs that begin with Meg's drums, was the first original song the White Stripes ever performed, on July 14, 1997, at the Gold Dollar venue in Detroit, Michigan. As Meg had only started learning how to play the drums two months earlier, and was prone to struggling with the tempo on the song in its early live performances, Jack would often coach her during shows by using counts. "
Stop Breaking Down" is a cover of blues musician
Robert Johnson's 1938 single. "
The Big Three Killed My Baby" is about the
Big Three auto manufacturers (namely
Ford Motor Company,
General Motors, and
Chrysler Corporation) who have headquarters in or near Detroit, Michigan. The song is perceived to be a
protest song against the auto industry. The song is also a play on the number three, Jack's favorite number. "Suzy Lee" is one of two songs on the album to feature Johnny Walker as the additional guitarist. Her character would later appear in "
We're Going to Be Friends" and the band's fifth album,
Get Behind Me Satan, was dedicated to her in the liner notes. She also appears in the children's book version of "We're Going to Be Friends". "Wasting My Time" is said to have been inspired by
Bob Dylan, due to its similarities to "One More Cup of Coffee", a Dylan cover which is the 13th track on the album. It was also compared to the work of
Van Morrison. "Cannon" interpolates "
John the Revelator", a blues and gospel song performed by
Son House. Sometimes "John the Revelator" was performed on its own, such as in an appearance on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' in 2003. Sometimes, Jack would add "
Electric Funeral" by
Black Sabbath to the song, as the riffs are similar. "Astro", inspired by Jack's pet Jasper, is a generic reference to "anything you do that no one knows about". It mentions inventors
Thomas Edison and
Nikola Tesla. "Broken Bricks" was co-written by one of Jack's older brothers, Stephen. The song is possibly in reference to the abandoned buildings of Detroit, Michigan. "When I Hear My Name" is one of the top 10 most-performed songs the White Stripes ever did. "Do" was written about a year before the album was released, having first been performed at a local fair in July 1998. "Screwdriver" was written spontaneously about a random screwdriver that happened to be sitting in the attic of the Whites' home during a rehearsal. The band performed it during their first nationally televised appearance (
The Late Late Show in 2001). "
One More Cup of Coffee" is a cover of the fourth song on
Bob Dylan's album
Desire. Critics consider it one of the best Dylan covers. "Little People", the first in the "little" series of songs by the White Stripes, had an alternate title of "Big Girl". "Slicker Drips" was rarely performed live and never performed after the year 2000, though it was the first song they ever used as an encore. "I Fought Piranhas", which features Johnny Walker on guitar, was likely written before Meg started playing the drums and was recorded in the Whites' living room. The song's original refrain was "I Fought the Boar".
Bonus tracks "
Let's Shake Hands" is the band's debut single, recorded at their home; its B-side is "Look Me Over Closely", a cover of a
Marlene Dietrich song written by
Terry Gilkyson. It was often used as their first song during concerts. This was likely in reference to the White Stripes' first ever performance being on
Bastille Day. The song was originally recorded with Jack's side project
The Upholsterers. Some editions of their third album,
White Blood Cells, featured "Lafayette Blues" on a bonus DVD.
Outtakes Outtakes for the album include "Red Bowling Ball Ruth", "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?", "Let's Build a Home", "
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground", and a cover of
Burt Bacharach's "
My Little Red Book". "Red Bowling Ball Ruth" would be released as the b-side for
the album's single, "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?" and "Let's Build a Home" would be included on
De Stijl (2000), and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" would be included on
White Blood Cells (2001). ==Critical reception==