The Truth In Red And White: The White Stripes' Romanticised Reality

"I SAW THIS documentary about a classical guitarist," Jack White told me recently. "He was playing Bach and Mozart, these really ridiculously complicated pieces, but he said, 'I really wish I could come up with music on my own. I don't know how to do it, I can only play what I read; I can't jam with another musician, or write or anything like that.' It seemed like the saddest thing in the world to me – he sounded so great, but only if someone had written the notes out for him."