Apple Blossom

Am I the only one who gets the manipulative tones of this song? It's so obviously about him trying to bag a virgin. "They don't really care for you"- he's turning her against them. "I think I'll marry you" makes quite clear his abuse of power. He's not mocking girls who cry, he's just trying to stop this one from crying 'cause she looks better happy and 'cause if he cheers her up she'll be back for more. Fairplay to him though, it works quite well on a lot of girls, and now he's admitting a (slightly) darker side.

Yeah, I agree w/ mockingsmile [and the one before] that the tone of this song is condescending. However, this has to be put into historical perspective. The White Stripes are VERY retro. They don't just sound old, they actually create situations and characters from the past.

The attitude towards women until probably the 70s was very condescending, and the female ideal was what we would today consider diminutive and childlike. Look at shows like "I Love Lucy" from the 50s... In this show a forty year old woman acts like a little girl to get the attention of her husband, who has to look after her. Sixty years before was the Victorian era, where the feminine ideal was delicate, floral [if I can say that], and in need of male protection.

So, it seems creepy to us now that he sounds like he's talking about a "little" girl, who is delicate like an apple blossom, and who needs rescuing by him and his marrying her. More importantly perhaps, it seems creepy to us today that he is attracted almost exclusively to her need for him, with nothing to do with personality or anything aside from her lack of independence. You get a good sense of this by the way he keeps calling her little, her troubles are little and they go into a little pile, so he can fix them for her ('cause he's a man and that's easy for him)... He doesn't take her seriously, doesn't see her as an equal but rather soothes her "little" troubles like one would a baby. But fifty to a hundred years ago this frailty and need of a man was widely viewed as an appealing female trait.

This song has taken an old ideal and an older version of the male/female dynamic and presented it to a modern audience. It seems, based on the tone of the song, that he somewhat acknowledges the sinister association this situation would have nowadays with pedophilia and exploitative relationships. However, the singer's voice and tone generally stays true to character. This isn't really a commentary on the past, it seems, but simply a represenation of it. If we were in the past, of course, this would simply be a sweet love song... so it also makes sense to look at it that way if you imagine yourself in that world. So this could be nostalgia, or commentary, or more likely a subtle combination of both.

I love how simple these lyrics are - they're so accessible, and they make me feel safe, if you see what I mean! Some songs go so overboard with the lyrics they lose their meaning, but this song is beautifully void of complication. And I like the idea of the guy not liking the girls who run around crying to everyone, just because that's a pet hate of mine! ;) The White Stripes seem to have a "thing" about marriage, don't they? What with Hotel Yorba's "Let's get married in a big cathedral by a priest", which is interesting for a rock & roll band...most songs these days seem to be all sex and romance, which, quite frankly turns me off. Did I say I love this song? :P

i love this song,and it was even better performed live,its so simple yet the message is clear and awesome

This is one of the best songs that i know of. The lyrics are so simple and yet they mean so much. This song kept on spinning on in my head for days when i've heard it. It is just great how the White Stripes could Make all those different songs and yet they seem all Whitestripe-like . They absolutly rule in make me feel in all the different ways with their songs as i never felt before. I just like them very much

my ex boyfriend dedicated this song to me when we first started going out....its such a good song.I was always his Apple Blossem after that. I just got the "White Blood Cells" cd...its very good. Good band

yeah i also really enjoy this song some people say that its not like their type of music and well.. they suck.. this is an amazing song by the stripes and i could listen to it for hours

i've noticed jack's voice sounds a lot like paul mccartney.. he sounds exactlly like him on some parts of "the same boy you've always known"

Yeah I agree with everyone on this one it is just so simple...but great!!!! I also had it stuck in my head for about a week and its perhaps one of my favourite Stripes songs but not my most favourite!... Not too sure what hes talking about though!

this song is very special for me, I like listening to it when I'm sad, and because of this song, I try not to cry