Blue Blood Blues

Really surprised so few people have commented on this so far. I guess I’ll take a stab at it.

This song is credited to Dean Fertita, Jack Lawrence, and Jack White. I suspect White is responsible for the lyrics–structurally and stylistically, they bear his stamp.

I think this song is about the tension between love and the desire for freedom that crops up in any marriage or long-term relationship, especially a high-profile one with its particular pressures. It may even reflect White’s own struggles on that front, as suggested by the title. A “blue blood” is a somewhat disparaging term for a member of the British nobility, and White’s wife, interestingly enough, is British. Or it could have nothing to do with her, in which case White may have chosen the color “blue” simply because it’s the color of sadness.

Here’s a line-by-line breakdown:

Yeah, I love you so much, I don’t need to resist. I don’t need to exist,

This speaks to the power of a love so overwhelming that the individual “I” is consumed in the “we” of the relationship.

Dripping blue blood From my wrist. I don’t need to resist.

But this kind of love has a dark side. Obliteration of the self in love is also a kind of death. If the “blue blood” of this song's title indeed refers to a person, notice how she’s so much a part of him that she’s become his own blood. They’re inseparable. Yet as she fills him up, she also obliterates him. That’s the tension between love and loss of self.

Yeah, all the neighbors get pissed When I come home. I make ‘em nervous. (Come home (x 2).) Yeah, I make ‘em nervous.

Why would the neighbors be disturbed when he comes home? Maybe because there’s trouble in the family...

Crack a window, crack a broken bone. Crack your knuckles when you’re at home. Lick an ice cream cone. Crack a bone (x 3). (Crack a bone (x 3).)

These lines are rather violent, hinting at bursts of temper that are physically and emotionally chipping away at the broken home, perhaps interspersed with attempts to “make nice” for the kids and whatnot (“lick an ice cream cone”). Alternatively, they paint a picture of someone sitting at home, waiting for the singer, perhaps cracking her knuckles and bingeing on ice cream out of boredom and anxiety.

All you had to do was ask. Who is it that wears a mask? When you put me to task, You know, you leave me broke and shirtless.

These lines are somewhat more ambiguous but seem to express the singer’s feeling that his loved one is insincere or manipulative (wearing a mask) and too demanding (taking the very shirt off his back).

Check your lips At the door, woman.

Ouch! Here he gets aggressive, bluntly telling her to shut up.

Shake your hips Like battleships.

Seems to be an acknowledgment of how women may use sex as a weapon in a relationship.

And all the white girls trip When I sing at Sunday service, Sing at Sunday service (x 2), I sing at Sunday service. (Sing (x 3).)

I agree with maxperkins, who thinks that “white girls” is actually a stand-in for Jack White fans. At this point, he seems to be reminding his partner that there are plenty of other women out there who appreciate him. The word “trip” here could either mean “fall,” implying that all the girls fall for him, or it could suggest a drug trip, meaning that the girls experience a kind of high when he performs “at Sunday service,” a nod to either White’s Catholic background or the nearly “religious” ecstasy that overwhelms his fans when he performs.

I only got one face (dadadada)

Seems to be another shot at the woman. Whereas she appears to “wear a mask,” he states that he’s always been himself...

I tried too long to erase.

...even if he almost lost himself in her.

You know if I left (dadadada), I wouldn’t leave a trace. I wouldn’t leave a trace (dadadada). I wouldn’t leave a trace. If I left you, woman, You know, I wouldn’t leave a trace. I wouldn’t leave a trace (x 5). If I left, you’d never see me again. You’d never see me again. I wouldn’t leave a trace. You’d never see me again.

He concludes with a threat, reminding her that he could leave at any time, and if he does, he’ll be gone for good, completely.

The overall effect of the song is very harsh, but I have to think it just reflects the darker thoughts that privately haunt many men through the ups and downs of a marriage or long-term relationship.