Lyric discussion by terrycraig 

Cover art for Broken Bricks lyrics by White Stripes, The

From a recent FILTER Mag article Jack White wrote, he says: "It was a popular pastime for kids growing up in Detroit; scouring through abandoned buildings looking for whatever you could find. I was a born garbage-picker."

I think this song reflects that "scouring through abandoned buildings" pastime; he sees it as a Detroit thing, which would also fit with some of the other lyrics about Detroit from the Stripes' debut album, like "The Big 3 Killed My Baby." (The later "Rag and Bone" is more about the "garbage-picking" aspect he mentions.)