The White Stripes: Blue Orchid Meaning

Song Released: 2005

Blue Orchid Lyrics

You got a reaction
You got a reaction didn't, you?
You took a white orchid
You took a white orchid turned it blue

Something better than nothing
Something better than nothing, it's giving up
We all need to do something
Try keep the...

1. anonymous

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   Mar 15th 2008 !⃝

   Just wanted to volunteer a trivial fact that may have been considered when the song was written:
   
   Orchids are known to resemble female genitalia pretty closely.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 13th 2008 !⃝

   I think it has to do with being sexually attracted to someone he knows he couldn't be with. Like someone that is too young. The young girl likes to flirt with the older guy and turns his orchid blue (blue balls). Also I think it has to do with this temptation that he's trying to overcome because of the lines
   
   Get behind me
   Get behind me now, anyway
   
   Those lines remind me of when Jesus tells Satan, "Get thee behind me." As if the person singing is saying do not tempt me any more.
   
   jmho anyways.
3. anonymous

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   Dec 10th 2007 !⃝

   This song is about a relationship coming to an end. It tells the final chapters of the story.
   
   You got a reaction
   You got a reaction didn't, you?
   
   Something bad happened. Something unexpected between the 2 of them. This could be anything from a comment to cheating. Who knows? Who cares? But it clearly identifies the fact that something happened that could destroy of the relationship.
   
   You took a white orchid
   You took a white orchid turned it blue
   
   All this is saying is the pure love the couple had, the "White Orchid" is now blue. I think if those who believe that this song was about sex, or a "jailbait song," were right, Jack would have called it "Red Orchid." Red is the color of the loss of virginity. Blue is sadness. And Jack repeatedly uses the color blue to define sadness.
   
   Something better than nothing
   Something better than nothing, it's giving up
   We all need to do something
   Try keep the truth from showing up
   
   I think someone else identified these lines as meaning that accepting a bad relationship for the fact of having a relationship is just "giving up." I think they were right, and I think the message is the same in the last 2 lines. That couples will try to avoid the truth of the end from showing up. As an example, I golfed to try and avoid the truth from showing up. I think he is saying that people will do all types of things to avoid the end.
   
   How dare you
   How old are you now, anyway?
   How dare you
   How old are you now, anyway?
   
   This is not a statement about how young someone is, it is about a disbelief in what someone did. That based on their age or experience they should have known better. "How old are you?" Is a question lots of people will ask others when they are surprised by some unexpected childish act. I ask my kids that question when they decide to do something that they should already know is inappropriate. I think that is all these lines represent.
   
   You're given a flower
   But I guess there's just no pleasing you
   
   I see two possible interpretations. Onse simple, one a little more understated.
   1) The simple: That at this point there is no longer any making up or apologies that will satisfy the hurt. That the simple act of saying I'm sorry is no longer good enough.
   2) The understated: That the woman of the story no longer thinks flowers are good enough. She thinks she deserves more, or she no longer sees love in the simple act of giving flowers. She has become almost greedy with her desires and measures his love by the gift he gives.
   
   Either way it signifies the problems in the relationship at this point, and that the end is clearly near.
   
   Your lips tastes sour
   But you think that it's just me teasing you
   
   Can you say it any more plainly. He hates kissing her, and she thinks he is playing "hard to get."
   
   Get behind me
   Get behind me now, anyway
   Get behind me
   Get behind me now, anyway
   
   He is saying she is history, and that he wants to put her behind him. That it is the end of the relationship.
4. anonymous

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   Oct 20th 2007 !⃝

   FYI EgoInvictus, I like reading walls of text and I read that guys and his makes a lot of sense and actually jur suggestions although their not all that in depth are pretty good thx...I have no real interpretation because I was just looking for the lyrics really and I found this website
5. EgoInvictus

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   Sep 17th 2007 !⃝

   To [anonymous]:
   
   No one reads your wall of text. Just FYI.
   
   
   
   My interpretation:
   
   The way I see it, it's one of three things:
   
   -Simply a song about a manipulative, childish person. "You got a reaction, didn't you?" "How old are you, anyway?"
   
   Whatever the person did, they got their way and it pissed the singer off.
   
   -A dig at Jason Stollsteimer. "We all need to do something
   Try keep the truth from showing up" "You're given a flower
   But I guess there's just no pleasing you"
   
   Maybe Jack feels that Jason owes him something, and is being a dick over whatever the heck happened between them. Read below for more information.
   
   [For those of you who don't know – I didn't know until I looked it up just now – Jason Stollsteimer is the lead singer for the Von Bondies. Long story short, he and Jack White have a history of beefs between them. Personally, it sounds to me like Jack was something of a jackass in these situations. Read more of the story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Stollsteimer)
   
   -A girl who's lost her virginity. "You took a white orchid turned it blue" "How dare you
   How old are you now, anyway?"
   
   This is an obvious choice, maybe too much so. I don't know how "turning a flower blue" translates to getting devirginized. I also have no idea what this line means: "Your lips taste sour But you think that it's just me teasing you"
   
   Personally, I think it's probably a good mix of one and two, wrapped up in the context of the third, just for artistic kicks.
   
   IMO - EI

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

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   May 15th 2007 !⃝

   also... They're coming out with a new album. It's a single. "icky thump" so, they didn't SPLIT. He's just in TWO bands. It's possible folks. and THEY ARE BROTHER AND SISTER! [i have one of their songs on my iPod for their new album]

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7. anonymous

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   May 15th 2007 !⃝

   THEY ARE BROTHER AND SISTER! ever hear the song, "dead leaves and the dirty ground"? it's about their CHILDHOOD when they were little! jack asses! if you want to listen to the white stripes get the RIGHT information. don't listen to the internet! [dumbasses]

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8. anonymous

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   Mar 15th 2007 !⃝

   I think it may have something to do that you can't actually have blue orchids: no amount of breeding the flowers has ever produced one. Make of that what you will.
9. anonymous

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   Oct 29th 2006 !⃝

   To the guy above me, jack has said in interviews that white stripes are still continuing and he has ideas for the next album so they are definetly not finished.
   
   As for the song, after looking at the lyrics I see it as a young girl who who has gotten pregnant and is going through the "how could you let this happen", it's about the parents almost being embarressed of their daughter "how dare you, how old are you know anyway", "we all need to do something to keep the truth from showing up" and "get behind me, get behind me now anyway"

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

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    Jul 29th 2006 !⃝

    Ok now, no, meg is not jack's sister it is jack who was really John who nicknamed himself jack white. But who cares now there seperated and jack left meg to go to another band which means there will be no more white stripes and get behind me satan means that it's like the devil going behind them and erasing all their memories so obviously its a fairwell album. This is my prediction after 2 months of study.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Jun 21st 2006 !⃝

    The song is about someone being manipulative. "You took a white orchid/ turned it blue". It's about someone who always works things out how they want them to be and now he's fed up and pissed about it.
12. anonymous

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    Jan 28th 2006 !⃝

    Ok what does all this brother and sister shit even have to do with the song blue orchid omfg!
13. anonymous

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    Jan 5th 2006 !⃝

    The only reason it said that they were brother/sister in my earlier post (the second one down) was because it was a quote from Jack White.
14. anonymous

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    Dec 28th 2005 !⃝

    I would like to add that they presented themselves as brother and sister. They were married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. I took your advice and went to wikipedia.com and typed in "Meg White".
    Love,
    Willow Armstrong
15. anonymous

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    Dec 27th 2005 !⃝

    They are not brother and sister. Meg is Jack's ex! Look it up on Wikipedia.

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