Written and produced by Jack White, the song consists of distorted vocals, a simple drumbeat, and a bass line created by playing a guitar through a pitch shift effect.

The song charted in multiple countries, and its success contributed to the popularity of the White Stripes and the garage rock revival movement.

"Seven Nation Army" has become a sports anthem, commonly appearing in audience chants in which a series of "oh" sounds or the name of an athlete is sung to the tune of the song's riff.

It has also served as a theme song for sports teams, personalities, and events, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

)[3] "Seven Nation Army" was produced by White and recorded at Toe Rag Studios in London's Hackney area.

[6] The title "Seven Nation Army" was initially used as a placeholder for the track before its lyrics were written, but the name ultimately stuck.

[8] In regards to the line "I'm going to Wichita / Far from this opera forevermore", White said he has never visited the city, but was using it as metaphor and getting himself into character for the song with the lyric.

[20] The photograph used as the single's artwork was taken by Patrick Pantano; it includes an elephant painting made by Greg Siemasz.

[5] On January 3, 2014, Third Man Records announced a limited edition clear 7-inch vinyl reissue of "Seven Nation Army" as part of a package for subscribers to its Vault service.

[22] The video, directed by Alex and Martin, consists of one seemingly continuous shot through a kaleidoscopic tunnel of mirrored black, white and red triangles, touching on Jack's love of the number three.

The triangle slides alternate between images of Jack or Meg playing, interspersed with marching skeletons and an elephant, referring to the name of the album "Seven Nation Army" appeared on.

[27] Heather Phares of AllMusic described it as a "breathtaking opener" to the album Elephant,[28] and Bram Teltelman of Billboard suggested that "adventurous rock programmers might want to join the 'Army'".

According to Teltelman, "Seven Nation Army" represented an effort to "defy categorization", especially the garage rock label that had been attributed to the band.

A writer for Rolling Stone described it as a "career-changing hit",[29] and NME's Daniel Martin viewed the song as the White Stripes' "defining tune", having sparked the band's transition "from their garage rock beginnings to an entirely new level of acclaim".

In 2012, Deadspin's Alan Siegel described the "riff-turned-anthem" as "ubiquitous",[2] and according to The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson, the riff "might be the second-best-known guitar phrase in popular music, after the one from 'Satisfaction'".

On May 9, 2014, during the celebration of the 825th Hamburg Port Anniversary, "Seven Nation Army" was played using the horns of cruise ship MSC Magnifica as it entered the harbor.

[76] An instrumental cover of the song arranged by Ramin Djawadi was included in a 2018 episode of HBO television series Westworld.

[2][15] After A.S. Roma won against Club Brugge KV in Belgium in 2006, fans of the former team began to use the riff as a chant, having learned it from the latter.

Karr estimated that the song has reached "hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world" as a result of its usage in the latter tournament.

[90][91][92] Current WWE commentator Pat McAfee used the song as an entrance theme, including for his match against Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38.

"[97][98] "Seven Nation Army" made multiple appearances at events leading up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election.

This chant was repeated on several occasions in the run-up to the election and afterwards at the 2017 Glastonbury Festival, where Corbyn appeared on the Pyramid stage to introduce Run the Jewels.

Corbyn's name was again widely chanted throughout football games and public gatherings in the run-up to the 2019 general election.

The tune of the song's riff became one of the hallmarks of the 2023 anti-reform protests in Israel, sung to the words "Demokratia o mered” (Democracy or rebellion)".

In 2015, it was covered by Haley Reinhart for Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox in a style reminiscent of a New Orleans funeral march.

[129] The song was also covered by KT Tunstall (as a medley with her own "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree") on her 2013 Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon tour.

Thrash metal band Sepultura used the main riff as an outro on "Zombie Ritual", a cover by Death.

[140][142] Critically, Lewis Corner of Digital Spy noted the "distinctive soul-pop" vocals showcased by Collins and wrote that, "Truth be told, we wish he'd fought a little harder to get one of those eight original compositions he has on his forthcoming record out first.

"[140] Priya Elan of NME concluded that although the cover may have seemed "disturbing in theory", it was ultimately "disposable and forgettable as a McChicken sandwich [...] but not bad".

[143] Collins said that he received "a lot of abuse" from White Stripes fans in response to his cover, and he asserted that people should "listen to the original if you don't like my singing".