The Wind Did Move

Album: Single release only (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • American rockabilly/roots rock musician Dex Romweber has long been acknowledged as a huge influence on Jack White, not least in the documentary It Might Get Loud. In April 2009, Dex and his sister Sara Romweber were invited to record at Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville. The sessions resulted in this Romweber original, featuring White on bass, background vocals and the saw, which was released as a 7-inch vinyl as part of Third Man Records' new "Blue Series."
  • Romweber recalled the story of the collaboration to Uncut magazine:

    "This song is about walking in a deep North Carolina southern night, recorded by me, Sara Romweber and Jack, who also produced it. It's about a dark night of the soul. I first heard of Jack in the late '90s, when The White Stripes would come through Chapel Hill, where I lived. In no time at all they made it big and I would like to warm up for them and Boston. I always felt Jack understood rock and roll. He's also been very kind to me. Whenever I'm in Nashville it takes me and my crew out for a steak dinner in an expensive eatery."
  • In a Songfacts interview with Dex Romweber, he called this song "speeded-up folk music." Said Romweber: "I like songs in minor keys. Hank Williams, Sr. wrote a song called 'Alone and Forsaken,' which is one of my favorite songs of all that stuff. I've written my share of songs in minor keys. 'The Wind Did Move' is kind of southern gothic music, and basically, it's about the southern trees and wind. It's a slightly spooky chord progression."
  • The B-side is a cover of 1930s blues woman Geeshie Wiley's "Last Kind Word Blues."

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