Songfacts®:

• This song is about automaker Preston Tucker, who like Jack and Meg White, is from Detroit. The line, "the motors runnin' on Tuckers' blood" is a reference to him. Tucker had his own idea for the auto industry, but his company "Tucker" was run out of business by the auto industry's "big three" (General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford). A movie named Tucker was made about him starring Jeff Bridges. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bert - Pueblo, NM
• Jack White is the rare Detroiter who doesn't like cars. "I think they are the worst money pits and killing machines of all time," he told The Village Voice. That view is reflected in this song.
• "The Big Three Killed My Baby" is a track from the first White Stripes album, released on a Detroit-based indie label called Sympathy For The Record Industry. It's very lo-fi, with only Jack and Meg playing on most of the songs, including this one. They found an audience (first in the UK) that appreciated their minimalist, organic sound, which stood in sharp contrast to the slick hit music that dominated radio. Over the next few years their sound got more refined and they grew their fanbase considerably.
• Jack White used to wear automotive jewelry, including rings made of hose clamps and a necklace made from an auto-parts ID tag that said "Property of Ford Motor Company." He wears it on the cover of their third album, White Blood Cells.