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Jack White uses 'Icky Thump' lyrics to go after Trump: 'You can't be a pimp and a prostitute too'

US artist was performing at the Governors Ball in New York when he decided to have some fun with his 2007 hit

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Tuesday 05 June 2018 03:14 EDT
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Jack White performs at the Governors Ball in New York
Jack White performs at the Governors Ball in New York (Getty)

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Jack White changed the lyrics to his 2007 White Stripes hit "Icky Thump" to take a swipe at US president Donald Trump, during his performance at the New York Governors Ball over the weekend.

The solo artist expanded a verse in the song to yell: "That's for you, Trump! You can't be a pimp and a prostitute too, Trump!" and then switched the title and yelled: "Icky Trump, Icky Trump, Icky Trump."

"Icky Thump" is the title track from the sixth and final album by The White Stripes, and reached No.26 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release.

The lyrics are heavily critical of US immigration policy during the Bush era, with lyrics including: "White Americans/What? Nothing better to do?/Why don't you kick yourself out/You're an immigrant too."

Clearly, the song is still relevant today.

White released his latest album Boarding House Reach in March, which The Independent praised as "an entertaining, multifaceted set, albeit weakened by a tendency to pursue slim ideas and dead-end notions - a clutter of synths, a gypsy fiddle, a Dvorak melody, a comedy announcement - that give Boarding House Reach a rather fragmentary

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