I was pounding away at my computer in the early 2000's when I first acknowledged them. I regularly put music on while I wrote this, that and the other. I used to fancy myself a writer, you see. I don't remember what I was writing, but I had put on this CD my brother had gotten from a radio DJ he knew. That's when I heard some drum sticks clicking and some guy methodically saying "There is a man...a certain man...and for the poor you can be sure that he'll do all he can...who is this one... this favorite son...just by his actions have detracting magnets on the run...who likes to smoke...enjoys a joke...and wouldn't get a bit upset if he were really broke...with wealth and fame...he's still the same...I'll bet you five you're not alive if you don't know his name."

I didn't know the band, but I knew those lines. They were from the movie Citizen Kane. The band was called The White Stripes. The song was called 'The Union Forever,' and it was about Citizen Kane, of course. The album was called White Blood Cells. Because of the Citizen Kane song, I listened more intently to the next song 'The Same Boy You've Always Known,' which is now one of my favorite songs of all time. The album is one of my favorites of all time, and it began my obsession with The White Stripes music.

If you don't know, The White Stripes were actually just a duo: Jack White playing guitar and singing & Meg White playing drums. I didn't really get into the gossip of the band. Were they brother and sister? Were they married? Did they always wear red and white? I was 28 when I first heard them (way back in 2002), so I didn't go crazy about the people themselves. I just thought the music was phenomenal. And it was.

If people didn't know about them with White Blood Cells, most of music listening America knew them by the first song of their next album. The song was called 'Seven Nation Army' and the album was Elephant. The White Stripes were huge from then on.

When I say I was obsessed, I merely mean I bought every album they recorded and listened to them all dozens of times. There isn't a bad one in the bunch, and there are six of them. I still think it's amazing that only two people could get such wealth of sound.

When my brother and I stopped living together, even he acknowledged my obsession and allowed me to keep all the White Stripes CDs (he has most of them on vinyl now). Since then, my wife has gotten into them and regularly borrows them for her car.

As a strange note, I got tickets to see The White Stripes on their first visit to Albuquerque. A friend of my brother's scored tickets, but it was not to be. Meg White cited emotional exhaustion, and the tour was canceled a week before they were scheduled to come to town. They would never tour again.

Last week, my brother said the band officially broke up. They hadn't recorded in a while, Jack White plays with other bands, and I assumed they were done before that moment, but the finality of things has a way of making things final.

People talk about bands of the decade every ten years, and everyone has their favorites. My band for the aughts is hands down The White Stripes. There are plenty of great bands in the world, especially when you look at them ten years at a time. Some how, this is a no brainer. Give The White Stripes another listen, and it will be hard to say I'm wrong.

The world has been a better place for me since The White Stripes entered my life. Many an hour has been filled with their music in my brain. My ears still perk up when I hear those drum sticks clicking and some guy methodically says 'There is a man...a certain man...'

Chris Jungle still digs that rock n' roll.