Blue Orchid

Background

The recorded sound is produced by playing a guitar into an Electro-Harmonix creation, the Polyphonic Octave Generator (POG). Live, the sound is produced by a bass-rich guitar tone, used in combination with Whammy Pedal and the POG to create the heavily metallic sounding breaks of the song ("How dare you, how old are you now anyway" and "get behind me, get behind me now anyway".).

The single comes in three editions, each with different additional tracks. All three covers feature two people dressed up as The White Stripes, but are noticeably different people. The first CD and the 7" feature the couple in the same order as Get Behind Me Satan, with 'Jack' on the right. The second CD version features 'Jack' on the left.

In an NPR interview, Jack White referred to "Blue Orchid" as the song that saved the album. He has denied that the song relates to the ending of his relationship with Renée Zellweger.

The video for "Blue Orchid" was on Yahoo!'s Top Twenty Scariest Music Videos of all Time, charting at number 13. It features Karen Elson, a model who would marry Jack White soon after the shoot. The video, which was directed by Floria Sigismondi, ends with a horse, its hooves raised in the air, about to stomp on Elson, but just before the hooves land on her, the video quickly goes black, ending.

"Blue Orchid" has been remixed by High Contrast on the album Fabric Live 25. It is the first track on the second disc of the album. It features the main guitar riff accompanied by a largely drum and bass inspired backing beat. The vocals from the song, "You took a white orchid, you took a white orchid and turned it blue" are repeated at various points throughout the track.

The song is used as the theme song for the Australian Radio Show Wil & Lehmo on Triple M; it is also used briefly in the trailer for the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud, in which Jack White features with other musical artists The Edge and Jimmy Page. The song can also be heard in the movie, The Green Hornet, which is directed by Michel Gondry who also directed many other music videos for The White Stripes. Part of the song is also played in the second episode of Forces of Nature, a 2016 science documentary series aired on BBC One.

The song is also playable in the music video game Guitar Hero 5.

It reached #1 in Canada.

CD Version

1. "Blue Orchid"
2. "Who's a Big Baby?"
3. "Though I Hear You Calling, I Will Not Answer"
4. "You've Got Her In Your Pocket" (live)

UK CD1

1. "Blue Orchid"
2. "Though I Hear You Calling, I Will Not Answer"

UK CD2

1. "Blue Orchid"
2. "Who's A Big Baby?"
3. "You've Got Her In Your Pocket" (live)

7" Version

1. "Blue Orchid"
2. "The Nurse"

Personnel

The White Stripes