film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

Screenshot (1620).png

Conan Has Jack White To Thank For His Theme Song

By Andrew Sanford | TV | March 20, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | March 20, 2023 |


Screenshot (1620).png

I’m going to be brave and honest here. I say that because I know that faithful Pajibans will give me guff for what I am about to say. Here goes. I did not realize that We’re Going To Be Friends is a White Stripes song. When I first began listening to Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend I thought, “Hey, that’s a cool theme song.” At some point or another, I stuck around long enough at the end of an episode to hear Matt Gourley thank Jack White for the song. Even that didn’t do it for me right away.

I forget what the proverbial straw was, but I finally searched for the song on iTunes and realized it was by the White Stripes. They are a band that passed me over for whatever reason. Whenever I hear one of their tunes, I like it. I haven’t decided to seek them out (aside from the above song). I’ve even learned how to play We’re Going To Be Friends on my ukulele, and my twins love it.

The song is perfect as an opener to Conan’s podcast. Not only is it catchy and thematically sound, Conan and Jack White are friends. They go to baseball games together. They have a shorthand when they speak. There’s a chemistry there that is fun to behold. In this clip, where Conan says he only ever wanted We Are Going To Be Friends as his theme song, he also reveals that he and Jack met first in a bowling alley before White was even famous!

I love stories like these. Conan and Jack likely wouldn’t have struck up a friendship had the latter not become a famous musician. There’s still a serendipitous nature to it all that is as engrossing as that melodic White Stripes tune.