White sings on this piano ballad about the conflict between desire and duty.
“‘Want and Able’ is interesting, since we’ve got this left channel thing going,” he told NPR. “I wrote this with these two characters in mind, almost like they would be names, like ‘Pancho and Lefty’: ‘Juan’ and ‘Abel,’ bu...
(Crows cawing)
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Tell me who, tell me who, tell me who?
Well, Want and Able were crossin' the road
Want had a feelin' there was sumtin' he was owed
But Able broke it to him that there's a social code
So walk straight down the middle now and do what we're told
Walk straight down the middle now and do what we're told
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Tell me who, tell me who, tell me who?
Want said that didn't feel so good
To never be fulfilled, forever stressed out and impatient
Always sayin', "Just over the next hill"
Always sayin', "Just over the next hill"
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Being able is to freedom what wanting is to cruel
It's hard to tell it seems, which one of them's the fool
Is freedom a gift, that we only give to the ones that say I love you?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Who is the who, tellin' who what to do?
Tell me who, tell me who, tell me who?
Now, Want and Able are two different things
One is desire, and the other is the means
Like I wanna hold you, and see you, and feel you in my dreams
But that's not possible, something simply will not let me
Want and Able was written by Jack White.
Want and Able was produced by Jack White.
Jack White released Want and Able on Tue Jun 10 2014.