Jack White clarifies his closing statement

You'll recall when Jack White broke up The White Stripes, he told us that the band was now ours.

In the last couple of weeks, we've been round to their place and it's all locked up, and we can't see the keys anywhere. Luckily, Jack White has now clarified what he meant:

Speaking to the New York Times, he said: "People say, 'Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that?' Or, 'Don't you owe something to somebody or to yourselves?' All those questions.

"That line was the idea of explaining to them that at a certain point as an artist, you paint your painting, you do your sculpture or your music, and you release it into the world."

The 35-year-old added: "You don't own it anymore. You have no control over it. You put it out there to share with other people. You can only hope for the best."

Well, yes. Although that's true whether your band is still a going concern or not, isn't it? And, frankly, I think most White Stripes fans would have grasped the reader-as-auteur theory probably around sixth grade, so if that was all you meant it's akin to telling people that you can hear the songs by listening to them.

Still, it's generous of him to clear that up. Even though it has the air of someone popping back into a room to say goodbye again because they feared their departure wasn't really noticeable enough.