Shine the Light on Me

Jack White originally recorded this piano-rocker for his Boarding House Reach solo album. "I did a session in New York and a session in LA but it just didn't fit," he told The Sun. "That was such a strange record and it seemed like too beautiful a song." White thought it sounded like a Raconteurs song, so he played it to bandmate Brendan Benson in his car. Benson agreed and the guitarist started putting aside other demos that he thought would be good for The Raconteurs. Nothing more happened for a couple of years, then in 2018 drummer Patrick Keeler paid a visit to Nashville, where White and Benson both live. His stopover prompted an informal jam session. White recalled: "(Benson) had 'Only Child' and I had 'Shine the Light on Me' and that spurred us on and we ended up having written 25 to 30 songs that turned into Help Us Stranger."