This song was originally written during the sessions for Born and Raised, per a 2013 My Stupid Mouth interview

“There was a song called ‘Helpless’ for Born and Raised that I adored. Everybody did not like it. It was one of the only times where my compass was off.

I loved that tune, man. It was great. ‘If I’m helpless / tell me now / tell me now / and I’ll stop trying to figure it out.’ It was mean and it was cool. I’ve just made enough records now to know during the making of the record what is going to congeal and what is not."

The track is led by a retro guitar line which is reminescent, according to Rolling Stone, of the late 70s and early 80s Stones tracks, and it’s one of the few songs on the album John recorded live in the studio.