Songfacts®:

• "In The Cold, Cold Night" is the only song in the White Stripes catalog sung by the drummer in the duo, Meg White. Her bandmate (and ex-husband) Jack White wrote the song specifically for her to sing, which took some convincing. Meg isn't trained as a singer and didn't think she could pull it off, but her subtle delivery suits the song as she spins a tale of a mysterious man who warms her up in the cold, cold night. It's a close cousin to the Peggy Lee hit "Fever."
• There is no drumming in the song, just the sound of a suspended cymbal played at regular intervals.
• The White Stripes didn't have a bass player, but Jack White would often improvise to fill up the low-end when needed. On "In The Cold, Cold Night," he played the bass pedals of a Hammond organ to get that sound. Instead of sitting down and using his feet, he got down on the floor and pressed the pedals with his hands. This kind of improvisation is typical of Jack's approach in the studio.
• The song is a fan favorite that always got a great reaction when the band performed it. The very introverted Meg White found herself courageously stepping out from her drum kit and taking center stage for the song, giving Jack's voice a break. Meg is very private and didn't talk much when the band did interviews, so she had an air of mystery about her. Fans knew that seeing her at the microphone was a rare sighting.
• Jack White was involved in another "cold" project around this time. He appeared in the 2003 movie Cold Mountain and worked on the soundtrack. Set during the Civil War, the film has female lead characters that at times express similar sentiments to what's heard in this song.
• If you're thinking that "In The Cold, Cold Night" would sound great in your movie, you're not the only one. According to Jack White, filmmakers have made lots of requests to use the song, but he's turned them all down.
• The song is part of the fourth White Stripes album, Elephant, which leveled them up from beloved indie duo to recognized rockers thanks to "Seven Nation Army," a song that proved inescapable, especially if you went to a sporting event.
  
  They released two more albums and were still very popular when they stopped performing in 2009. Their official breakup came in 2011. Jack White took on numerous projects, including a label/pressing plant called Third Man Records and a series of solo albums. Meg stayed out of the public eye for the most part.