Produced by Carl Davis, the session, arranged by Sonny Sanders, featured bassist James Jamerson, drummer Richard "Pistol" Allen, guitarist Robert White, and keyboardist Johnny Griffith; these four musicians were all members of the Motown Records house band The Funk Brothers who often moonlighted on sessions for Davis to augment the wages paid by Motown.

When the singer recorded his vocal track, Davis recalls, Wilson originally sang the song "like a soul ballad.

[9] A publishing deal for the song was reached with Brunswick after Chess producer/A&R head, Billy Davis, intervened.

246 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Wilson's original version was also used in the end credits of the films For Love or Money, The Bachelor, The Kid, Death to Smoochy, and Date Night, as well as the third season of the Netflix series Stranger Things (specifically the episode: Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt).

An instrumental version of the song was played for then-Vice President Joe Biden at both the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions during his address to the delegates.

The song was later played after Biden's first speech as President-elect during the 2020 United States Presidential Election and his again for his closing address on the opening night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Her version has a more moderate tempo than that of the uptempo original, and largely omits the chorus which is evidenced only in the background vocals sung under the repetition of the first verse with which she closes the song.

[22] Released as a single, Coolidge's version became her first major hit in nine years of recording: the track peaked at No.

Both the song and a subsequent release, "We're All Alone", earned Coolidge gold records for each selling a million copies.