The song was released on 4 January 2013 as the second single from the soundtrack album of the Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained.

[5] For the writing process, Morricone suggested Elisa to be inspired by her memories and so she wrote the lyrics thinking about one of her childhood friends that died of leukemia.

[8][9] Morricone and Elisa worked on a new version of "Ancora qui" with more elaborated arrangements and orchestration,which was not considered for the soundtrack.

"Reviewing the soundtrack album, Lindsay Zoladz of Pitchfork described the song as a " forlorn classical guitar ballad" praising the "muted melodrama" voice of Elisa.

[15] James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph stated that the song is one of the "album’s highlight" with "Freedom" by Elayna Boynton, appreciating the "loping, sombre" atmsphere "delivered in elegant Italian" by the singer.