"Back on the Chain Gang" was recorded after James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist, died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 on June 16, 1982.

At that time, only two Pretenders were left: singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde, who was about three months pregnant with her first daughter, and drummer Martin Chambers.

Chambers commented on the song in a 1983 interview, "We had rehearsed it a lot with Jimmy, and thought it would make a pretty good single".

[4] Most of the song was recorded quickly with the band placed close together in the studio, arranged as if performing live, with Chambers' drums up on a riser.

The sound of clanging hammers was made by banging various metal pieces together, especially the 25-pound (11 kg) weights that the studio used as ballast for large boom stands.

[4] The song was written during the strained relationship that Chrissie Hynde had with Ray Davies (of the Kinks) and was recorded when she was about three months pregnant with their daughter.

In a 2009 interview series In the Studio with Redbeard, Hynde said: "In the early days we were full of enthusiasm and we wanted the same things … and everything was going well … it seemed too easy … I was with someone I was in love with … then I got pregnant.

'"[7] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated it the Pretenders all-time second best song, saying that it "maintains a deceptively upbeat tone, considering the subject matter.

"[8] The music video, their first after Honeyman-Scott's death and Farndon's firing in 1982, featured Hynde and Chambers, the only two remaining Pretenders at that time.