Dave Marsh calls the song a "rock-bolero" with "blaring strings, hammered tympani, a ghostly chorus, the gentle strum of a guitar, [and] a hint of marimba".

[3] Billboard observes an "expressive reading" on the "country-flavored ballad.

"[4] The personnel on the original recording included Orbison session regulars Bob Moore on bass; Floyd Cramer on piano; Buddy Harman on drums; and Boudleaux Bryant, Harold Bradley,[5] and Scotty Moore[6] on guitar.

The song was released as a 45-rpm single by Monument Records in mid-July 1961[7] and reached No.

2, where "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles and his Orchestra kept it from No.

In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it 69th on their list of the "500 greatest songs of all time".

Orbison rerecorded the song as a duet with Canadian singer-songwriter k.d.

lang as part of the soundtrack to the motion picture Hiding Out and released it as a single in 1987.