Written by Ric Ocasek, the track was sung by bassist Benjamin Orr[3] and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange with the band.

Proceeds from the sales of the re-released song raised nearly £160,000 for the Band Aid Trust; Ocasek presented the charity's trustee Midge Ure with a cheque for the amount while he was in London in November 1986 promoting his solo album This Side of Paradise.

"[9] The instrumentation is nearly entirely electronic, with Greg Hawkes' synthesizers and Elliot Easton's guitar providing a "haunting" atmosphere and musical structure.

[9] In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco praised the song for being "a gorgeous ballad that matches heartfelt songwriting to an alluring electronic soundscape.

"[10] Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as the Cars' third greatest song, noting that it "sounds like nothing else the band ever did.

"[13] The music video was directed by actor Timothy Hutton and features then-19-year-old model and actress Paulina Porizkova, who would later become Ric Ocasek's third wife.

[14] The video alternates between shots of Orr sitting in a disused nightclub, facing mannequins posed at the bar as customers and bartender, and scenes that depict the breakdown of a relationship between the characters played by Ocasek and Porizkova.

She sadly looks in through a smeared window at the stage, on which tuxedo-clad mannequins of the band members are posed with their instruments as if playing a show, and turns to walk away as the video ends.