Musically, Get Behind Me Satan diverts from the band's previous studio release Elephant, featuring experimental production and lyrics that often reference truth and actress Rita Hayworth.

The album was recorded in around two weeks at Jack's Indian Village home with Matthew Kettle, who had been mixing the band's live shows, as studio engineer.

Jack considered the recording sessions to be "torture" as the tape machine and microphones would malfunction and water would drip from the ceiling.

[6][7] The album's title refers to a well-known line from the story of the Temptation of Jesus which is later repeated against the disciple Simon Peter, in Matthew 16:23 of the New Testament.

[8] "Ain't No Sweeter Than Rita Blues" an instrumental track, was released as part of a Third Man Records Vault subscription in 2015.

The song was eventually re-recorded and released on Jack's third solo album, Boarding House Reach on March 23, 2018.

With its reliance on piano-driven melodies and experimentation with marimba on "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)", Get Behind Me Satan plays down the punk, garage rock and blues influences that dominated earlier White Stripes albums.

Jack stated in an interview on the radio show Fresh Air that "truth is the number one theme throughout the album Get Behind Me Satan."

[13] White told Rolling Stone, "Rita Hayworth became an all-encompassing metaphor for everything I was thinking about while making the album.

[16] As a result, Get Behind Me Satan was the only album by the White Stripes not to be commercially released on vinyl for ten years.

[17] Ahead of the album's 20th anniversary, the White Stripes announced a deluxe reissue of Get Behind Me Satan with alternative takes, demos, and live recordings of its tracks.

The album cover was used in the Gilmore Girls episode "I Get a Sidekick Out of You", with Lane and Zach in Meg and Jack's positions, respectively[citation needed].