[5] It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a single to follow the successful "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

The Stones have said that the song is a reaction to their suddenly greatly enhanced popularity and deals with their aversion to people's expectations of them after the success of "Satisfaction".

Richards commented: "'Get Off of My Cloud' was basically a response to people knocking on our door asking us for the follow-up to 'Satisfaction' ... We thought 'At last.

"[8] I was sick and tired, fed up with this and decided to take a drive downtown It was so very quiet and peaceful, there was nobody, not a soul around I laid myself out, I was so tired and I started to dream In the morning the parking tickets were just like flags stuck on my windscreen[5] The song opens with a drum intro by Charlie Watts and twin guitars by Brian Jones and Richards.

[3] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci called this Watts' best drumming performance, saying that it has "one of the most unconventional drum structures ever employed in a Top 40 hit" in which Watts basically :plays the same 4/4-beat-fill-4/4-beat-fill pattern throughout the song" and does not break the beat even once.

"[16] Cash Box described it as a "rollicking, fast-moving blues-soaked thumper with an infectious danceable beat" that should be another success after "Satisfaction".