Written by Madonna, Guy Sigsworth and Jem Griffiths, and produced by the singer along with Mirwais Ahmadzaï and Mark "Spike" Stent, it was released as the third single from the album on October 27, 2003.

Originally demoed as "Silly Thing", "Nothing Fails" is a love song which has acoustic guitar chords and a gospel choir appearance.

[1] Usage of the negative tone led Madonna to be sarcastic on people's assumptions about her and emphasize about her knowledge of romantic love.

[4] The recording sessions for American Life started at late 2001, then was put on hold as Madonna filmed Swept Away in Malta and starred in the West End play Up for Grabs.

[6] The guitar is accompanied by a "light" drum section and low-pitched vocals from Madonna and also features a cello in the first part of the song, while gospel music comes in at the later half.

[6][9] Bill Friskics-Warren, author of I'll Take You There: Pop Music and the Urge for Transcendence, described the lyrics as consisting of double entendre, talking about both spiritual and sexual rebirth.

[11] The strings engineer for the choir, Geoff Foster, recalls that the group consisted of "a bunch of great singers giving it loudly, it was impressive.

"[1] According to Rolling Stone and The Advocate, the song glides from a lean arrangement and then reaches its peak with the gospel chorus, which resembles that of Madonna's single, "Like a Prayer" (1989).

[1] J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote in his book, Madonna: An Intimate Biography, that although the album was not a strong, cohesive package, "Nothing Fails" stood out as one of the few gems.

[18] In a review for the album as a whole, Michael Paoletta from Billboard called it a highlight of American Life, describing the song as "tear-inducing".

[19] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker called it "lovely" and named it, among other songs from the album "refreshingly – hell, shockingly – earnest".

[22] Ian Youngs from BBC Music gave a positive review for "Nothing Fails", writing that less is more when it comes to Mirwais' electronic tricks.

[23] Johnny Davis from NME commented that "only 'Nothing Fails' and 'Intervention' dip beneath the frenetically poppy, with neither a 'Ray of Light'-style glitterball stomper, nor a big ballad to act as a breather".

[24] Josh Tyrangiel from Time found Madonna's singing in "Nothing Fails" as relaxed and woeful, consisting of "plenty of soul".

[26] Jon Pareles from The New York Times believed that "Nothing Fails" was able to raise sentiments likened by other people and was prone to introspection, unlike other Madonna tunes.

[29] Ben Ratliff from Rolling Stone compared it negatively to "Like a Prayer" and commented it is much closer to what she's become good at: the idea of transfiguration through love, declaring that the difference in 2003 is she doesn't have the ambition.

[12] Stylus Magazine also compared it negatively to "Like a Prayer", calling it "an off-hand denouncement of religion" and stating that "the same old song, over 10 years later, just doesn't cut it anymore".

[9] Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times found the lyric "I'm not religious" to be "confusing and befuddling", as Madonna references Jesus Christ and Satan in other songs on the album.

[30] Jude Rogers from The Guardian called it a "quiet, gospel-dazzled jewel" from American Life, placing it at number 48 on her ranking of Madonna's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday.

[31] Chuck Arnold from Entertainment Weekly listed "Nothing Fails" as the singer's 29th best single, calling it "a triumph - creatively not commercially - that goes from stripped-down earnestness to churched-up gloriousness".

Initially it was reported by Daily Mirror that Madonna planned to shoot the video in Israel with actor Michael Douglas.

[48] These reports were later refuted by the artist during an interview with San Francisco radio station Alice 97.3, where she explained that no music video would be shot for the single.

One of these performances, presented at the Total Request Live studios in New York, was shown by MTV in a special named Madonna on Stage & on the Record.

The setlist included "American Life", "Hollywood", "Nothing Fails", "X-Static Process" and "Mother and Father" before performing her previous singles "Like a Prayer" and "Don't Tell Me".