It is widely considered Cui's most famous and most important work, and one of the most influential songs in the history of the People's Republic of China, both as a seminal point in the development of Chinese rock music and as a political sensation.

However, the song has also been interpreted as being about the dispossessed youth of the time, because it evokes a sense of disillusionment and lack of individual freedom that was common among the young generation during the 1980s.

After the Cultural Revolution ended in the mid-1970s and the government began a period of economic reform, many students and businessmen went abroad and brought back Western music.

Cui Jian was heavily influenced by Western artists such as Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Talking Heads;[3] in the late 1980s he even performed with a hair style modeled on that of John Lennon.

The ambiguity is heightened by the structure of the title 一无所有 (yī wú suŏ yŏu), an idiomatic chengyu.

As the narrator, later on in the song, confidently proclaims to the girl that he will "grab her hands" ("我要抓起你的双手") and then she will go with him ("你这就跟我走"), he suggests in the end that she can love the fact that he has nothing ("莫非你是正在告诉我/你爱我一无所有").

[3][8][13] The song was an instant success, creating a "sensation" and turning Cui into a cult figure among urban youth.

[17] The newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, People's Daily, gave the song a positive review, despite its politically sensitive message.

[18] The song was included on Cui's 1989 album Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March, released by the China Tourism Sound and Video Publishing Company.