The song, written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, depicts the story of a woman trapped in a bad relationship with a man she cannot help but love.

Holland–Dozier–Holland and the Funk Brothers band gave the song a large, hard-driving instrumentation sound similar to the sound of Martha and the Vandellas' prior hit "Dancing in the Street" with snow chains used as percussion alongside the tambourine and drums.

Billboard described the song as a "good dance beat piece of material which features a gospel piano and a wailin' vocal.

"[3] Cash Box described it as "a hard-driving, fast-moving, raunchy bluesy stomper with a contagious teen-oriented, danceable beat.

[7] This song is featured in the films Vinyl (1965),[8] Bringing Out the Dead (1999),[9] Baby Driver (2017) and the 2012 video game Spec Ops: The Line.