The title comes from a 1947 composition by Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington—written for the Hollywood film Green Dolphin Street—and later recorded by jazz musicians Miles Davis (1958), and Bill Evans (1959), among others.

On Green Dolphin Street narrates the troubles, fears, dilemmas, problems and happiness of its main characters.

This, of course, also denotes the idea of disillusionment, a theme Faulkes also explores in his earlier novel, The Long White Winter.

The United States is portrayed from the beginning as a territory facing problems, both internal as well as external.

The Civil Rights Movement—that causes some controversy between the characters in the first chapter—and the Cold War contribute to an unstable and threatening atmosphere.