The song is included in the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in the fictional power ballad radio station Emotion 98.3.

The Motels initially recorded darker pieces for their anticipated third studio album.

Lead singer Martha Davis wrote "Only the Lonely" on a guitar that was given to her by her late father—an administrator at the University of California, Berkeley, who found the instrument in Stiles Hall on the campus.

It came about while the Motels were experiencing critical acclaim, traveling the world, riding in limos, and yet I was probably as sad as I had ever been.

[3] Martha Davis stars in the vintage-style video as a socialite who is frequenting the bar at a posh hotel.