In keeping with Warren Zevon's sardonic lyrical style, the song's verses deal with a suicide attempt, domestic abuse, and a brush with sadomasochism.
The track was later included on his greatest hits compilations A Quiet Normal Life (1986), I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (1996), and Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon (2002).
Alternate studio versions were included in the 2008 reissue of Warren Zevon, as well as the posthumous 2007 compilation Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings.
[1] "The verse in “Poor Pitiful Me” was “I met a girl on the Sunset Strip,” I think, “She asked me if I’d beat her / She took me up to her hotel room / And wrecked my mojo heater.” It was really funny, and I'm saying to Jackson, “I can’t sing those words, man!
I have to leave that part out.”[2] With Zevon's blessing, Ronstadt replaced the verse with “Well I met a boy in the Vieux Carré / Down in Yokohama / He picked me up and he threw me down / Saying "Please don't hurt me Mama!
Clark told Billboard magazine that she heard Linda Ronstadt's version of the song in a local gymnasium while she was exercising.
It comprises black-and-white tour footage interspersed with Clark being approached by a series of men while her car is being fixed at a full service gas station.