In the United States, it was initially only released as a promotional single and reached number three on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock chart in June 1986, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August.

The lyrics directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his backyard pool drinking cold red wine.

[6] Strongly percussive in nature, the song features two notable American drummers: Stewart Copeland from the Police played the hi-hat for the rain-like background sound and was requested by Gabriel due to his mastery of the instrument,[7] while the rest of the drumming was provided by Gabriel's regular drummer Jerry Marotta, who recorded eight different drum takes for producer Daniel Lanois to choose from.

[8] Gabriel's biographer Daryl Easlea wrote that the song was "a brooding opening to the album" which reflected "two very current Eighties obsessions: AIDS and nuclear fallout".

[10] In his review of So, Tim Holmes of Rolling Stone thought that the song's descending melody acted as a soothing metaphor for an apocalyptic image.