[12][13] According to guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek, it was inspired by the country song "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend", written by Stan Jones and popularized by Vaughn Monroe.

[14] The lyrics were written and brought to rehearsal by Morrison, of which a portion of it refers to hitchhiking killer Billy "Cockeyed" Cook, who was the subject of the 1953 film, The Hitch-Hiker.

[15] The track is notated in the key of E Minor;[16] the main keyboard riff descends throughout the pitches of Dorian Mode scale,[17] and features a progression of i–IV–i7–IV.

[18] It is popularly believed that "Riders on the Storm" is the song that longtime Doors producer Paul A. Rothchild disparaged as "cocktail music", precipitating his departure from the L.A. Woman sessions, which was corroborated by guitarist Robby Krieger.

[20][21] Following Rothchild's departure, longtime engineer Bruce Botnick was selected to take over production duties, alongside the Doors themselves.

[26] The connection between the thrownness into the world and a dog's life was anticipated by the anti-Heideggerian author Ernst Bloch in his main work The Principle of Hope (1954–1959).

Frequently listed among the Doors' greatest songs,[30][31] "Riders on the Storm" has remained on classic rock radio playlists.

[33] Doors' drummer, John Densmore, released a book in 1990 entitled Riders on the Storm,[34] detailing the story of his life and his time with the group.