The single was both the second from their landmark Cloud Nine LP, and the second of their "psychedelic soul" tracks penned by Whitfield and former Motown artist Barrett Strong.
Featuring all five Temptations - Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams - trading verses and harmony lines, "Runaway Child, Running Wild" paints a tale of a young boy (presumably a preteen) who runs away from home after being punished for playing hooky i.e. absence from school without permission.
The boy wanders the dark streets alone, eventually realizing he cannot survive on his own, but cannot find his way home, and ends up lost, frightened by strangers, unfamiliar landmarks, and his own thoughts.
After the instrumental builds the song up to a second climax, the track is stripped to the bassline and repeating hi-hat figure, and The Temptations return to the mix to issue one final admonition to the runaway: "Listen to your heart beat/it's beating much too fast/go back home/where you belong".
Cash Box described the single as "a pulsing track with excellent and non-objectionable teen-related lyrics that should have the approval of parents through its 'drop back in' message.