Written by guitarist Rowland S Howard at age 16, "Shivers" is a post-punk ballad featuring ironic lyrics regarding teenage relationships and suicide.

Originally intended as humorous by Howard, he felt later it had been misinterpreted due to frontman Nick Cave's vocal delivery on the Boys Next Door version.

Several versions of "Shivers" have been released—including demo and solo recordings by Howard—and it has been covered by a variety of artists, including Marie Hoy, Laura Jane Grace, Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin,[1] Divine Fits, Cat Power,[2] and the Screaming Jets.

[3] Discussing the song's origins, Howard said that "Shivers" was "intended as an ironic comment on the way that I felt that people I knew were making hysterical things out of what were essentially high school crushes".

[5] According to Kelsey Munro of the Sydney Morning Herald, the song "exhibits Howard's enduring gallows humour in its wry treatment of the overwrought protagonist".

[15] The first lyrics "I've been contemplating suicide / but it really doesn't suit my style" have been also branded by the Sydney Morning Herald's Jake Wilson as "famous opening lines" and typical of Howard's "wry, guarded romanticism".

[4] According to members of the Boys Next Door, Howard's songwriting was "more precious and stolid" than Cave's or guitarist–keyboardist Mick Harvey's attempts, with "Shivers" and his other songs generally being centred "around a bassline".

[13] "Shivers" was originally released by the Young Charlatans as part of a Fast Forward cassette compilation, which was issued in April 1981 after the band's dissolution.

[20] "Shivers", along with other songs Howard composed, were "crucial to guiding the band in the darker, wilder direction" that defined the Birthday Party's music, according to Dan Lawrence of Stereogum.

After the song's release,[5] and changing their name to the Birthday Party,[19] the band performed "Shivers" with their standard line-up of Cave on vocals, Howard and Mick Harvey on guitar, Tracy Pew on bass and Phill Calvert on drums.

A live version recorded in Melbourne in 1982 by the Big Bang Combo was issued on volume 13 of the cassette magazine Fast Forward in October of that year.

[29] In 1996, Nick Cave performed guest vocals with Israeli singer-songwriter Inbal Perlmuter on a version of "Shivers" released by her band Ha-Mechashefot (The Witches) on their covers album, Undercover.