[3] The song has been widely recorded in a variety of different styles – folk, blues, country, bluegrass, rock – often with considerable variations and/or additions to the original verses.

In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

[5] Lyrically, "Sitting on Top of the World" has a simple structure consisting of a series of rhyming couplets, each followed by the two-line chorus.

[7] For the recording, he was backed by a typical blues ensemble consisting of electric guitar (Hubert Sumlin), piano (Hosea Lee Kennard), bass (Alfred Elkins), and drums (Earl Phillips).

An AllMusic review included "For the most part, the White Stripes frontman successfully transplants himself into the [traditional country and Americana] genre, utilizing his throaty warble on Howlin' Wolf's 'Sittin' on Top of the World' like a dust-bowl carny.