Written by the band's singer and guitarist David Gilmour, it is the closing track on their thirteenth studio album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, released in 1987.
He has stated that although words are not his strong point, the song is one of his best lyrical efforts,[citation needed] even as the opening lines were appropriated from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
Gilmour has also mentioned that his solo at the end of "Sorrow" was done on the boat, his guitar going through a small Gallien-Krueger amplifier.
David Gilmour played the song at the Strat Pack guitar concert, an event which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster.
The song was also performed in 1990 during the band's set at Knebworth for the Silver Clef Award Winners Concert.