The song was written and produced by Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen, and Shaffer Smith under their stage names StarGate and Ne-Yo.

Its accompanying music video was directed by Anthony Mandler and presents Rihanna as the female protagonist who leaves her boyfriend because of his infidelity.

[5] Musically, it is a pop and R&B song[6] that also incorporates elements of dance-pop,[5] whilst lyrically, "Take a Bow" tells of how the female protagonist expresses disinterest in rekindling her relationship with a dishonorable and unfaithful ex-boyfriend.

Upon the song's release as an official single, Nick Levine of Digital Spy commented its choice for the promotion of Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, writing that the singer could have chosen "Breakin' Dishes" which served as a promotional single for Good Girl Gone Bad and charted at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart in February 2008[7]—but had opted for "Take a Bow" due to it being new and more likely to find a receptive audience.

[6] Levine continued in his review to write that although the ballad succeeds in its mission of telling of a failed relationship, he noted that the song was not at the same level as the singer's previous single, "Don't Stop the Music" (2007).

Levine cited that his reason for this was that "'Take a Bow' does what it sets out to do very well, but it's an underwhelming follow-up to the dancefloor rush of 'Don't Stop The Music'".

[10] Additionally, at the time of release, Rihanna held two of the top three opening week download tallies, with "Take a Bow" selling 267,000 copies, the lead single from Good Girl Gone Bad "Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z) selling 277,000 copies in May 2007, which held the record for having the largest opening digital sales tally, until Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" opened with sales of 286,000 copies in April 2008.

[11] The song has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold 3 million copies in the United States as of June 2015.

As the first verse starts, the scene is intercut with another of Rihanna looking out the window at her boyfriend and standing behind the front door as he approaches and asks to come in.

As Rihanna walks way from the door singing the lyrics "Don't tell me you're sorry cos you're not", the viewer realizes that her boyfriend has perhaps done something wrong and been unfaithful.

For the bridge, Rihanna is shown sitting on a bed as well as in front of the black backdrops as she reads a text message from her ex-boyfriend, who asks to meet her.

During the last chorus, Rihanna appears in a different outfit and walks into a lounge, where she puts some clothes on a table and then sits on a sofa.

Erika Brooks Adickman of Idolator commented that Rihanna had once again changed her hair style and was wearing a red jacket which looked similar to the one Paula DeAnda's video "Walk Away (Remember Me)".

[34] Other songs on the set list were "Russian Roulette" and "Wait Your Turn" from Rated R, and "Don't Stop the Music", "Disturbia", and with Jay-Z, "Umbrella" from Good Girl Gone Bad.

[35][36] The set included "Take a Bow", as well as "Russian Roulette, "Hard", "Rude Boy" and a stripped down version of "Disturbia".