Once presented to director Penny Marshall's team, the song was released as a standalone single on June 16, 1992, by Warner Bros. Records.

However, it was not available on the film's soundtrack due to contractual obligations and was later added to the Olympics-inspired Barcelona Gold compilation album, released that summer.

Madonna recorded the song on a Shure SM57 microphone, with instrumentation from piano, organ, strings and a basic drum sounds.

Madonna had never performed the song live despite its commercial success until February 2, 2024, on The Celebration Tour in Chicago, where she sang a snippet of it with the crowd.

Lars recalled that there was some "early hesitation" if Madonna's character should be kept the same or separated from that in the film and the song, and in the end they decided to go with the latter concept.

[3] When Lars called Madonna and asked her to record a song for the film, the singer and Pettibone had just completed working on the ballad "Rain".

[2] Madonna recorded the song on a Shure SM57 microphone, with the melody being played over and over again, accompanied by the piano, organ, strings and a basic rim-looping sound on a portable Macintosh computer.

The producer recalled, "Madonna and I had to change the whole arrangement, right there in the studio, with a full orchestra sitting there getting paid for taking up space—around $15,000 for three hours, $3000 for every half-hour over that.

[11] The chords have an unexpected flow in terms of the beginning and the ending, moving from E♭ down to Gm and momentarily to F major, then going back to the previous sequence again.

The song has a lush, romantic quality, with the melody going through different ranges and peaks, and the verse and the chorus flow into each other, making it sound seamless.

The track ends abruptly with a sustained chord by the orchestra and Madonna uttering the line "Wishing you were here with me", which was addressed to her mother.

[13] Similarly, Humberto Quiroga Lavié called it one of Madonna's best ballads in his essay Secretos y Misterios de Hombres y Mujeres.

[14] Author Rikky Rooksby wrote in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, that the song was appropriate for the film and its nostalgic moment towards the end, showing the characters grown up and reuniting at a museum opened for themselves and the titular league.

[10] While reviewing Something to Remember, author Chris Wade wrote in his book The Music of Madonna, that the song conjured up a "strangely sad, nostalgic feel, reminding ourselves of memories from yesteryear".

He commended Madonna's vocals calling it as the song's "premier sound" and adding that the way "she sings and captures the melancholic melody is heartbreaking [...] it's one of her finest ever ballads.

"[15] Encyclopedia Madonnica writer and journalist Matthew Rettenmund noted in the book that the song's rise to the top of the charts was aided by its "honest delivery and aching sense of loneliness, regret and nostalgia for friendship lost.

"[16] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "She offers a subtle and melancholy vocal amid a string-filled production, ably handled by collaborator Shep Pettibone".

[18] Gavin Report commented, "This change of pace for Madonna is a seamless knuckler of a slow song rich in melody and thoughtfully pitched.

He wrote: "What's surprising is that this heartfelt ballad's release was sandwiched between 'Justify My Love' and 'Erotica', which corroborates the many checkered crowns that Madonna can wear".

He wrote; "The theme to Madonna’s best movie is nostalgic and sweet, and it gave her a major hit that utilized the lachrymose qualities in her voice.

"[25] Mary Ann A. Bautist, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, called it one of the singer's "alternative tunes [...] that can be as romantic and touching as any ballad".

[27] On his review of the compilation Barcelona Gold, The Daily Gazette's Bill Rice wrote: "Madonna's plaintive single 'This Used to Be My Playground', is one medal winner".

[30] Also negative was Stereogum's Tom Breihan, who pointed out that it lacked "the dreamy sweep of older Madonna ballads like 'Crazy For You' and 'Live to Tell'.

Breihan also deemed it "exactly the wrong song for a singer like Madonna", that should've been sung by a "grand ’90s balladeer" like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion.

The song received immediate heavy rotation in US radio stations like Hot 97 in New York and Wild 107 in San Francisco.

[56][57] The accompanying music video, directed by Alek Keshishian, was filmed in June 1992 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California, and Malibu Beach.

"[16] The clip was compared to singer Boy George's music video for his 1987 single, "To Be Reborn", released less than five years before "This Used to Be My Playground".