[2] "Tumbling Down" was written and first performed by Harley during his days of busking in the early 1970s, before Cockney Rebel were formed in late 1972.

[3] The song references Ernest Hemingway, who had a big influence on Harley, and mentions the Titanic sailing into Brighton.

[6] The song was recorded by Cockney Rebel during the February–March 1974 sessions for their second studio album The Psychomodo in 1974, with Andrew Powell providing the orchestral and brass arrangements on the track.

[9] As a result, the US releases of "Tumbling Down" and The Psychomodo would be credited to the name of the band's new line-up as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.

[14] Jon Marlowe of The Miami News, in his 1976 review of Love's a Prima Donna, referred to "Tumbling Down" as one of the "two all-time classic songs" Harley had written, alongside "Cavaliers".

He added, "...to hear Harley lead the audience in a rousing sing-along of 'Oh dear look what they've done to the blues' is nothing short of a musical miracle.

"[15] Dave Thompson of AllMusic retrospectively said that "Tumbling Down," along with the preceding track on The Psychomodo, "Sling It", "encompasses ten of the most heart-stoppingly breathless, and emotionally draining minutes in '70s rock".

He continued, "though ["Tumbling Down"]'s final refrain was reduced to pitifully parodic singalong the moment it got out on-stage, on record it retains both its potency and its purpose.

"[16] Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic referred to the song as a "dramatic opus that gradually builds from quiet piano chords to an orchestral blowout as Harley vocalizes a pained but elegantly crafted tale of facing a grim destiny".

[17] In 2012, Jim Wirth of Uncut wrote, "Harley signs off in style on 'Tumbling Down', with the John Cale-ish screams in the big pay-off line 'Oh dear, look what they've done to the blues', a barbed combination of anti-Ten Years After harangue and self-reverential gloating.

After the tour, Harley and his brother Ian Nice, who at the time played keyboards in Cockney Rebel, looked at returning the song to the set-list.

The decision was made to strip back the song for future performances by removing guitar, bass and drums, and making it piano and keyboard-focused.

Keeley recorded "Tumbling Down" shortly after the split of the original Cockney Rebel line-up in July of that year.

At the time, Bairnson had moved from Edinburgh to London to make it in the music business with the Scottish rock band Pilot, who had yet to gain a hit single.

Faced with this dilemma, Bairnson ended up choosing to stay with his band, who gained their first hit with "Magic" later in November that year.

[28] Keeley would go on to provide backing vocals on future Cockney Rebel albums and Harley also produced her second single "Concrete and Clay", which was released in June 1975.

The fictional band who covered the song for the film soundtrack were Venus in Furs and lead vocals were handled by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.