Singer/guitarist Jared Leto explained to Musicradar.com that this song very nearly didn't make the album. He said: "Actually, we were going to throw this song out, but we decided to keep it. It was hard to mix, a total pain in ass, but I'm glad it made the record because I think it fits in with the overall framework of the album.
The song is a mission, an adventure that takes you on a journey. Maybe that's why it gave us so much trouble: We had go on an adventure as a band to get it right. Some songs come very easily and other ones fight you. Oftentimes, the ones that give you trouble turn out to be the best ones - this is an example of the latter."

Lead guitarist Tomio Miličević said of the song in a track-by-track video preview: "A really interesting track. We call it our 'pop' song, but when you really listen to it, you realize that it has a lot of rock glory in it. It's a song that fools you, and I like that. Jared really pushed himself as a songwriter here in that he was trying to reach for a new way of presenting music that was very accessible but not spoon-feed it to the audience. He has a lot of respect for the fans in that way. The guy's a trip - very inspiring to be around and work with."

The song's music video was directed by Bartholomew Cubbins, Jared Leto's director nom de plume, and premiered on June 9, 2010 on the band's YouTube account. The six and a half minutes long clip is a collage of tour footage, fan commentary and pictures of the band from their youth. It was shot in 89 cities in 27 different countries during the band's Into the Wild Tour.