With Phil Spector producing, The Righteous Brothers had a huge hit with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," which went to #1 in February 1965. That song Spector wrote with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who were married. For the next single, Spector enlisted another husband-and-wife songwriting duo: Gerry Goffin and Carole King. They had been working with Spector for years, starting with a 1961 track for Gene Pitney called "Every Breath I Take." The trio came up with "Just Once In My Life," and Spector gave it his grand "wall of sound" production. It didn't do nearly as well as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," but the song was still a substantial hit.

The song is about a guy who will do anything to get the girl, but his case is flimsy and a little desperate: He's never gotten what he wants in life, so he's going to go all-out for her. What girl can't resist a guy with low ambition ("I don't forsee a rags to riches story for me") who will cling like Saran Wrap ("I couldn't face the day if you weren't here by my side")?

Around this time, Goffin and King also wrote the Righteous Brothers song "Hung On You" (#47, 1965) and the Ronettes' "Is This What I Get For Loving You" (#75, 1965) with Spector. According to King, Spector would insist on songwriting credit even though he had little to do with writing the songs, but there was an upside. "Working with Phil Spector made us write the best we possibly could," she said in The Definitive Carole King Story. "He loved writing with you, he'd get his name on the recording. He deserved it, he made good suggestions, but it should have been just as the producer. That should have been enough."

The Beach Boys recorded this song for their 1976 covers album 15 Big Ones. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was a huge fan of Phil Spector's work.