Songfacts®:

• "Break Every Rule" is the title track to Turner's follow-up to Private Dancer, the album that launched her solo comeback. The song was written and produced by Rupert Hine, who had previously worked on "Better Be Good To Me" and "I Might Have Been Queen."
  
  Hine played all the instruments on the album except for guitar, which was handled by Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx. Hine also produced the Fixx, and used West-Oram and their lead singer Cy Curnin on some of his productions for Turner. The song embodies Turner's attitude of doing whatever it takes to succeed, which in this case is for a lover.
• The song was written specifically for Turner, with her personality in mind. Rupert Hine composed it with Jeannette Obstoj, a lyricist who also co-wrote "I Might Have Been Queen."
• The song provides a loose theme for the album, which Turner says is about a "tough girl."