This was the first single released from English trip hop musician Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye. In 1991, when Tricky was a member of Massive Attack, he met a 15-year-old girl named Martina Topley-Bird. She mentioned to the musician that she could sing and they recorded this song together. Tricky recalled to the NME September 4, 2010: "I met Martina and we went down to the studio and recorded it. It sat around for four years. I used to play it to my cousin and she'd say, 'You need to get this out.' I pressed up 500 and put them around to Djs and then Island got in contact with me. It was just playing around, really. I was still considered being in Massive Attack. I gave it to Massive Attack and they didn't like it, so I kept it."
The track was eventually released as Tricky's debut solo single after he left Massive Attack, charting at #69 in the UK. By this time Martina Topley-Bird had become his girlfriend and muse and she was a featured vocalist on Maxinquaye.

The song samples Marvin Gaye's 1969 cover of the Isley Brothers' song, "That's the Way Love Is."

Among the movies this song has appeared in are Alien Autopsy, Veronica Guerin and Silent Cry.

Maxinquaye was named after Tricky's late mother Maxine Quaye and it received great critical acclaim upon release. Both the NME and Melody Maker ranked it the best CD of 1995.