Originally composed by Patrick Leonard for the score of the film Fire with Fire, the instrumental was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range.
Madonna premiered the song at a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden to raise money for medical research for AIDS. She dedicated the song to the memory of her friend, artist Martin Burgoyne.
The song was released as the lead single from True Blue on March 26, 1986 by Sire Records.
A pop ballad, the song includes instrumentation from guitars, keyboards, drums and a synthesizer, and its lyrics deal with deceit, mistrust and childhood scars.
The song is about being strong, which Madonna recalled in an interview that she thought about her relationship with her parents, while writing the lyrics.