Although it is often interpreted as a ballad about unrequited love, Isaak himself has said that the song was inspired by a telephone call from a girl seeking to arrange a casual sexual liaison and is about "what happens when you have a strong attraction to people that aren't necessarily good for you".
Helena Christensen's legs were bleeding as a result of running on the black lava rocks, which cut her skin and therefore caused the injury.
Dazed magazine questioned whether it might be the most influential love song in modern music.
Buckets of cold water from the ocean were thrown onto Isaak and Christensen so the two would remain wet in the video.
Despite being released as a single in 1989, it did not become a hit until it was later featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart (1990).