At this point in his career, Marvin had been trying to make a name for himself as a young black Frank Sinatra, crooning and singing standards. The problem was that, despite his seat the family table thanks to his marriage to Motown founder Berry Gordy’s sister Anna, the style he was going for wasn’t selling.

Seeing other Motown acts like the Marvelettes, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson’s Miracles putting out hits triggered Marvin’s competitive side, prompting him to make the kind of song Berry had been begging him to. The song’s title and story show that even when he capitulated to commercial pressure, he still did it “stubbornly”, his way.

His friend and label-mate Stevie Wonder covered the song as part of a tribute album released in 1995.