The album gets its title from a line of this song's lyrics. The song was co-written by David Gilmour and Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, who later co-produced Gilmour's On an Island album and played rhythm guitar on the subsequent tour.
Release
It was first released as the B-side to "Learning to Fly". It was then re-released as the third single from the album in the UK where it was a minor hit and was the fourth single from the album in the US where it did well on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
"One Slip (2019 remix)" from the box set, The Later Years 1987–2019 was released as a single on 24 October 2019 on Spotify and 25 October 2019 on YouTube and iTunes. The song contains newly recorded drums by Nick Mason and organ parts by Richard Wright lifted from 1987-89 live performances, replacing the song's original drum and keyboard parts.