Songfacts®:

• The Four Tops released this song as a direct follow-up to their #1 hit "Reach Out I'll Be There" and it features a similar musical arrangement. Despite the likeness to its chart-topping predecessor, the record was still a big hit, easily reaching the Top 10 in both the UK and US. Both songs were written by the Motown songwriting team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland (Holland-Dozier-Holland), and while the instrumentation is similar, the lyrics are very different. "Reach Out" is about being there for a loved one, but "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" finds the singer heartbroken and despondent.
• This song was recorded by The Four Tops during the first ever session at Berry Gordy's newly acquired Golden World Detroit studio, later dubbed Studio B.
• The Holland-Dozier-Holland team wrote a song called "Standing At The Crossroads Of Love" that The Supremes recorded in 1964. They recycled the title for this track.
• Andrew Hamilton penned a review of this depiction of mental torment for the Allmusic guide. It reads: "The emotions conjure up a world of negativity, sleepless nights, and excessive indulgences; you relish going to work because the activity keeps your mind off the pain. It's said Holland-Dozier-Holland gleamed ideas from the soaps; there must have been a real bawler on the day HDH's bulb went off and inspired this one."
• A number of artists have covered the song including The Jackson 5 on their 1969 debut album Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, Barry White with an extended instrumental intro on his 1973 album, I've Got So Much to Give and Hall & Oates on their 2004 album, Our Kind of Soul . British R&B singer Craig David sampled the chorus of this track on "One More Lie (Standing In The Shadows)," the lead single from his 2010 collection of Motown classics, Signed Sealed Delivered.