This was issued as a promotion single on September 28, 2010, prior to the release of Hawaii-born singer-songwriter and music producer Bruno Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

Mars is so desperate to impress his hard-to-please girl on this song, that he assures her he would catch a grenade for her, along with other assorted foolhardy acts. He told The Idolator the original inspiration for this track came from a songwriter friend of his, Benny Blanco, whose credits include hits such as Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Kesha's "TiK ToK." "I was with my friend Benny Blanco and he was playing me some songs, and he played me this song that had a lyric like ["Grenade"]… he said, this band is not signed, this is a CD that wasn't released. I said to Benny, I can relate to that so much, I want to take that and make it my own. He was in contact with the dude, and I started writing my version, basically. It's a heartbreaking, heartbreak song, and I think everyone can relate to that. You're so in love with this woman and you don't understand, " What am I doing wrong? What am I not giving to you? I'll go as far as putting as putting a bullet in my brain for you, and why can't I get that kind of love in return?"

The song's music video, directed by Nabil, was released on November 19, 2010. It shows Mars's efforts to sing to a girl after dragging an upright piano through the streets of Los Angeles. In a behind-the-scenes video, Mars explained, "The concept of the video is my struggle, to tell his girl I'd do anything for her, so I'm going as far as dragging a piano to get to her just so I can sing my heart out."Mars told MTV News: "A lot of people think this is a camera trick, but that is a heavy piano. Luckily, I've been doing about, you know, 800 to 967 push-ups every day, so it's not a big deal, I can handle it. Been workin' on my bi's, my tri's, my clies and my thighs, that's just what it is."