The main theme of the film was about Lily, who was the lead character in the movie and played by Marion van Thijn (the daughter of the mayor of Amsterdam at the time). David A. Stewart invited Candy Dulfer, who had not previously released any of her material, to play the saxophone on this song. The single became a major hit and stayed at the #1 position for five weeks in The Netherlands. Because of this success, the single was also released in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States where it became a hit as well, reaching number six in the UK and even rising to number eleven in the tough U.S. market. The success of this song encouraged Dulfer to write her own album Saxuality.

This instrumental appears in The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" daily forecast.

"Lily Was Here" was also included in the soundtrack of movie Mystery Date. The song also appeared in Baywatch's 11th episode of season 2.