"I Saw Her Again" was one of The Mamas & The Papas' biggest hits of 1966, and its origins lie in a real-life romantic entanglement within the band rather than a straightforward love song. The track's backstory has become a well-known piece of music folklore because it reportedly channels the fallout from an affair between two of the group's own members, adding a layer of personal drama to a song millions of fans embraced as a breezy pop classic.

The song was written by John Phillips, the band's chief songwriter, who is said to have drawn on the affair between his wife and bandmate Michelle Phillips and fellow member Denny Doherty. Its most famous moment, an unusual vocal "false start" partway through the track, has long been linked in music lore to the emotional tension within the band at the time, even as members later gave differing accounts of exactly how it came about. The story has endured as an example of how personal upheaval within a group can feed directly into the music that made them famous.