The song belongs to the broad family of Stanley Brothers heartbreak vocals from the late-1950s King Records period — tightly arranged, harmony-driven pieces in the Stanley high-lonesome mode that the brothers had perfected by mid-decade. The lyric’s premise — the singer pleading for one more night of love before letting go — sits in the standard country–bluegrass heartbreak idiom but with the particular Carter Stanley emotional economy that distinguished the writing of this period.

“Love Me Darling Just Tonight” became a regular feature in the Stanley Brothers’ working sets and crossed firmly into the bluegrass-vocal repertoire after the brothers’ partnership ended with Carter’s 1966 death. Ralph Stanley continued to perform the song with his Clinch Mountain Boys, and it has been recorded by a long list of subsequent bluegrass acts, including Billy Strings in his contemporary readings of Stanley material.