With the state of the world today, Cyndi Lauper found herself compelled to breathe new life into this timeless classic, gracing it with an official lyric video. Hat Full of Stars deviated from Lauper's pop-rock sound of previous projects and delved heavily into alternative music. It also furthered her growing penchant for writing topical songs about social issues. The album was recorded at the Hit Factory, Sigma Sound, Messina Sound, Right Track, The Enchanted Cottage, The Ranch, and World Famous Orbit Sound. It was co-produced by dance-music artist Junior Vasquez and is highly typical of his work of the time; as such, many of the songs are held together by synthetic loops and percussion. Lyrics address issues like abortion ("Sally's Pigeons"), racism ("A Part Hate"), spousal abuse("Product of Misery" and "Broken Glass") and incest ("Lies").
The track "Product of Misery" was inspired by a teacher of Lauper's, Bob Barrell, who described the masses of struggling people as a 'product of misery' and that misery begets misery unless the chain is broken.
The song "A Part Hate" was conceived as an anti-apartheid song and was originally written for Lauper's second album True Colors but was not included because her label felt it would make the album too political; it already had a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and the title track included.
Lauper has commented that she wishes that her vocals on the project had been sharper. She worked with a vocal coach to sharpen her vocals for her next studio album Sisters of Avalon, and mentions this in the liner notes. The album cover was inspired by a photograph of the actress Mary Pickford, taken by photographer Nelson Evans.
Billboard magazine gave the album a positive review, stating that it marked a "metamorphosis" for Lauper from "fun-loving, she-bopping squealer" to a "mature artiste with admirable depth". The review highlighted the song "Who Let in the Rain" as reminiscent of Cyndi's 1984 hit "Time After Time". Other tracks noted as highlights were "A Part Hate", "Lies", which recalled "early Siouxsie & the Banshees", "Feels Like Christmas" and "Like I Used To", described as a "hybrid of Madonna-style pop and vintage Motown".